Ordoliberalism Out of Order? The Fragile Constitutionality of Greek Austerity (Part Two)

This is the second part of a two-part post. The first part, available here, considered the historical background of the concept of constitutional order and its relation to the ordoliberal project. Judicial independence was examined in parallel with central bank independence, with each understood as a means of insulating policy from social and democratic pressures and also as a means of enacting and maintaining fiscal discipline and market-conforming order. It also included some preliminary observations on the relation between constitutional order and the European Union / European Monetary Union, as well as a brief overview of the background and outbreak of the Eurozone crisis. This second part examines the specifically legal aspects of structural reforms in Greece from 2010 onwards, critically assessing different challenges to their constitutional legitimacy, as well as responses to these challenges. The ultimate aim is to assess the relationship between the ordoliberal concept of constitutional order and the constitutionality (or lack thereof) of Greek economic restructuring.