The role of EU leaders and ideas in managing the Eurozone crisis: navigating uncharted territory

Abstract

What ideas guide European political leaders during a transboundary European crisis, and when and why do their ideas change? When faced with major political challenges in Europe, answers to these questions provide important insights to understand the complexity of European crisis management. In her dissertation 'The role of EU leaders and ideas in managing the Eurozone crisis: navigating uncharted territory', Marij Swinkels explored the role of ideas of European political leaders in the Eurozone crisis. In her dissertation, she shows how ideas shape leaders' responses to a transboundary crisis. First, contextual conditions (including economic pressure) and personality traits (such as a leaders’ belief to control events) influence the way leaders define a crisis as well as their ideas about the economy. Second, leaders with more stable and rigid ideas about a crisis or the economy limit the possibilities for joint decision-making. And third, frequent interaction between leaders can reduce ideational differences as a larger group of leaders with shared ideas assume important positions. This helps to create a joint response to cope with European crises. With her dissertation, Swinkels shows that crisis management in the EU is not a technical and rational process per se, but a struggle and puzzle about definitions of and solutions for a crisis.