Eine Pflicht zum Finanzausgleich innerhalb der Europäischen Union?

Is the EU obliged to issue financial compensation to its Member States? Is such an obligation stipulated in the EU’s primary treaties, or demanded by its federal structure or by the principle of democracy itself? In this study, after examining the current situation in this respect, the author addresses these questions from a legal perspective especially, while also taking approaches and concepts from political science, finance and economics into account. In doing so, she comes to the conclusion that the EU is actually not obliged to issue such compensation, but that the foundations of its treaties and its federal structure do open up far-reaching opportunities in this regard. Moreover, an ordered and durable system of financial compensation can also prevent the entire system from becoming destabilised if one or several of the EU’s Member States find themselves in severe financial difficulties.