MERC presents: Dr. Pablo Beramendi

Unbalanced Integration: Geography and Redistribution in the EU The paper focuses on the puzzle of the coexistence of positive and negative integration in the EU, with a particular focus on the organization of fiscal structures.  The paper traces the causal chain from individuals, political organizations, to political elites, to explain why the union has failed to integrate fiscal policy while at the same time devotes a large portion of its budget to transfer resources to its poorer members. Understanding this process illuminates why the EU is on different footing to respond to the financial crisis than other more consolidated and integrated political unions around the world.