Is European monetary integration structurally neoliberal? The origins of the EMS and the 1977–1978 locomotive conflict

The idea that European monetary integration is inherently neoliberal in its very structure gained prominence after the Eurozone crisis and has had considerable impact. The implication is that the only alternative to disciplinary neoliberalism in Europe is an exodus from EU institutions. This article contributes to the testing of such arguments through an empirical analysis of the origins of the Eurozone in the formation of the EMS during the 1977–1978 Locomotive Conflict. It finds that the variety of construal in EMS design and contingencies in the politics of selection between such designs do not accord with structuralist arguments.