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Abstract

This article looks at the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as a case study in European integration. Applying the theoretical lenses of various European integration approaches (intergovernmentalism, domestic politics, neofunctionalism and an ‘expertocratic’ approach) it seeks to explain the creation of the SGP as well as its subsequent implementation. The findings show that these approaches are able to illuminate different parts of the process. The article thus argues that only an eclectic combination of the approaches provides a satisfactory theoretical explanation of the SGP as a fundamental element of the rules-based economic and monetary union (EMU) regime.