Evaluating eurozone financial assistance collaboration: A case study

This study analyzes the partnership between the institutions involved in the provision of financial assistance during the eurozone financial and sovereign crisis. Using the analytical framework suggested by Gutner and Heltberg (2025) and data collected for previous evaluations of the European Stability Mechanism’s activities, we focus on the factors shaping the effectiveness of this partnership in an exploratory case study. The crisis environment, high stakes, and the complementary resources of each institution played key roles by impacting the actors’ collaboration and achievement of their objectives. Initially, the absence of similar pre-existing relations challenged collaboration, while a comprehensive provision of resources enabled successful operations. The relations between the actors were shaped by their differing mandates. A high degree of informality allowed for flexibility and adaptation over time. Our assessment underlines the importance of external factors, leadership, and power dynamics for the effectiveness of a partnership. Our conclusions support the validity and further development of the analytical framework (Gutner and Heltberg, 2025) and provide additional methodological insights for evaluating how international organizations work together.