SSH/ESPO Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication (ESPO)
SSH/ESPO/EURO Ecole interfacultaire en études européennes (EURO)
SSH/SPLE Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE)
I am a Professor of European Economic Policy at UcLouvain since 2018 and I was the co-editor of the journal Politique Européenne between 2018 and 2024. My fields of specialisation are political economy, European studies, financial ethics, central banks and financial crises.
I received my PhD in political science from Sciences-Po in Grenoble in December 2012 on how the ECB extended its political influence and competences during the eurozone crisis. After my PhD, I taught at Sciences Po Lille and did post-doctoral research stays at the Centre de Recherche en Éthique of the University of Montreal, at the PACTE/CNRS laboratory for the H2020 project EmuChoices and for the Financial Ethics research group at the University of Gothenburg.
I am involved as a collaborator or principal investigator in research projects on the history of macroeconomic models at the Bank of England (collaborator), the EU just transtion (co-PI) and on the EU Green taxonomy (PI).
I am the author of numerous publications in scientific journals in French and English (see publication tab) and I am co-author of the book "Do Central Banks serve the People" (Polity, 2018), translated into French (ed. Raisons d'agir, 2019). I regularly disseminate the results of my research in English speaking media such as Social Europe or Euractiv.
I am currently promoting or co-promoting the following research:
- Antoine de Cabanes' thesis (FNRS candidate) comparing the political work done on the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank
- Tanguy Brun's thesis (FNRS candidate) on the strategies of financial firms towards regulatory projects of greening finance
- Zsuzsanna Szeredi thesis (Teaching assistant, UcLouvain) on the evolution of the Financial Regulation (EU budget rule)
- Aurélien Goutsmedt's post-doctoral thesis (FNRS Research Fellow) comparing the ECB and European Commission's macroeconomic forecasting models
- Francisco Padilla Olivares thesis (personnal funds, UcLouvain) on the ECB's role in the EU financial supervision and regulation systems
- Tiago Moreira Ramalho's post-doctorate (Research Project, UCLouvain) analysing the ideas and instruments of the European "just transition" (co promotion with Amandine Crespy)
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Fontan, Clément. La BCE face à ses monstres : les transformations du cadrage de la stabilité des prix (1998-2023). In: Revue française d'histoire économique, Vol. 23 (2025) (Accepté/Sous presse).
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Francesco Sergi ; François Claveau ; Fontan, Clément. Not a steamroller, a 3D process: Scientization at the Bank of England. In: Finance and Society. doi:10.1017/fas.2025.8. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/fas.2025.8.
Fontan, Clément. Riders on the delegated act storm: power struggles and expertise in the evolution of the EU Taxonomy. In: Journal of European Public Policy, (2025) (Accepté/Sous presse).
Acosta, Juan ; Cherrier, Béatrice ; Claveau, François ; Fontan, Clément ; Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Sergi, Francesco. Six Decades of Economic Research at the Bank of England. In: History of Political Economy, Vol. 56, no. 1 (2024). doi:10.1215/00182702-10956544.
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Sergi, Francesco ; Cherrier, Béatrice ; Claveau, François ; Fontan, Clément ; Acosta, Juan. To Change or Not to Change: The Evolution of Forecasting Models at the Bank of England. In: Journal of Economic Methodology, (2023). doi:10.1080/1350178X.2024.2303113 (Accepté/Sous presse).
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Fontan, Clément. The ECB and the inflation monsters: strategic framing and the responsibility imperative (1998-2023). In: Journal of European Public Policy, (2023). doi:10.1080/13501763.2023.2281583 (Accepté/Sous presse).
Fontan, Clément. Central Banking and Inequalities: Old Tropes and New Practices. In: Kappes, S., Rochon, L.P. & Vallet; G. (eds)., Central Banking, Monetary Policy and Social Responsibility, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK:, 2022. 978-1800372221.
Fontan, Clément ; Antoine de Cabanes. Central banks. In: Martino Maggetti, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Fabrizio Di Mascio, Professor o, Handbook of Regulatory Authorities, Edward Elgar, 2022, p. 528. 9781839108983.
Fontan, Clément. The Euro Crisis: The Battle of Ideas. How to Address the Euro Crisis – and its Effects on European Integration. In: Sybille Munch, The EU at a crossroad. EU Policies after the Negotiations about the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK:, 2022. 9781788111041.
Fontan, Clément ; Howarth, David. The European Central Bank and the German Constitutional Court: Police Patrols and Fire Alarms. In: Politics and Governance, Vol. 9, no.2, p. 241-251 (2021). doi:10.17645/pag.v9i2.3888.
