Conditionality has become a popular instrument for achieving policy change in the European Union (EU). EU conditionality in the Euro crisis epitomises the responsiveness-responsibility dilemma that comes with increasing supranational influence on national policymaking: governments find it increasingly difficult to responsively address the needs of their citizens and simultaneously fulfil their obligations vis-à-vis supranational institutions. Blame avoidance strategies are a way to mitigate this problem, as they help governments shape public perceptions about who is to be held accountable for unpopular policies. During the Euro crisis, despite it being an easy target, governments facing EU conditionality did not indiscriminately shift blame to the EU. Instead, they drew on a variety of blame avoidance strategies. This book aims to shed light on this observed variation in governments' strategy choices during the Euro crisis. To do so, it investigates the constraints that EU conditionality imposes on governments' use of blame avoidance strategies and how governments chose specific strategies from the remaining blame avoidance toolkit.

Investigates constraints emanating from EU conditionality for governments' choice of blame avoidance strategy Develops a typology and methodological toolkit that support the systematic analysis of blame avoidance strategies Offers in-depth analyses of five policies introduced in Ireland and Portugal during the Euro crisis

Autorentext

Lisa Kriegmair worked as a researcher at the University of Munich (LMU) from 2017 to 2023, where she finished her PhD dissertation in 2023. Her research interests include European Integration, Europeanisation as well as the processes of responsibility and blame attribution. Her work has been published in prominent journals such as West European Politics, the European Journal of Political Research and the Journal of European Public Politics. Her book European Blame Games: Where does the Buck stop? (with Tim Heinkelmann-Wild, Berthold Rittberger, Bernhard Zangl) was published by Oxford University Press in 2024. She currently works as a project coordinator for european and international affairs for the City of Munich (Germany).

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Explaining governments' blame avoidance strategies under EU conditionality.- 3. Research Design.- 4. Blame avoidance strategies in Ireland Three cases of reforms.- 5. Blame avoidance strategies in Portugal Two cases of reforms.- 6. Comparing blame avoidance strategies and alternative explanations.- 7. Conclusion.