In the aftermath of the Maastricht Treaty, Europe saw tremendous integration, but the last few years have seen a new power game between federalist and confederalist actors. Although the Lisbon Treaty increased the power of the federalist-inclined European Parliament, the politics of the European Council are marked by a confederalist approach that re-affirms the power of the individual member states. As the European Council gains in strength, it supports the idea that EU policies should act as a means to protect individual national interests rather than as a positive-sum game to the benefit of all member states. This ‘national egoism’ as a political strategy is paralleled by the rise of nationalism in many member states, as a result of which we are faced with an increase in social inequality due to unequal social rights and social exclusion of minorities, an increase of social control disguised as security policy, nostalgic cultural policies that emphasize the national cultural heritage, and migration control that threatens the Schengen Agreement. These developments pose a challenge for European social science scholars, both theoretically and based on practical experience from their research activities. International cooperation has improved theoretical and methodological knowledge in a major way, and academic exchange and migration have led to innovation in science and research. Since academic communities support further internationalization and Europeanization, and are opposed to all types of barriers between the nation states, there is a need to theoretically, conceptually, and empirically research the idea of a ‘European society’. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

This text presents the work of scholars from all over Europe who examine processes of integration and disintegration at the level of nation states, federations, regions and Europe overall.

Harold Wilson’s apparent volte-face on European Community membership in the autumn of 1966 has long puzzled commentators and Wilson’s colleagues alike. Based on interviews, private papers and recently released evidence from the National Archives, this book provides a fresh interpretation of Wilson’s policy towards the European Community. Studying the development of Britain’s policy between 1964 when Harold Wilson took office, and 1967 when the French President General de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s membership application for a second time, this book examines the rationale behind the British approach, explaining why Wilson launched an initiative for membership when the French seemed certain to obstruct. Also discussing Wilson’s handling of the Cabinet, and shedding light on Britain’s diplomacy towards the Six, this work places British policy towards Europe within the context of its foreign policy transition from a global to a regional role. Examining an important event in Anglo-European relations, this is essential reading for students of post-war British history, and for those interested in Britain’s historical relationship with Europe.

An excellent new analysis of federalism and the EU that investigates their mutual impact. It shows how scholars of comparative politics increasingly include the EU among their cases when investigating the impact of federalism on key issues such as policy making. The last decade saw a new wave of scholarly publications hit the shores as research on federalism and on the EU came together. These emerging strands of research genuinely enrich our understanding of the EU and its politics. Despite this recent wave, the topic of federalism and the EU is still extremely fruitful. This volume contributes to the continuing debate at a moment in time when the EU is undergoing profound changes. It is structured around four interrelated dimensions: the constitutional/theoretical dimension the institutional vision the party/citizens dimension the policy dimension. This structure allows the reader to consecutively "funnel down" from the more theoretical and abstract levels to the more concrete policy oriented level.

Since the European Research Area was launched at the beginning of the century, significant efforts have been made to realise the vision of a coherent space for science and research in Europe. But how does one define such a space and measure its development? This timely book analyses the dynamics of change in the policy and governance of science and research within Europe over the past decade. It widens the scope of traditional policy analysis by focusing attention on the interaction between policy rationales, new governance mechanisms, and the organisational dynamics of the scientific field. The contributors build a novel analytical framework to understand the European research space as one shifting from a fragmented space of “Science in Europe” to one that is labeled “European Science”. The chapters explore the dynamics of this shift through the lenses of political science, organisation theory, science policy and related analytical traditions. Towards European Science is an interdisciplinary book which will attract a wide set of scholars and professionals interested in science policy, governance and scientific practice. It will also be of use to university leaders and managers, as well as policy-makers and practitioners working on issues of internationalisation and the Europeanisation of science.

This book sheds light on the future of the European Union in a critical context marked by what appears to be a “never-ending” crisis of leadership and legitimacy. Will anti-European views and their corollary, such as Euro-populism, Euro-denial, and Euro-cynicisms along with all types of nationalisms, crush or further consolidate the European project? The volume offers detailed analyses of various dimensions of Euroscepticism in the context of the greatest economic crisis in the history of the EU. Divided into four sections, the first brings together general theoretical and empirical perspectives on Euroscepticism, building on existing studies. The second section focuses on the effects of the current economic crisis on Eurosceptic attitudes, while the third explores the marginal impact of Euroscepticism by analysing this phenomenon in countries that have recently joined the EU, such as Romania, and others in which membership is a debated issue and which may use the former’s experience as a model, such as Turkey or Ukraine. Finally, the concluding part discusses the consequences of Euroscepticism for the unity of Europe and the global role and relevance of the EU.

