The workshop explores key thematic fields of European financial policy from the end of the Second World War up to the conclusion of the Maastricht Treaty. Its aim is to examine how different financial dimensions – public debt, state financing, tax harmonization, budgetary consolidation, and monetary stability – were negotiated, contested, and gradually coordinated within the European context.

The workshop aims to study the puzzling coexistence, collinearity, and competition between harmonization efforts and national trajectories up to the Maastricht Treaty. Rather than conceptualizing European integration as a teleological or linear process, the workshop explicitly invites contributions that highlight the persistence of national paths, the continued relevance of domestic public finance traditions, and the emergence of counter-movements or processes of disentanglement. European financial policy is thus understood as the result of dynamic interactions between convergence and divergence, or integration and resistance. Contributions can but are not limited to, analyzing governmental bodies, international organizations, political parties, lobby firms, or think tanks.

Adopting a transnational perspective, the workshop seeks to move beyond a narrow focus on integration as driven solely by European dynamics, while fully considering the role of the classical institutions of the European Communities. It encourages analyses that explore forms of coordination and interaction both within and beyond established European frameworks, that adopt comparative approaches, and that examine processes of interconnectedness and reciprocal influence. By bringing these perspectives together, the workshop aims to generate new insights into the historical development of European financial policy and its complex patterns of negotiation, adaptation, and transformation.

The workshop will take place at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich, 14-15 September 2027.
The submission deadline for proposals is 30 October 2026.

For detailed information on the workshop and on how to apply please see the full Call for Papers. 

Organisers:
Christian Marx (Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History)
Falco Drießen (Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History)
Tobias Scheib (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)