The Liberal Heart of Europe

Was the European Union ever a liberal dream? How did the common market impact the liberalization in its member states? Has the EU fostered more or less economic freedom in the Old Continent? This book explores the intellectual and political genesis of the European Union, focusing especially on its relationship to classical liberalism. It explains how the new enthusiasm for liberalization associated with Reagan and Thatcher helped revive the European project in the 1980s, while providing some insights on the current challenges Europe is facing as a result of the financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. The contributors highlight the role of liberal, pro-market ideas played in shaping the EU, the single market and the euro, and how these should be coming into play again if the European project is to be reanimated. This volume originates from a conference the Italian think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni hosted in 2019 and is dedicated to Alberto Giovannini (1955-2019). Giovannini was an influential macroeconomist and financial economist. His vast legacy of studies and ideas prompted this book in his honor, on the occasion of his untimely passing away.

1 Introduction 2 Some Introductory Thoughts Part I The European “Postwar Consensus” and the European Project 3 The Origins of the Idea of European Integration: A German Perspective 4 The European “Postwar Consensus” and the Birth of the EEC 5 “Large Switzerland” or “Large France”? The Ordoliberals and Early European Integration 6 Hayek’s Europe: The Austrian School and European Federalism 7 The Monnet Method and the Obsolescence of the EU Part II The Evolution of the European Project in the 1980s: How Liberalisation Affected Europe 8 The Re-launching of European Integration in the 1980s, Ideas and Policies 9 Evaluating Mrs. Thatcher’s Reforms: Britain’s 1980s Economic Reform Program 10 The Rocky Road to European Monetary Union: A German Perspective Part III Our Current Predicament 11 The Euro in Perspective 12 Dealing with the Covid Debt Overhang 13 Globalization and Its Critics 14 The Great Recession and the Future of the EU