No, they can't!” The potential and limitations of the EU (as a supranational state in the making) to reform finance and overcome the crisis

After the financial crisis had fully broken out in 2008 there were strong statements about the need for reforms. However, the official EU statements kept a lower profile from the beginning for several reasons. The existing structures and procedures have created a strong path dependency. This does not mean that there is no alternative. But it takes time to implement change and it is very difficult to make it real – at least as long as one does not want to give up democracy. This is why the crisis management in place is confined to muddling through.