Money and the question of sovereignty over its production, circulation, and supervision have been central concerns in European integration since the early 1950s, both reflecting and shaping the varied economic positions of countries involved in the integration process. This workshop will explore how national and supranational monetary issues were negotiated by a range of actors, contributing to debates on the contemporary conditions and future of a common European financial infrastructure across the postwar decades.
Lukas Spielberger, a postdoctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, will present his research on the politics of auditing European Union financial instruments since the establishment of the European Court of Auditors in the 1970s, focusing on the evolving financial accountability of the European Communities/European Union borrowing instruments.
Paolo Bozzi, coming from Humboldt University, will follow with a presentation on how transnational ideas, traditions, and economic knowledge influenced the conception and design of a new institutional framework for modern taxation within the European Economic Community.
Building on the insights of the previous two papers, Professor Benoît Majerus from the University of Luxembourg will discuss their broader relevance to the history of European integration while also presenting his own research on how taxation and Luxembourg’s offshore financial center contributed to the European integration process between the 1960s and 1980s. Together these papers will present new perspectives on the varied roots of concerns over money and financial accountability that continue to shape the vector of European financial policymaking today.
This event is organised by the ADG Centre with the support of the Finance and Society Interdisciplinary Research Cluster.
The Alcide De Gasperi Centre supports researchers working in areas related to the history of European integration and cooperation broadly conceived. It coordinates networks of historians, facilitates the use of primary sources and increases public interest in the history of European integration.