Can Greece be Expelled from the Eurozone? Toward a Default Rule on Expulsion from International Organizations

Authors

Joseph Blocher, Duke Law SchoolFollow
Mitu Gulati, Duke Law SchoolFollow
Laurence R. Helfer, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Chapter of Book

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

The ongoing European crisis has raised uncomfortable questions about the conditions under which treaty-based unions of nations like the EU or the EMU can legally expel a member—Greece being the most obvious candidate. The EU, for example, has rules governing the voluntary withdrawal of members, but says nothing about whether a member can be expelled. As a matter of international law, what does the silence mean? Put differently: What is the default rule regarding expulsions when a treaty says nothing about forced withdrawals? Is there an absolute bar on expulsion, as some have suggested? Conversely, is there an implicit right to expel? Or can material breaches of a treaty justify expulsion? And if fault is not required, must the expelled member state be compensated in some way?

Citation

Joseph Blocher et al, Can Greece be Expelled from the Eurozone? Toward a Default Rule on Expulsion from International Organizations, in Filling the Gap in Governance: The Case of Europe 127-150 (Franklin Allen et al eds., 2016)