Inclusion of IMF in Eurozone Crisis Management: Legitimacy Through External Expertise and Internal Depoliticisation

Abstract

ABSTRACT A new technocratic knowledge regime emerged in Europe in 2010. Known as the Troika, it included the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the IMF. The Greek Stand-By Arrangement was the IMF’s first Eurozone financial assistance involvement, controversial for both the EU and the IMF. We trace how the IMF entered the process, focusing on why EU institutions involved it. We used official documents, statements, and a unique set of 129 interviews with IMF and EU decision-makers and Member State officials. We argue that the EU sought the IMF’s expertise in loan and conditionality negotiation, public image credibility, perceived guarantee for austerity, and depoliticisation. They were internally motivated by lack of confidence in the European Commission among EU Member States. Legitimacy was sought externally through the IMF’s expertise. The IMF continued its previous depoliticising role, a crucial strategy in crisis management, now in a novel multilevel context.