Kenneth Armstrong

has written extensively in the field of European Union law and policy with a particular focus on the evolving governance structures of the EU. His research has explored the governance of the Single Market and more recently the governance architecture supporting the EU’s Lisbon Strategy and its successor Europe 2020 agenda. His book, Governing Social Inclusion: Europeanization through Policy Coordination (Oxford UP, 2010) was the winner of the UACES 2011 Best Book Prize. He is a member of the editorial board of the European Law Journal. Webpage: http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/staff/armstrong.html

Research Project

During the course of the Fellowship, Professor Armstrong will be developing a new strand of research on the reform of EU economic governance. The economic crisis which spread through Europe has highlighted weaknesses in the institutions and processes for economic and fiscal policy surveillance especially for Eurozone states. The ensuing sovereign debt crisis has also dramatised limits to the competence and capacity of European institutions to stabilise and support states in financial difficulties.

As part of a wider public law analysis of the EU's response to the economic crisis that includes exploration of the constitutional dimension of reforms to the EU's economic governance, the Fellowship will focus on the extent and nature of the delegation of domestic executive authority in the economic sphere to European institutions and agencies. The legal framework for, and legitimacy and accountability of, this shifting pattern of executive power form the core strands of the research.