EU conditionality gave national elites political cover for austerity reforms they already wanted

Evidence

National governments hardly needed convincing on this score: austerity had already won their hearts long ago. Moreover, public opinion was, historically, overwhelmingly favorable to the EU and its symbolic attachment to the common currency. In most countries of the European “periphery”—Spain, Greece, and Portugal above all—European integration had always carried a post-dictatorial, democratic sheen. The “stick,” therefore, was rather a gift, as it provided national elites with a justification to carry out the reforms they had been craving for years. After all, it wasn’t national leaders doing it to their own citizens—it was EU diktat. — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 111

Categorization

• XREF: Relates to the ‘passing the buck’ / external-constraint mechanism used by governments, parallel to blame-shifting dynamics seen in other political-economy literature the reader has covered. — connects to: EU diktat served as cover for elites’ own pre-existing austerity preferences. — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 111; Mussolini secured elite backing by imposing austerity policies — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 68

Broader Connections

• EU diktat served as cover for elites’ own pre-existing austerity preferences. #corroborates (1.00) — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 111
• Mussolini secured elite backing by imposing austerity policies #exemplifies (0.70) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 68