ABSTRACT
The recession that started more than a decade ago was no exception, and European Union (EU) policy makers made significant changes to the European economic governance framework during its unfolding. All these mechanisms, along the new "Europe 2020 Strategy" - the successor of the "Lisbon Strategy" - were integrated in a new process to coordinate the economic and social policies of EU member states: the European Semester. On the one hand, several EU member states in financial trouble were forced to rely on loans issued by the EU and the International Monetary Fund. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Governance is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)