All too often religion is largely ignored as a driver of identity formation in the European context, whereas in reality Christian Churches are central players in European identity formation at the national and continental level. Christian Churches in European Integration challenges this tendency, highlighting the position of churches as important identity formers and actors in civil society. Analysing the role of Churches in engaging with two specific EU issues – that of EU treaty reform and ongoing debates about immigration and asylum policy – the author argues that Churches are unique participants in European integration. Establishing a comprehensive view of Christian Churches as having a vital role to play in European integration, this book offers a substantial and provocative contribution both to our understanding of the European Union and the broader question of how religious and state institutions interact with one another.

Volume I considers the history of the European Union from an outside-in perspective, evaluating which outside forces shaped and guided the process of European integration. Taking an innovative, thematic approach, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of European integration.

As the first comprehensive monograph on the relations between the Catholic Church and the European Union, this book contains both a detailed historical overview of the political ties between the two complex institutions and a theoretical analysis of their normative orders and mutual interactions.

Bringing together political, diplomatic, economic, cultural, and contemporary history, this book explores why and how European integration came to pass. It tells a fascinating story of ideals and realpolitik, political dreams and geographical realities, and planning and chaos. Mathieu Segers reveals that the roots of today's European Union lie deep in Europe's past and encompass more than war and peace, or diplomacy and economics. Based on original archival and primary source research, Segers provides an integrated history of the beginnings of European integration and the emergence of post-war Western Europe and today's European Union. The Origins of European Integration offers a broad perspective on the genealogy of post-war Western Europe, providing readers with a deeper understanding of contemporary European history and the history of transatlantic relations.

EU enlargement - to countries in Central and Eastern Europe in 2004, the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and increasing debates on Turkey’s membership - has dramatically transformed the European Union into a multi-religious space. Religious communities are not only shaping identities but are also influential factors in political discourse. This edited volume examines the activities of religious actors in the context of supranational European institutions and the ways in which they have responded to the idea of Europe at local and international levels. By bringing together scholars working in political science, history, law and sociology, this volume analyses key religious factors in contemporary EU architecture, such as the transformation of religious identities, the role of political and religious leaders, EU legislation on religion, and, the activities of religious lobbies. This book was published as a special issue of Religion, State and Society.

European politics has been reshaped in recent decades by a dual process of centralization and decentralization. This dual process is known as "multi-level governance". This text argues that its emergence in the second half of the 20th century is a watershed in the political development of Europe.

Examining religious representation at the state, transnational and institutional levels, this volume demonstrates that religion is becoming an increasingly important element of the decision-making process. It provides a comprehensive analysis of religious representation in the European Union that will be of great interest to students and scholars of European politics, sociology of religion and international relations.

This book makes a major contribution to understanding European politics and identity. It examines how politicians, cultural elites, and other actors fight over Europe’s future with words and stories, telling narratives about European integration in different political, social, and cultural contexts. The chapters explore how actors formulate stories to make sense of Europe’s past and contemporary challenges and to legitimise their own positions and preferences. The contributors explore themes ranging from divisive stories about the European Union (EU), mobilised in institutional reform referendums, to the top-down deployment of legitimising narratives by EU institutions, religiously inspired apocalyptic narratives of European unity, and stories about nations and Europe told by museums and academics. Combined, the chapters of this book are essential reading for everyone interested in Europe’s common past and contemporary challenges, and the EU’s highly contested nature in times of apparently increasing disintegration.

Introduction: political parties and the politicization of Europe -- Approaches to the study of party responses to European integration -- An acquired taste for Europe: social democratic parties and European Integration -- Between reluctant Europeanism and hard Euroscepticism: radical left parties and European integration -- Separate ways: liberal parties and European integration -- Diluted Europeanism: Christian democratic parties and European integration -- Europeanized Eurosceptics? radical right parties and European integration -- Conclusion.

European views on Turkey’s membership in the EU have been split between those in support of its full integration and those advocating a privileged partnership. To the extent that many of the latter proposals imply that Turkey will be partially integrated within Europe in certain areas, the question of Turkey’s accession is probably not about ‘if’, but about ‘how much’ integration there will be within the Union’s structures. The purpose of this book is not to offer a definitive response to this question. The book aims instead to examine the complexity of the issues pertaining to Turkey’s prospective EU membership by presenting several, often divergent, accounts of the political, security and socio-economic dimensions of the entire process. The book provides a forum for an exchange of views among distinguished scholars and researchers from different national backgrounds in order to contribute to the ongoing public discussion of Turkey’s accession. Sophisticated, informative and refreshing in its argumentation, the book provides an excellent overview of the complexities of Turkey’s accession to the EU membership. Professor Mustafa Aydin, TOBB University of Economics and Technology A refreshing view from the European periphery, an original mirror of the Union's central challenges. Professor Georges Prevelakis, University of Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne