Martin Heipertz is Senior Officer to the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank, Luxembourg. He has previously worked in the Fiscal Policy Divisions of the European Central Bank and the German Ministry of Finance and has served as Economic Adviser to the EU Special Representative in Kosovo. Amy Verdun is Professor of Political Science, Jean Monnet Chair Ad Personam and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Victoria, Canada. She is the author, editor or co-editor of 14 books including European Responses to Globalization and Financial Market Integration: Perceptions of Economic and Monetary Union in Britain, France and Germany (2000) and EMU After 10 Years: What Have We Learned in Political Science? (2010).

• Foreword Jean-Claude Juncke; 1. The politics of the Stability and Growth Pact; Part I: 2. States, intergovernmentalism and negotiating the SGP; 3. Opening the box: a domestic politics approach to the SGP; 4. The functional logic behind the SGP; 5. The role of experts and ideas; Part II: 6. Implementation of the SGP in good and in bad times; 7. From bad times to crisis; 8. The SGP before the European Court of Justice; 9. The SGP in times of financial turbulence and economic crisis; 10. Conclusion: the past, present and future of the SGP and implications for European integration theory; Appendix.

Review of the hardback: 'This is a major and timely study of a central issue area in European integration that goes to the very heart of the complex relations between the EU and its Member States, namely fiscal policies. The authors make effective use of European integration theories to elucidate and explain how these relations have evolved in the context of Economic and Monetary Union. The result is a book that is essential reading for all students of European integration and especially for those working in political economy.' Kenneth Dyson, School of European Studies, Cardiff University