Debate: From the front line to the back stage—how the financial crisis has quietly strengthened the European Commission

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Notes

* These are the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF, 2010) and the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM, 2012), the latter replacing the former in 2013. In the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism, a small facility that is also to be discontinued, and the Balance-ofPayments (BoP) assistance, which is only open to non-euro countries, the EC is solely responsible. In all of these cases, however, the EC signs the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the EU.

** While the Europe 2020 strategy involves all EU member states, four countries—Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the UK—have opted out of the Euro Plus Pact.