The Crises and the Future of Europe

The European Union is a political system made up of states that simultaneously transforms these states. It represents a large-scale experiment in modern transnational governing. At present the multilevel configuration that makes up the European Union is facing an unprecedented number of crises and challenges associated with the financial turned political crisis; the refugee crisis; the Ukraine crisis; and Brexit (and the domino effects it might engender). The purpose of this Section is to understand the nature of the challenges presently facing the EU and the implications that they will have for the further development of this complex political system. More specifically, the Section contains five Panels that seek to deal with European crises in different, but inter-related ways. We are interested in furthering our understanding of the kinds of crises that are at play in contemporary Europe and how the EU has handled these. Moreover, we want Panels and Papers to probe the impact of crises on EU governance and EU citizens. Finally, we are interested in what these assessments can tell us about the further trajectory of European (dis)integration. We therefore invite normative, theoretical and empirical Papers for the following Panels. At present we have been allocated five Panels, but we may at a later point in time obtain one or two more Panels. We are therefore open for complementary Panel suggestions. Panel 1: The Euro-zone crisis The Euro-zone crisis started out as a financial crisis, developed into a fiscal crisis, and has since unfolded as a major institutional – even constitutional – crisis. Why is it that a crisis that emerged in the U.S. has taken on such distinctive features in Europe? The question brings up the issue of EU resilience to external shocks and the implications of several of the EU’s design flaws, not the least of which is the lopsided relationship between monetary and fiscal union. We are interested in papers that discuss how the Euro-zone crisis has altered the EU, in political, institutional and constitutional terms, as well as papers that discuss how the Euro-zone crisis affects the EU’s abilities to grapple with the other crises. In what way(s) does the Euro-zone crisis constrain the EU’s ability to deal with the refugee crisis and Brexit? Panel 2: The refugee crisis The refugee crisis in particular brings up the issue of what is meant by crisis, including criteria for establishing what qualifies as a crisis and what does not. There is obviously an important subjective dimension to crisis, and the ability to define something as a crisis (or conversely repress it) is an important political resource. We are interested in papers that focus on how this issue is framed across Europe, with particular emphasis on securitization; the build-up of EU action capability; and the implications for EU governance and legitimacy. That includes paying attention to the manner in which, or the extent to which, the refugee crisis spills over to the other crises currently facing the EU. Panel 3: Brexit The EU has generally been considered under the heading of a system of states coming together. The issue of Brexit is obviously challenging that notion and brings up issues of holding together, which pertain to the EU and the UK alike. One issue is whether Brexit represents a crisis, and if so, for whom? Another pertains to different ways of framing the issue of Brexit: Is it foremost a manifestation of the problems built into the EU? Or is it rather to be understood as a reflection of the specific challenges facing the UK in organizing its relationship to the EU? We are interested in papers that assess the implications of Brexit for the UK and for the EU, with particular emphasis on the latter. Panel 4: Crises and their implications for governing structures and citizens This Panel focuses on the impacts of the crises on multilevel EU governing structures, and the role and status of EU citizens. How does the EU system under the weight of these crises relate to its citizens? How are citizens understood and conceptualized by the multilevel EU system? One critical issue is whether the crises have instigated a new and more informal approach to governing where the center of gravity is shifted to informal networks and/or shifted onto independent agencies. A common denominator here could be a clear development towards technocracy. Another issue pertains to the rise of populism. We invite papers that shed light on the interaction between technocracy and populism in light of the implications of the crises, as well as papers that focus on broader aspects of EU governing and European society. Panel 5: Crises and different possible EU trajectories This Panel takes as its point of departure the widely recognized notion that the crises have increased EU differentiation and segmentation. Prior to the crises the EU had instituted measures for enhanced integration of groups of states; with Brexit we now see movements towards differentiated disintegration (acknowledging that a Brexited UK will not entirely escape EU rules). We invite papers that discuss the prospects for a group of states coming together and forming binding forms of cooperation and retailoring the EU institutions along those lines, as well as papers that discuss disintegration or possibly even fragmentation. We invite papers that conceptualize what distintegration/fragmentation is; and papers that look at concrete developments in order to establish the prospects for disintegration.