Integration And Disintegration In European Economies

The complexity of the processes triggered after 1989 by the onset of transition to democratic society and a market economy in Central and Eastern Europe, and the time required for them to settle and stabilize, means that the economic situation of the continent remains uncertain. This book collects analyses by 12 scholars from various European countries on diverse aspects of the processes of integration and disintegration under way in the European countries.

Europe has changed radically since 1989 and continues to change at great speed. This book deals with the principle problems and challenges confronting Europe in the aftermath of the Cold War and the collapse of European communism. Whilst endeavouring to strike a balance between East, West, North and South, the volume is more concerned with the changing political, economic and cultural morphology of Europe, and of the relations within it, than with the formal institutional arrangements of the European Community and its successor, the European Union. There are already numerous books on the institutional development of the EU, but relatively few with a wider compass and institutional interpretations of European integration. The book shows that the study of European integration should be taken in the round, avoiding a narrow and self-centered concern with the development of the 'lesser Europe' of the EU. It demonstrates that integration should be seen as neither an inexorable predetermined process, nor as an automatic consequence of high levels of economic interdependence, but rather as something that proceeds in fits and starts and sometimes suffers reverses.

This new book provides a comprehensive analysis of Europe on the brink of political disintegration. Observers of the European Union (EU) could be forgiven for thinking that it is in a state of permanent crisis. The Union has been beset with high levels of Eurozone debt, Russian intervention and armed conflict in Ukraine, refugees fleeing conflict zones in North Africa and the Middle East, and the decision of Britain to leave the European Union. This text offers a concise and readable assessment of the dynamics, character and consequences of these four crises and the increasingly real possibility of European disintegration. High levels of socio-economic interdependence and institutionalization have failed to result in an ever closer union, and yet the proposed theories of disintegration also fall short. Webber instead shows that it is only by looking at the role of the EU's dominant member, Germany, in each crisis that the potential for an increasingly fragmented Europe becomes clear. Until now, Germany has been the EU's stabilizing force but this is no longer guaranteed. The fate of the integration process will depend on whether other, more inclusive forms of stabilizing leadership may emerge to fill the vacuum created by Berlin's incapacity. This text is the ideal companion for upper undergraduate and postgraduate students of the European Union, as part of degrees in politics, international relations or European studies, or for anyone interested in the crises of the European Union.

Sidney Pollard has provided a concise survey of economic issues for students of the European community. Going back to 1815, he links the progress of industrialisation in Europe to the relative ease with which ideas, men and capital were able to cross national frontiers. European frontiers make little economic sense and frequently cut across vital natural links. Professor Pollard shows how open frontiers speeded progress, in the particular circumstances of the spread of industrialisation from Britain to Western Europe and then to the rest of the continent, adn opened up new markets and opportunities of learning and technology transfer. Closed frontiers and the national selfishness of economic warfare led in contrast to stagnation, hostility and at times to all-out war. This classic study was first published in 1981.

This book accounts for whether and how the path of the European Union (EU) has developed towards potential disintegration. These questions have become particularly relevant since the outbreak of the debt crises in the Eurozone and the Brexit referendum. The author critically subverts theories of European integration and analyses the rise and fall of federations, empires and states in a comparative perspective. The most promising theory presented here indicates that Brexit is not likely to be followed by other member states leaving the EU. Nevertheless, the EU has been undermined from within as it cannot adequately address Eurosceptic dissatisfaction from both the left and right. This book is an essential read for everyone interested in the EU and its future.

European integration is not a priori positive or negative: it results from the interaction between various interests. During the past few years, however, it has been impossible to ignore increasingly strident claims that the European Union is in the midst of a crisis. According to this perspective, European institutions do not function well, democracy in the Union is flawed, eurozone problems have reached a critical point, and inward migration, which European institutions seem incapable of handling, is escalating. This book demonstrates that public choice theory can be a suitable analytical tool to examine the European integration process. It is based on the assumption that consumers, politicians and even nations are similarly concerned with their own interests (economic, political, and so on). Public choice theory enables us to ‘de-idealize’ the European integration process and see the interests of individual actors in the process more realistically. European integration does not occur because the actors are altruistic; rather, it comes about due to their rational pursuit of individual or group self-interests. European integration and other forms of globalization are not irreversible. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It remains a possibility that, after several decades of European integration, we are now entering an era of disintegration. This book will serve as a source of edification for academics, politicians, students, and experts, as well as the general public. It is designed to capture the interest of both graduate and postgraduate students of economics, political science and international relations.

Assessing the consequences of Brexit on EU policies, institutions and members, this book discusses the significance of differentiation for the future of European integration. This book theoretically examines differentiated integration and disintegration, focuses on how this process affects key policy areas, norms and institutions of the EU, and analyses how the process of Brexit is perceived by and impacts on third countries as well as other organizations of regional integration in a comparative perspective. This edited book brings together both leading and emerging scholars to integrate the process of Brexit into a broader analysis of the evolution, establishment and impact of the EU as a system of differentiation. This book will be of key interest to scholar and students of European Union politics, European integration, Brexit, and more broadly to Public Administration, Law, Economics, Finance, Philosophy, History and International Relations.

Far from displaying a uniform pattern of integration, the European Union varies significantly across policy areas, institutional development and individual countries. Why do some policies such as the Single Market attract non-EU member states, while some member states choose to opt out of other EU policies? In answering these questions, this innovative new text provides a state-of-the-art introduction to the study of European integration. The authors introduce the most important theories of European integration and apply these to the trajectories of key EU policy areas – including the single market, monetary policy, foreign and security policy, and justice and home affairs. Arguing that no single theory offers a completely convincing explanation of integration and differentiation in the EU, the authors put forward a new analytical perspective for describing and explaining the institutions and policies of the EU and their development over time. Written by a team of prominent scholars in the field, this thought-provoking book provides a new synthesis of integration theory and an original way of thinking about what the EU is and how it works.

In this major new text, Miroslav N.Jovanovic presents an analysis of all the major aspects of economic integration in the European Union. Beginning with an overview of the origins of European integration, he moves on to discuss in detail all the main policy areas. These include: *monetary policy *competition policy *industrial policy *fiscal policy *trade policy *the Common Agricultural Policy *foreign direct investment *regional policy. The volume also includes a discussion of less well-known policy areas, such as social policy, environmental policy and transport policy. Containing an excellent blend of theory and practice and presenting a highly complex issue in an accessible and non-technical way, this text will be an invaluable resource for students of international economics, international business and European studies.