Fontan, Clément. Deux poids, deux mesures ? L’action de la BCE pendant la crise de la zone euro . In: Sabine Saurugger, Les politiques publiques dans la crise 2008 et ses suites, Presses de Sciences Po: Paris, 2021, p. 336. 9782724627008.
van ’t Klooster, Jens ; Fontan, Clément. The Myth of Market Neutrality: A Comparative Study of the European Central Bank’s and the Swiss National Bank’s Corporate Security Purchases. In: New Political Economy, p. 1-15 (2019). doi:10.1080/13563467.2019.1657077.
Larue, Louis ; Fontan, Clément ; Sandberg, Joakim. The promises and perils of central bank digital currencies. In: Revue de la régulation, Vol. 28, no.4, p. en ligne (2020). doi:10.4000/regulation.18018.
Fontan, Clément ; Larue, Louis. Central Banking. In: Christian Borch and Robert Wosnitzer, Routledge Handbook of Critical Finance Studies, Routledge: Abingdon, 2020. 9781138079816.
Fontan, Clément ; Saurugger, Sabine. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Preference Formation in France During the Eurozone Crisis. In: Political Studies Review, Vol. 17, no.4, p. 147892991986860 (2019). doi:10.1177/1478929919868600.
Fontan, Clément. Contribution to the Symposium on “Financial Citizenship: Experts, Publics, and the Politics of Central Banking” by Anne-Lise Riles. In: Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, Vol. 1, no.1, p. 1 11 (2019). doi:10.1515/ael-2019-0017.
Fontan, Clément ; Dietsch, Peter ; Claveau, François. Les banques centrales et la justice sociale. In: Éthique publique, Vol. 21, no.2, p. 1-23 (2019). doi:10.4000/ethiquepublique.4856.
Saurugger, Sabine ; Fontan, Clément. The judicialisation of EMU politics: Resistance to the EU's new economic governance mechanisms at the domestic level. In: European Journal of Political Research, (2019). doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12322.
Peter Dietsch ; Francois Claveau ; Fontan, Clément. Les banques centrales servent-elles nos intérêts? , Raisons d'agir: Paris, 2019. 9791097084028.
Fontan, Clément. Dépolitisation et (re)politisation des enjeux monétaires en Europe. Les politiques d’indépendance de la Banque centrale européenne. In: Bastien François, Antoine Vauchez, Politique de l'indépendance Formes et usages contemporains d'une technologie de gouvernement, Presses du septentrion: Paris, 2019, p. 20 - 40. 2757429485.
Fontan, Clément ; De Cabanes Antoine. La Cour de Justice face à Gauweiler. La mise en récit de l’indépendance de la BCE. In: Antoine Bailleux, Elsa Bernard, Sophie Jacquot, Les récits judiciaires de l’Europ: concepts et typologie, Bruylant, 2019, p. 170 - 191. 280276487X.
Fontan, Clément ; Caune Helene. Le choix de l’austérité pour faire face à la crise. Que reste-t-il aux États comme marge de manœuvre économique et sociale ?. In: Sabine Saurugger Simon Persico, Sauver l'Europe ? Citoyens, élections et gouvernance européenne par gros temps, Dalloz: Paris, 2019, p. 110 - 119. 224718958X.
Fontan, Clément. Frankfurt’s double standard: the politics of the European Central Bank during the Eurozone crisis. In: Cambridge Review of International Affairs, no. online, p. 1-21 (2018). doi:10.1080/09557571.2018.1495692.
Fontan, Clément ; Carré, Emmanuel ; L’Oeillet, Guillaume. Theoretical perspectives on the new era of central banking. In: French Politics, Vol. 16, no. 4 (2018). doi:10.1057/s41253-018-0067-8.
Fontan, Clément. Do Central Banks Serve the People?, Polity Press: Cambridge, 2018. 978-1-509-52577-5.
Fontan, Clément. La crise financière de 2007. In: Colin Hay Andy Smith, Dictionnaire d'économie politique, Presses de Sciences-Po: Paris, 2018, p. 123-134. 272462310X.
Fontan, Clément ; Adrien Faudot. Monnaie. In: Colin Hay Andy Smith, Dictionnaire d'économie politique, Presses de Sciences-Po: Paris, 2018, p. 319-325. 272462310X.
Fontan, Clément. Resisting in times of crisis: the implementation of European rigor plans in the Irish and Greek cases. In: Nikolaos Zahariadis and Laurie Buonanno, The Routledge Handbook of European Public Policy, Routledge: Londres, 2018, pp.349-356. 1138927333.
Claveau, François ; Dietsch, Peter ; Fontan, Clément. The ethics of central banking. In: A. Lever & A. Poama, The Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy, Routledge: London, 2018, p. 178-190. 9781315461724.
