EU Rules Must be Enforceable

There's plenty of talk of new rules for European Union member states to keep the world's largest economy more stable in the future. However, according to David Primo, affiliated scholar with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, those rules might not matter if no one has the ability to enforce them.

"The initial German proposal, for a revision to the EU treaty that would give significant power to the EU court, was a very positive step, but it has since been watered down by France and others," Primo said. "The markets will not be appeased by half-hearted changes to EU rules that are not easy to enforce."

"The EU has demonstrated time and again its inability to punish member states for fiscal irresponsibility—France and Germany included—and there is no reason to believe this time will be any different," Primo said.

"For rules to have credibility, the EU needs to lock itself up fiscally and throw away the key, permitting waivers only in extraordinary circumstances," Primo said.

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Featured Scholars

David M. Primo

David M. Primo is a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center and an associate professor of political science and business administration at the University of Rochester. His current research focuses on the value of legislative “pork” for reelection, the politics of judicial appointments, and the connection between formal models and data analysis.