Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

1 December 2011, Brussels

After the constitutional amendment inserting a debt brake in Germany, many European States appear to be tempted to do the same in order to calm down the pressure of financial markets. These developments at the national level are accompanying several forms of institutionalised public finance constraints, expressed by the European Semester and the “Six Pack”. Should decisions about public finances be constitutionally constrained and therefore taken out of the democratic debate? What would be the social consequences of constitutions depriving governments of the role of employers of last resort during recession spirals and of the means to confront systemic private sector bankruptcies?

A Citizen's Controversy with Lars Feld, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Freiburg and Member of the German Council of Economic Experts, and Ann Pettifor, Director of PRIME – Policy Research in Macroeconomic and Fellow at the New Economics Foundation.

The debate was moderated by Pierre Defraigne, Executive Director of the Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation.