The Stability and Growth Pact -- Theorising a Case in European Integration.

This paper looks at the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as a case study of European integration. Applying the theoretical lenses of various European integration approaches (intergovernmentalism, domestic politics, neofunctionalism and an 'expertocratic' approach) it seeks to understand how to explain the creation of the SGP as well as its subsequent (non-)application. The findings show that different approaches are able to illuminate different parts of the process. The paper thus argues that only an eclectically constructed combination of the approaches provides a satisfying explanation of this fundamental element of the rules-based Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]