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This volume argues that the crisis of the European Union is not merely a fiscal crisis but reveals and amplifies deeper flaws in the structure of the EU itself. It is a multidimensional crisis of the economic, legal and political cornerstones of European integration and marks the end of the technocratic mode of integration which has been dominant since the 1950s. The EU has a weak political and administrative centre, relies excessively on governance by law, is challenged by increasing heterogeneity and displays increasingly interlocked levels of government. During the crisis, it has become more and more asymmetrical and has intervened massively in domestic economic and legal systems. A team of economists, lawyers, philosophers and political scientists analyse these deeper dimensions of the European crisis from a broader theoretical perspective with a view towards contributing to a better understanding and shaping the trajectory of the EU.
This volume explores the involvement of the European Union in the exercise of core state powers such as foreign and defense policy, public finance, public administration, and the maintenance of law and order.
The European Union is a new subject for theories of legitimacy, posing fundamental questions to the established concepts and principles of democratic theory. General compliance and popular acceptance and respect for European law is at stake. The volume addresses the main challenges of the European Union to democratic theory. The legitimacy of such transnational institutions born by political integration has so far received some but scant attention. The mere existence of the Union proves that the sovereign state cannot remain the sole focus of normative reflection. Indeed, the very conception of sovereignty is at stake. The present volume combines political science and normative political theory to offer concepts, arguments and criteria that further these debates, addressing problems of principle.
Outstanding social scientists (economists, sociologists, political scientists, and policy researchers) discuss in this book the issue of the social aspects of European integration. For each field, they sketch out the main problems, provide a survey on the relevant literature, and point to areas wherein more research is needed. The science and research policy of the European Union is examined critically both in terms of relevant social issues and in terms of its organizational efficacy.
Discussing what we may learn from thinking about the EU in federal terms represents a two-fold challenge. It is on the one hand a matter of establishing 'how federal' the EU is (the EU's federal challenge). On the other, the EU has federal features but is not a state, thus raising the question of whether federal theory and practice may have to be adapted to take proper account of the EU (the EU's challenge to federalism). The contributions to this collection supplement and extend existing scholarship through focusing on two important lines of inquiry. The first focuses on the relationship between federalism and democracy, with particular emphasis on how federal systems respond to and deal wi...
The contributors to this book examine the issues of constitutional choice that face the governments and citizens of today's Europe. Divided into three sections this study addresses: questions of political legitimacy and the meaning of democratic deficit in the EU; the reality of what institutional reforms and decision making processes are possible; and the rights of citizenship and values that should be protected.
Few countries have caused or experienced more calamities in the 20th century than Germany. This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of some of the major issues of German domestic politics, economics, foreign policy, and culture by leading experts in their respective fields.
The European Union's history exhibits numerous episodes in which Member States have sought to re-enforce their national autonomy in the face of deepening integration. Efforts to re-gain autonomy, however, are often accompanied by legitimate concerns that autonomy will lead to dis-integration or will have wider destructive consequences. The EU thus faces a dilemma. Calls for autonomy cannot all be dismissed as mere populist rhetoric or national egoism but instead represent a legitimate questioning of the degree of uniformity that EU law and politics presently carry. At the same time, the fear that greater autonomy may carry dis-integrative effects is also legitimate -uniformity is not an acci...
Against the backdrop of a more differentiated European Union, this book discusses the relationship between differentiation and domination in the EU in relation to how it has been transformed through the financial and refugee crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and in general, a more volatile and less rule-bound global context. In doing so, it assesses to what extent these adaptations represent significant change, generating new problems and challenges, or on the other hand, providing an opportunity for new solutions or even signalling a new approach to governance that can mitigate problems associated with domination. Differentiation is discussed not only from a legal perspective, but with special attention to structural and institutional arrangements, which includes patterns of path dependence and built-in biases. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of public sector crisis management, international organisations, and EU politics and studies.