Another quick passage from Streeck's book, does fit in with was briefly touched on above - apologies for length, but it really does put it all nicely:
6) The national and European regulations that are supposed to determine the economic and fiscal policies of member-states are to be formulated in such a way as to be valid forever, protecting them from being changed by new political majorities.
7) Lastly, in the event of non-compliance by a member-state, it is increasingly demanded that Brussels, in particular the Commission or the Court of Justice, get the power to act on behalf of the respective national state and take decisions for it and in its place to ensure conformity with the requirements of the market.
The direction in which this is heading is clear from a speech that Jens Weidmann, the president of the Bundesbank (who before this had been the chancellor’s closest economic policy adviser), gave in Mannheim on 14 June 2012. At a key point he remarked:
In the event that a country does not keep to the budgetary rules, national sovereignty would automatically pass to the EU level to the extent necessary for the targets to be reached … One example might be the right to implement – and not simply demand – tax increases or proportionate spending cuts … Within such a framework, the EU level could secure the path to consolidation, even if no majority can be found in the national parliament concerned.