Understanding the Role of Experts in Economic Governance of the EU

There has been an ongoing debate in the literature as to what the impact is of education and socialisation on beliefs held by highly educated experts. This paper examines expert judgments and attitudes regarding Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and fiscal solidarity in the European Union (EU) among experts in four member states – two from the north; two from the south. Our analysis is based on a survey that circulated between April-August 2021 and was completed by 348 experts (academics, researchers at research institutes and think tanks, and civil servants) that work in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal. The findings suggest that expert judgement on what would constitute an optimal EMU architecture depend on a number of factors, including the country in which experts work, their perceived benefits of EMU of respondents, as well as their sense of connection with the EU and their political preferences. We also find some evidence that experts understand core concepts related to EMU governance and fiscal solidarity differently from one another depending on education, political beliefs and national experience. The findings provide new insights into understanding diversity among experts based judgements and indications as to when those may correlate with nationality, socialisation, education and political beliefs.