The EU in Permanent Crisis Mode: Causes and Effects

Since the onset of the 2008-09 global financial crisis the EU has been trapped in a state of permanent internal crisis as member state governments became predominantly preoccupied with resolving the financial instability inside the eurozone. These unprecedented circumstances were augmented by the occurrence of profound external challenges. The EU has shown itself to be collectively ill prepared for these challenges as a result of having neglected the development of its institutional capabilities in the areas of external and security affairs. The EU consequently failed to develop a joint response to the political instability and the military standoff in Ukraine, the deepening civil war in Syria and most recently to the mounting refugee crisis from the Middle East and Asia. The result is the profound weakening of the EU’s global standing since it is not only regarded as economically fragile but also as unable to deal effectively with crises in its neighbourhood. This Section will analyse the EU's response to the recent internal and external crises by examining the weaknesses in its governance framework. A strong emphasis is put on the divergence of member states' strategic interests and the tendency of the joint decision trap modus in the Council to frequently result in lowest common denominator compromise solutions, which lies at the heart of the EU's lack of output efficiency. The Section will also examine the effects of the crises on the EU's internal dynamics, including its tendency to move towards increasing differentiated levels of integration and policy cooperation between the currently 28 member states. Individual Papers will concentrate on the diversity of national interests in the EU in relation to various aspects of governance in strategic EU policy areas in the context of diverging national interests, including economic and fiscal coordination, defence and security as well as justice and home affairs. The Section will include a dedicated Panel on the perspectives of the member states in Central and Eastern Europe, including the semi-institutionalised cooperation amongst the Visegrád 4 group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).