Fontan, Clément ; Claveau, François ; Dietsch, Peter. Central banking and inequalities : Taking off the blinders. In: Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Vol. 15, no.4, p. 319-357 (2016). doi:10.1177/1470594x16651056.
Fontan, Clément. Une banque centrale au-dessus des nations ? Faire peser les intérêts nationaux au sein de la Banque Centrale Européenne. In: Revue française d'administration publique, Vol. 158, no.2, p. 491 (2016). doi:10.3917/rfap.158.0491.
Fontan, Clément. L'art du grand écart : La Banque centrale européenne face aux dilemmes provoqués par la crise de la zone euro. In: Gouvernement et action publique, Vol. 2, no.2, p. 103 (2014). doi:10.3917/gap.142.0103.
Fontan, Clément. Frankenstein en Europe : L'impact de la Banque centrale européenne sur la gestion de la crise de la zone euro. In: Politique européenne, Vol. 42, no.4, p. 22 (2013). doi:10.3917/poeu.042.0022.
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Fontan, Clément. La BCE face à ses monstres : les transformations du cadrage de la stabilité des prix (1998-2023). In: Revue française d'histoire économique, Vol. 23 (2025) (Accepté/Sous presse).
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Francesco Sergi ; François Claveau ; Fontan, Clément. Not a steamroller, a 3D process: Scientization at the Bank of England. In: Finance and Society. doi:10.1017/fas.2025.8. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/fas.2025.8.
Fontan, Clément. Riders on the delegated act storm: power struggles and expertise in the evolution of the EU Taxonomy. In: Journal of European Public Policy, (2025) (Accepté/Sous presse).
Acosta, Juan ; Cherrier, Béatrice ; Claveau, François ; Fontan, Clément ; Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Sergi, Francesco. Six Decades of Economic Research at the Bank of England. In: History of Political Economy, Vol. 56, no. 1 (2024). doi:10.1215/00182702-10956544.
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Sergi, Francesco ; Cherrier, Béatrice ; Claveau, François ; Fontan, Clément ; Acosta, Juan. To Change or Not to Change: The Evolution of Forecasting Models at the Bank of England. In: Journal of Economic Methodology, (2023). doi:10.1080/1350178X.2024.2303113 (Accepté/Sous presse).
Goutsmedt, Aurélien ; Fontan, Clément. The ECB and the inflation monsters: strategic framing and the responsibility imperative (1998-2023). In: Journal of European Public Policy, (2023). doi:10.1080/13501763.2023.2281583 (Accepté/Sous presse).
Fontan, Clément. Central Banking and Inequalities: Old Tropes and New Practices. In: Kappes, S., Rochon, L.P. & Vallet; G. (eds)., Central Banking, Monetary Policy and Social Responsibility, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK:, 2022. 978-1800372221.
Fontan, Clément ; Antoine de Cabanes. Central banks. In: Martino Maggetti, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Fabrizio Di Mascio, Professor o, Handbook of Regulatory Authorities, Edward Elgar, 2022, p. 528. 9781839108983.
Fontan, Clément. The Euro Crisis: The Battle of Ideas. How to Address the Euro Crisis – and its Effects on European Integration. In: Sybille Munch, The EU at a crossroad. EU Policies after the Negotiations about the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK:, 2022. 9781788111041.
Fontan, Clément ; Howarth, David. The European Central Bank and the German Constitutional Court: Police Patrols and Fire Alarms. In: Politics and Governance, Vol. 9, no.2, p. 241-251 (2021). doi:10.17645/pag.v9i2.3888.
Fontan, Clément. Deux poids, deux mesures ? L’action de la BCE pendant la crise de la zone euro . In: Sabine Saurugger, Les politiques publiques dans la crise 2008 et ses suites, Presses de Sciences Po: Paris, 2021, p. 336. 9782724627008.
van ’t Klooster, Jens ; Fontan, Clément. The Myth of Market Neutrality: A Comparative Study of the European Central Bank’s and the Swiss National Bank’s Corporate Security Purchases. In: New Political Economy, p. 1-15 (2019). doi:10.1080/13563467.2019.1657077.
Larue, Louis ; Fontan, Clément ; Sandberg, Joakim. The promises and perils of central bank digital currencies. In: Revue de la régulation, Vol. 28, no.4, p. en ligne (2020). doi:10.4000/regulation.18018.
Fontan, Clément ; Larue, Louis. Central Banking. In: Christian Borch and Robert Wosnitzer, Routledge Handbook of Critical Finance Studies, Routledge: Abingdon, 2020. 9781138079816.
