INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS On the Way to a Fiscal or a Stability Union? The Plans for a»Genuine« Economic and Monetary Union BJÖRN HACKER December 2013  Besides acute crisis management issues, the EU started a process of identifying possible reform steps to deepen the integration of the Economic and Monetary Union(EMU) in 2011. This engagement concerning the systemic character and risks of the Eurozone crisis began relatively late.  A mapping of missing elements in the Maastricht architecture of EMU done by Herman van Rompuy, José Manuel Barroso, Jean-Claude Juncker and Mario Draghi in 2012 presented four comprehensive building blocks that would have to be imple­mented in order to realise their»vision for a stable and prosperous EMU«.  These ideas for expanding the today’s monetary union to a fiscal union have been refined by own plans of the European Parliament and the European Commission. However, their scope has been stripped-down intensively by the heads of state and government at their European Council summit in December 2012.  Since then, the reform debate on establishing a»Genuine Economic and Monetary Union« transformed into a conflict between two groups of Member States gathering around France on one side and Germany on the other. The latter camp seems to have gained the lead with its»stability approach« against all kinds of mutual liability, financial rebalancing and social coherence. Elements still under consideration for 2014 are a Banking Union, stronger economic policy coordination, contractual agreements between Member States and the EU, a fiscal capacity, the democratic legitimation and the social dimension of EMU.