From Crisis to Stability: How to Make the European Stability Mechanism Transparent and Accountable

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) was created to save the euro from collapse. But the Eurozone’s bailout fund is not actually an EU institution. This has a series of knock-on effects, making it difficult to hold the ESM to EU standards as regards transparency, legal review by the CJEU, but also access to documents regulation and accountability vis-à-vis the European Parliament, the Court of Auditors and Anti-Fraud Office. Transparency International EU’s in-depth study of the governance and accountability of the ESM provides the first comprehensive analysis of the newest European economic governance institution, and makes a number of concrete recommendations. To make the ESM accountable, more transparency is in order, about where decisions are taken and who calls the shots. Is it the ESM, the Eurogroup, the Commission, or a coalition of Member States?
Our report launch attempts to answer these questions, and will be followed by a short informal meeting of civil society, think tanks and academics, to bring together interested stakeholders and help kick-start an element of participative democracy to the EU’s economic governance.