Politicisation and integration through law: whither integration theory?

Abstract:

This article aims to analyse the challenges the eurozone crisis created for theoretical explanations of European integration. Starting from a definition of the two central characteristics of the crisis – the increasing politicisation of the domestic level and the strong call for legal regulation of, and court response to, the EU’s economic governance – this article systematically analyses the capacities of mainstream theoretical frameworks to explain the way the EU has dealt with the situation since 2008. Liberal intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism, and constructivism explain parts of the processes, but do not sufficiently link the domestic level and the EU level to answer the crucial question of why a more politicised and opposed domestic level leads to continued integration through (hard) law. It is in broadening these main theoretical frames and in combining them that tools are found that allow for an understanding of contemporary EU integration through law in politicised times.