4 What happened to the idea of ‘Ever Closer Union’? Differentiation as a persistent feature of European integration
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Benjamin Leruth
Abstract
The Brexit process effectively opened a new chapter in the history of European integration. Indeed, for the first time, a member state unilaterally triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to withdraw from the Union following the outcome of a heated (and controversial) referendum. Brexit is best understood as a process of differentiated disintegration, which combines two strains of European studies: differentiation, a phenomenon that gained traction following the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty; and European disintegration, a concept that scholars started focusing on following the 2007-08 Great Recession and subsequent waves of crises across the European Union. The war in Ukraine also created significant challenges for the future of European integration. The EU swiftly approved Moldova’s and Ukraine’s requests to be considered as accession candidates; yet, there is no genuine ‘fast track’ option to join the Union. Differentiation may offer some temporary or permanent options to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries. The European Political Community proposed by Emmanuel Macron in May 2022 aims at filling an institutional void that would pave the way for more differentiation across Europe, with the risks and opportunities this would entail. This chapter focuses on differentiation, understood as an umbrella term covering heterogeneous modes and strategies of integration and disintegration in the European Union, and its consequences for the future of European integration. It is argued that differentiation is now a persistent and mainstream feature in Europe and that it remains difficult to understand the full consequences it entails as these can be specific to the empirical context. As a result, differentiation should not be inherently considered as good or bad for the European Union. The chapter concludes by offering a theoretical reflection on where to draw the line between what is deemed acceptable for the European institutions and EU member states, and what can be harmful for the future of European integration, especially in line with the recent rule of law crises in Poland and Hungary.
Abstract
The Brexit process effectively opened a new chapter in the history of European integration. Indeed, for the first time, a member state unilaterally triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to withdraw from the Union following the outcome of a heated (and controversial) referendum. Brexit is best understood as a process of differentiated disintegration, which combines two strains of European studies: differentiation, a phenomenon that gained traction following the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty; and European disintegration, a concept that scholars started focusing on following the 2007-08 Great Recession and subsequent waves of crises across the European Union. The war in Ukraine also created significant challenges for the future of European integration. The EU swiftly approved Moldova’s and Ukraine’s requests to be considered as accession candidates; yet, there is no genuine ‘fast track’ option to join the Union. Differentiation may offer some temporary or permanent options to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries. The European Political Community proposed by Emmanuel Macron in May 2022 aims at filling an institutional void that would pave the way for more differentiation across Europe, with the risks and opportunities this would entail. This chapter focuses on differentiation, understood as an umbrella term covering heterogeneous modes and strategies of integration and disintegration in the European Union, and its consequences for the future of European integration. It is argued that differentiation is now a persistent and mainstream feature in Europe and that it remains difficult to understand the full consequences it entails as these can be specific to the empirical context. As a result, differentiation should not be inherently considered as good or bad for the European Union. The chapter concludes by offering a theoretical reflection on where to draw the line between what is deemed acceptable for the European institutions and EU member states, and what can be harmful for the future of European integration, especially in line with the recent rule of law crises in Poland and Hungary.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- List of authors ix
-
Part I: Contextualising the EU and crises
- 1 Introduction: The EU under strain 1
- 2 Polity attacks and policy failures: The EU polycrisis and integration theory 27
-
Part II: The legal and democratic fundaments of the EU
- 3 Crisis-driven EU reforms in and beyond treaty limits: Is it time for a treaty change? 51
- 4 What happened to the idea of ‘Ever Closer Union’? Differentiation as a persistent feature of European integration 77
- 5 The difficulty of upholding the rule of law across the European Union: The case of Poland as an illustration of problems the European Union is facing 95
- 6 Representation in polycrisis: Towards a new research agenda for EU citizens 115
-
Part III: The EU in a changing world
- 7 After the deluge: Europe, the European Union and crisis in the world arena 133
- 8 EU enlargement in times of crisis: Strategic enlargement, the conditionality principle and the future of the “Ever-Closer Union” 155
- 9 The EU after Brexit: EU-UK relations and the latent crisis of withdrawal 173
- 10 A strained partnership? A typology of tensions in the EU-US transatlantic relationship 191
-
Part IV: European policy fields shaped by crisis
- 11 Consolidating the fortress Europe: Conceptualizations of solidarity in the EU Asylum System governance post-2015 211
- 12 EU Health: From pandemic crisis management to a European Health Union? 233
- 13 Leader or laggard? Diversity and minority rights in a union under strain 253
- 14 The slow-burning climate emergency and the European Green Deal: Prospects and pitfalls in the polycrisis era 275
- 15 European economic governance in times of crisis: Solidarity, responsibility, and legitimacy in EU debt mutualisation 293
- Index 319
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- List of authors ix
-
Part I: Contextualising the EU and crises
- 1 Introduction: The EU under strain 1
- 2 Polity attacks and policy failures: The EU polycrisis and integration theory 27
-
Part II: The legal and democratic fundaments of the EU
- 3 Crisis-driven EU reforms in and beyond treaty limits: Is it time for a treaty change? 51
- 4 What happened to the idea of ‘Ever Closer Union’? Differentiation as a persistent feature of European integration 77
- 5 The difficulty of upholding the rule of law across the European Union: The case of Poland as an illustration of problems the European Union is facing 95
- 6 Representation in polycrisis: Towards a new research agenda for EU citizens 115
-
Part III: The EU in a changing world
- 7 After the deluge: Europe, the European Union and crisis in the world arena 133
- 8 EU enlargement in times of crisis: Strategic enlargement, the conditionality principle and the future of the “Ever-Closer Union” 155
- 9 The EU after Brexit: EU-UK relations and the latent crisis of withdrawal 173
- 10 A strained partnership? A typology of tensions in the EU-US transatlantic relationship 191
-
Part IV: European policy fields shaped by crisis
- 11 Consolidating the fortress Europe: Conceptualizations of solidarity in the EU Asylum System governance post-2015 211
- 12 EU Health: From pandemic crisis management to a European Health Union? 233
- 13 Leader or laggard? Diversity and minority rights in a union under strain 253
- 14 The slow-burning climate emergency and the European Green Deal: Prospects and pitfalls in the polycrisis era 275
- 15 European economic governance in times of crisis: Solidarity, responsibility, and legitimacy in EU debt mutualisation 293
- Index 319
