%0 Journal Article
%T Intergovernmental or supranational integration? A quantitative analysis of pension recommendations in the European Semester
%A Igor Guardiancich
%A Mattia Guidi
%J European Union Politics
%@ 1741-2757
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1465116518781029
%X The European Semester, launched in 2011, enhances the coordination of macroeconomic policies among European Union member states. This article contributes to the lively scholarly debate on whether this policy-making cycle has empowered more the European supranational or intergovernmental institutions. Drawing on a new dataset covering all pension-related country-specific recommendations between 2011 and 2016, and employing an original quantitative method, we show that the Commission mainly follows a ¡®technocratic¡¯ approach in drafting its recommendations, which are grounded in objective indicators. As the Council refrains from systematically altering the recommendations¡¯ logic, we conclude that, at least in pension policy, the Commission¡¯s role in macroeconomic surveillance has been significantly strengthened in the aftermath of the Great Recession
%K Country-specific recommendations
%K economic and monetary union
%K European Semester
%K pensions
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1465116518781029