Fontan, Clément ; Saurugger, Sabine. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Preference Formation in France During the Eurozone Crisis. In: Political Studies Review, Vol. 17, no.4, p. 147892991986860 (2019). doi:10.1177/1478929919868600.
Fontan, Clément. Contribution to the Symposium on “Financial Citizenship: Experts, Publics, and the Politics of Central Banking” by Anne-Lise Riles. In: Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, Vol. 1, no.1, p. 1 11 (2019). doi:10.1515/ael-2019-0017.
Fontan, Clément ; Dietsch, Peter ; Claveau, François. Les banques centrales et la justice sociale. In: Éthique publique, Vol. 21, no.2, p. 1-23 (2019). doi:10.4000/ethiquepublique.4856.
Saurugger, Sabine ; Fontan, Clément. The judicialisation of EMU politics: Resistance to the EU's new economic governance mechanisms at the domestic level. In: European Journal of Political Research, (2019). doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12322.
Peter Dietsch ; Francois Claveau ; Fontan, Clément. Les banques centrales servent-elles nos intérêts? , Raisons d'agir: Paris, 2019. 9791097084028.
Fontan, Clément. Dépolitisation et (re)politisation des enjeux monétaires en Europe. Les politiques d’indépendance de la Banque centrale européenne. In: Bastien François, Antoine Vauchez, Politique de l'indépendance Formes et usages contemporains d'une technologie de gouvernement, Presses du septentrion: Paris, 2019, p. 20 - 40. 2757429485.
Fontan, Clément ; De Cabanes Antoine. La Cour de Justice face à Gauweiler. La mise en récit de l’indépendance de la BCE. In: Antoine Bailleux, Elsa Bernard, Sophie Jacquot, Les récits judiciaires de l’Europ: concepts et typologie, Bruylant, 2019, p. 170 - 191. 280276487X.
Fontan, Clément ; Caune Helene. Le choix de l’austérité pour faire face à la crise. Que reste-t-il aux États comme marge de manœuvre économique et sociale ?. In: Sabine Saurugger Simon Persico, Sauver l'Europe ? Citoyens, élections et gouvernance européenne par gros temps, Dalloz: Paris, 2019, p. 110 - 119. 224718958X.
Fontan, Clément. Frankfurt’s double standard: the politics of the European Central Bank during the Eurozone crisis. In: Cambridge Review of International Affairs, no. online, p. 1-21 (2018). doi:10.1080/09557571.2018.1495692.
Fontan, Clément ; Carré, Emmanuel ; L’Oeillet, Guillaume. Theoretical perspectives on the new era of central banking. In: French Politics, Vol. 16, no. 4 (2018). doi:10.1057/s41253-018-0067-8.
Fontan, Clément. Do Central Banks Serve the People?, Polity Press: Cambridge, 2018. 978-1-509-52577-5.
Fontan, Clément. La crise financière de 2007. In: Colin Hay Andy Smith, Dictionnaire d'économie politique, Presses de Sciences-Po: Paris, 2018, p. 123-134. 272462310X.
Fontan, Clément ; Adrien Faudot. Monnaie. In: Colin Hay Andy Smith, Dictionnaire d'économie politique, Presses de Sciences-Po: Paris, 2018, p. 319-325. 272462310X.
Fontan, Clément. Resisting in times of crisis: the implementation of European rigor plans in the Irish and Greek cases. In: Nikolaos Zahariadis and Laurie Buonanno, The Routledge Handbook of European Public Policy, Routledge: Londres, 2018, pp.349-356. 1138927333.
Claveau, François ; Dietsch, Peter ; Fontan, Clément. The ethics of central banking. In: A. Lever & A. Poama, The Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy, Routledge: London, 2018, p. 178-190. 9781315461724.
Fontan, Clément ; Claveau, François ; Dietsch, Peter. Central banking and inequalities : Taking off the blinders. In: Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Vol. 15, no.4, p. 319-357 (2016). doi:10.1177/1470594x16651056.
Fontan, Clément. Une banque centrale au-dessus des nations ? Faire peser les intérêts nationaux au sein de la Banque Centrale Européenne. In: Revue française d'administration publique, Vol. 158, no.2, p. 491 (2016). doi:10.3917/rfap.158.0491.
Fontan, Clément. L'art du grand écart : La Banque centrale européenne face aux dilemmes provoqués par la crise de la zone euro. In: Gouvernement et action publique, Vol. 2, no.2, p. 103 (2014). doi:10.3917/gap.142.0103.
Fontan, Clément. Frankenstein en Europe : L'impact de la Banque centrale européenne sur la gestion de la crise de la zone euro. In: Politique européenne, Vol. 42, no.4, p. 22 (2013). doi:10.3917/poeu.042.0022.