Differentiation in European Union law

Book abstract:

There are various factors that can be identified as pushing the European Union in the direction of differentiation. These include the emergence of local cultural identities, the enlargement of the European Union, politics which emphasise decentralisation and locality as well as the distrust of grand schemes and the attachment of people in Europe to the small-scale or medium-size political organisations to which they are accustomed. Whether it is termed differentiation, multiple-speed integration, variable geometry, Europe à la carte or flexible integration, differentiation has recently entered fully into the halls of legal scholarship. The Single European Act and especially Maastricht Treaty on European Union marked important watersheds in this respect in the theory and practice of European integration. The Amsterdam Treaty consolidated this re-orientation. Following the policy-makers, legal scholarship has now begun to take seriously what the Amsterdam Treaty refers to as closer co-operation.
Adopting a law-in-context approach, the book begins with a historical overview of differentiation, covering the period from the Treaty of Rome to the Maastricht Treaty. The second chapter covers the post-Maastricht period to the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference. The third chapter examines differentiation and the Treaty of Amsterdam. Chapter four looks at differentiation and the principle of non-discrimination and chapter five provides a categorisation of differentiation. The final two chapters look at legal limits to a multi-speed Europe and put differentiation into context, looking at causes, objectives and consequences for the future of the European integration process. The book includes tables of cases and legislation and abbreviations.
Particularly relevant in view of the ratification of the Treaty of Amsterdam, legal scholars and political scientists should find this book enables them to keep abreast of the debates on European constitutional law.

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