Key controversies in European integration

Summary:

Since its inception the European Union has been a fiercely contested and politically divisive project. In recent years, controversial issues such as EU enlargement, the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the fallout from the Eurozone crisis have tested the EU to its limits and divided public opinion in the process. This innovative volume brings together leading scholars from around the world to debate the nature, current state and future of European integration. The contributors represent the whole spectrum of thinking about the European Union, ranging from pro-European to openly Euroscept.

Contents

1. The European Union: Success or Failure?
+ Why Europe Works - John McCormick
+ The End of the European Dream - John Gillingham

2. The Political Efficiency of the EU
+ The EU as Efficient Polity - Desmond Dinan
+ The EU: Quick to Regulate, Slow to Adapt - Mats Persson

3. More Powers for Brussels or Renationalization?
+ A Stronger, More Supranational Union - Derek Beach
+ The New Intergovernmentalism in EU Governance - Uwe Puetter

4. How Democratic Is The EU?
+ The Inevitability of a Democratic Deficit - Richard Bellamy
+ A Democratic Achievement, not just a Democratic Deficit - Christopher Lord

5. Too Much Power for the Judges?
+ Understanding the European Court's Political Power - Karen Alter
+ The European Court of Justice: A Strange Institution - Jeremy Radkin

6. Can There Be A Common European Identity?
+ The Emergence of a European Identity - Ulrike Liebert
+ A Common European Identity is an Illusion - Jonathan White

7. The Uncertain Future of the Euro
+ The Euro has a Future! - Amy Verdun
+ The End of the Euro Mark I: A Sceptical View of European Monetary Union - Tal Sadeh

8. Can The EU Tame Big Finance?
+ Regulating Financial Services in the EU: A Case of Successful Institutional Learning - Jörn Carsten Gottwald
+ The Pitfalls of EU Governance in Financial Markets - Daniel Mügge

9. The EU's Cohesion Policy: Reducing Disparities?
+ Cohesion Policy: Fostering European Integration through Development - Dirk Ahner
+ A Good Idea that Lost its Way: Cohesion Policy in the EU - Marco Brunazzo and Vincent Della Sala

10. The Big Waste? The Common Agricultural Policy
+ Europe's Common Values and Agricultural Policy: A Defence of the CAP - Ann-Christin Knudsen
+ EU Agricultural and Fisheries Policies: An Economic and Environmental Disaster - Eugénia da Conceição-Heldt

11. Foreign Economic Policies: How Much Power for the Lobbyists?
+ Why Interest Groups dominate EU Foreign Economic Policies - Andreas Dür
+ EU Foreign Economic Policies: The Autonomy of EU Institutions - Cornelia Woll

12. Does The EU Act as a Normative Power?
+ The European Union's Normative Power in Global Politics - Ian Manners
+ Living in a Material World: A Critique of 'Normative Power Europe' - Mark Pollack

13. Turkey and Beyond: Is EU Enlargement A Success Story or Has It Gone Too Far?
+ The Benefits of EU Enlargement: Stability, Prosperity, and Democracy - Rachel Epstein
+ EU Enlargement: A Critique - Christopher J. Bickerton

14. Towards A Common European Army?
+ Defence Integration in the EU: A Successful Vision! - Hanna Ojanen
+ Flattering to Deceive; The Common Security and Defence Policy - Anand Menon