Resumen de Who Watches the Lender? An Assessment of the Accountability Framework of the Reformed European Stability Mechanism
Francesco Perticari, Marco Antonio Simonelli
This article illustrates the main novelties introduced by the revised European Stability Mechanism Treaty concerning the organisation’s accountability towards EU institutions and its relationship with the Commission. As a first point, the article shows how the reform process has been dominated by Member States, who disregarded the proposals coming from the European Parliament and the Commission. Secondly, it argues that, by broadening the mandate of the ESM’s Managing Director, the reform puts an additional burden on the Commission, which will have to ensure the compliance of the new ESM activities with EU law. Thirdly, notwithstanding this expanded mandate, the reform leaves unaltered the accountability instruments of the EU Institutions, ultimately increasing the ESM’s insulation from the EU legal order. Finally, in the conclusions, the prospective advantages of the ESM’s incorporation in the EU legal order are explained, not only in terms of accountability but also for its democratic legitimacy.