How do Muslim citizens across the globe perceive the European Union? And what factors influence their EU attitudes? This book offers the first systematic theoretical and empirical analysis of Muslim citizens’ EU attitudes in and outside the European Union. Using the best empirical data available, the book demonstrates that Muslim citizens’ attitudes are not shaped by their denomination and religious beliefs, but by material and political considerations. It finds that Muslims are most favourable toward the EU due to their positive experiences in European contexts, whereas in contrast, Muslim citizens outside the EU are more skeptical toward the European Union due to sovereignty concerns and the lack of support from the EU and its member states. Such findings not only contribute to the research on social legitimacy of international organizations and international public opinion more generally, but also provide important suggestions for (European) policy makers regarding external and domestic policies. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of European Union politics, Middle East studies, public opinion and International Relations.

For the earnest student of Europe, this unique work brings together a basic review of essential segments of intellectual thinking. In this volume, pertinent conceptual relationships, substantial relevant particulars, and an array of specific mechanics are all intertwined and used as a focus to examine the ongoing complex European integration process. By defining important parameterizations, this text develops a paradigm probing the current-day international activities which are rapidly leading to meta-national European supra-nationality. The most basic substantive of the integration process is the collective various peoples of Europe with their individual diversities. The origins of these collective diversities, the defining historical nationhood precedent, is herein examined, revealing the essential elements of individual identities, ethnologies, linguistic collectivities, and other antecedents imputing elements which compose the substance and stuff today coalescing into tomorrow's future harmonized European identity. This book is unique as it traces from many different origins the elements that are merging Europe into one collective future. This book sketches a process of onward integration as a continuation of what has happened in the past. This argument is augmented with many time lines, definition martial, and historical presentation, making it easy for the reader to grasp straightforwardly the wide-ranging substance out of which a single whole is being constructed. As a cognitive dynamic, movements such as the Nordic League, European Union, and EFTA as well as many other entities have been noted-- movements each in their own way, all contributing to an overall integrated Europe. As the more prominent initiative, the European Union with its diverse and constituent parts is carefully presented, as well as its unique decision-making process which is working to focus singular interests into collective benefits. Integration is an inevitable byproduct of continentalization, itself a sub consideration of globalization. The time and perhaps the gestalt of the end result of this activity is not known; however, with a comprehensive overview the motion is clearly identifiable, and the direction unequivocally certain. The Single House of Europe is being built of very different elements. This book defines these elements in terms of a paradigm for understanding the process of integration, the process that is rapidly forming the new Single House of Europe.

An innovative collaborative research project conducted jointly at Durham University and the Istitut fA r deutsche Sprache in Mannheim, Germany. It focuses on the study of public debates on economic and political integration of Europe, in both Britain and Germany and how these debates have developed in the post war period up to the 1990s. The following topics are investigated: Euro-discourse and the new media, British national identity in the European context, representations of Germany in the context of European integration in Margaret Thatchera (TM)s autobiographies, European debates in post-World War II Germany, the European debate in and between Germany and Great Britain, the career of the neologism Euro in German Press Texts and the metaphorization of European politics. The study links to Internet implications, providing the basis for further contrastive and comparative research on public discourse in the field of European politics.

From the world outside the community come the waves of globalization, in its several manifestations; the immigrants; the terrorist creeds and passions; the oil and gas; and - not least - the omnipresence of the United States. The last surely gets its share of critical attention among the thinking classes, business people, public officials and the public. Yet the nature and the extent of the ways in which America impinges on Europe is, I submit, still underestimated. This is true despite the acute awareness of American power and influence. I have in mind the effects the United States has in shaping how Europeans think, and not just about the international scene or the current strains in Euro-American relations - acute as they are. Beyond the evident, demonstrable ability to affect what goes on in the world is the more subtle propagation of social philosophies, cultural norms, and modes of doing things. Their permeation of European thought and sentiment has deleterious consequences for European self-esteem and will-power as well as for the capacity to devise means suited to Europe's own troubled circumstance.