11 Institutional and political aspects of Europeanisation
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Steffen Mau
Abstract
Previous chapters were devoted to the comparison of different societies. In what follows, we want to shift our focus to European integration. We proceed from the premise that EU integration has triggered a fundamental transformation of European societies with greater cross-border interactions and a growing interconnectedness of different national societies. Of course, we concede that European integration is a politically initiated process. Those who initiated and are implementing the process are not ordinary citizens, but rather elites, governments and the heads of national authorities and administrations. However, through their decisions, they set in motion processes of Europeanisation and change the national frameworks of social and political integration. This process of integration involves the transfer of political powers to the European level, which is often referred to as supranationalisation. At the same time, membership of the European Union means that the various national systems have to be changed by the adoption of EU rules.
Integration takes place not just on the political, legal and economic levels, but also on the social level. In the preamble of the Treaty on European Union, integration is referred to as ‘an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe’ and thus points far beyond the political dimension of the unification process. In tandem with the efforts towards political and economic integration, the relationship of Europeans to each other and to their national societies is changing (Rumford, 2002; Delanty and Rumford, 2005). Thus, it is essential to explore how ‘institutional Europe’ affects national societies, their defining features, structures and institutional arrangements.
Abstract
Previous chapters were devoted to the comparison of different societies. In what follows, we want to shift our focus to European integration. We proceed from the premise that EU integration has triggered a fundamental transformation of European societies with greater cross-border interactions and a growing interconnectedness of different national societies. Of course, we concede that European integration is a politically initiated process. Those who initiated and are implementing the process are not ordinary citizens, but rather elites, governments and the heads of national authorities and administrations. However, through their decisions, they set in motion processes of Europeanisation and change the national frameworks of social and political integration. This process of integration involves the transfer of political powers to the European level, which is often referred to as supranationalisation. At the same time, membership of the European Union means that the various national systems have to be changed by the adoption of EU rules.
Integration takes place not just on the political, legal and economic levels, but also on the social level. In the preamble of the Treaty on European Union, integration is referred to as ‘an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe’ and thus points far beyond the political dimension of the unification process. In tandem with the efforts towards political and economic integration, the relationship of Europeans to each other and to their national societies is changing (Rumford, 2002; Delanty and Rumford, 2005). Thus, it is essential to explore how ‘institutional Europe’ affects national societies, their defining features, structures and institutional arrangements.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables v
- List of figures vi
- Acknowledgements viii
- List of EU countries ix
- Introduction and conceptual considerations 1
-
The European social model from a historical perspective
- Commonalities and intra-European exchange 9
- Political-economic models and institutional arrangements 49
-
European societies compared
- Political-economic models and institutional arrangements 49
- Population and family 87
- Migration 115
- Labour market and employment 135
- Education 173
- Social inequality 193
- Quality of life 225
-
European integration and European society in the making
- Institutional and political aspects of Europeanisation 263
- The dynamics of inequality in Europe 285
- Horizontal Europeanisation 303
- Subjective Europeanisation 329
- Conclusion: rise of a European society? 349
- References 357
- Index 417
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables v
- List of figures vi
- Acknowledgements viii
- List of EU countries ix
- Introduction and conceptual considerations 1
-
The European social model from a historical perspective
- Commonalities and intra-European exchange 9
- Political-economic models and institutional arrangements 49
-
European societies compared
- Political-economic models and institutional arrangements 49
- Population and family 87
- Migration 115
- Labour market and employment 135
- Education 173
- Social inequality 193
- Quality of life 225
-
European integration and European society in the making
- Institutional and political aspects of Europeanisation 263
- The dynamics of inequality in Europe 285
- Horizontal Europeanisation 303
- Subjective Europeanisation 329
- Conclusion: rise of a European society? 349
- References 357
- Index 417
