Multi-regionalism in the Context of the EU Sovereign Debt Crisis: Current Legal Challenges and the Way Forward

The purpose of this article is to investigate the challenges posed by multiregionalism in the context of monetary and financial cooperation. The definition of “multiregionalism” was provided by Björn Hettne to describe a multilayered order of systematic relations among regional organizations and between the latter and international organizations. The first step towards monetary and financial multi-regionalism was taken by the IMF at the end of the 1990s, when it institutionalized surveillance over the European Monetary Union (EMU) and over other currency unions. However, while the modalities for surveillance over currency unions (CUs) are quite sophisticated (albeit not fully satisfactory), to present day the Fund has failed to formalize its relationship with Regional Financial Arrangements (RFAs). The European case, in particular, is proving the advantages of cooperation between the IMF and RFAs, not only in the prevention of crises, but also in providing financial assistance to countries in distress.