In the aftermath of the financial and debt crisis from 2008-2010, socio-economic governance in the EU has been in flux. On the one hand, boundaries between hard and soft law are now more blurred than ever. On the other hand, the responsibilities and interactions between EU institutions and national authorities have become increasingly intertwined. While the effects of said transformations are both differentiated and difficult to assess, “structural reforms” seem inescapable in today’s economic policy making.

This panel shall examine the transformation of EU socio-economic governance in the framework of the so-called European Semester. More particularly, the papers gathered look at three dimensions:

ü  Public policy instruments – old, new, or revamped – used to achieve a better coordination of national policies. We are especially interested in indicators used in the European Semester as well as in new forms of conditionality recently introduced

ü  Adjustments in criteria for evaluation and implementation vis-à-vis strict deficit rules and the flexibility granted to Member States governments. Such politics of the Semester are reflected in the interactions among actors involved in the relevant policy networks

ü  Efforts deployed to increase the political acceptance of the reforms advocated by EU institutions among national political and social actors, a notion understood as ownership

These three dimensions shall shed light on the legitimacy issues pertaining to socio-economic governance as well as on the nature of the reforms adopted and effectively conducted both at the stage of policy formulation and policy implementation.