The Conceptual Links between Differentiated Integration and Democratic Legitimacy in the EU

Abstract

Differentiated integration (DI) seems to have become a permanent, organizational principle of the EU, grounded in a need to manage divisions and disagreements. DI may even be one of the major reasons why the EU continues to integrate despite political disagreements, enlargements, increased heterogeneity and euroscepticism. Attempts to conceptualise DI have mostly used the conceptual tools of traditional integration theories, asking whether we could explain what seems to be an inverted process of integration by the same factors we use to explain processes of integration. We think that such approaches are bound to be limited as traditional theories of integration pay little attention to issues of democratic legitimacy and public support – or the lack thereof as expressed in different forms of Euroscepticism – for European integration, whereas processes of differentiation are likely influenced by precisely these issues. However, the political landscapes in practically all member states since have changed, arguably challenging the traditional theories of integration. Therefore, this panel addresses one or more of the following questions: Will differentiated integration exacerbate, or make harder to address, the EU’s democratic deficit? Does DI undermine theories of integration that assume a teleology towards some finalité of the EU? Is politicization by definition a constraint on further integration that works in favour of DI or even disintegration? Are some forms of DI more legitimate than others? Is DI either the product of or does it produce domination between member states? Is it legitimate that DI leads to differentiated decision-making, with member states which opt out of certain policies having less of a say and, indirectly less overall influence, than those who do not? Is the recent empowerment of NPs a symptom of some of the drawbacks of DI and likely to enhance rather than diminish the democratic deficits of the EU?

Title	Details
The Dilemma of Democratic Representation in a Differentiated European Union	View Paper Details
Can Monetary Union be a Non-arbitrary form of Differentiated Integration?	View Paper Details
Contested Compromises on Post-crisis Fiscal Integration: Differentiated Preferences and the Role of National Parliaments	View Paper Details