Portugal in the European Union: The Limits of Convergence

This article examines the integration experience of Portugal in the European Union in order to study how it has affected the country's fiscal policies in the decade prior to the global financial crisis, from 1999 to 2008. It focuses on three main variables to account for the difficulties that Portugal experienced in complying with the Stability and Growth Pact: institutions, ideas, and interests. The paper closes with some lessons from the Portuguese experience. The examination of this case will show that, to be successful, economic reform has to be a domestic process led by domestic actors willing to carry it out.