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The European Union: wider and deeper?

Kelemen, R. D., Menon, A. & Slapin, J. (2014) “The European Union: wider and deeper?“, Routledge Publications, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 643-646, 28 Απριλίου.

 

What is the relationship between widening and deepening in the European Union (EU)? Does the addition of new member states affect the process of centralization – that is to say, whether and how member states transfer ever more authority over a greater range of policy areas to the EU level? While the relationship between widening and deepening has been recognized for many years as one of the ‘big questions’ in the field of European integration, the existing literature on it suffers from a number of theoretical and empirical shortcomings and has left important questions unanswered. Many discussions of this relationship are based on dubious ‘common wisdoms’ – above all the assumption that widening necessarily impedes deepening. Early enlargements spawned fears that the functioning of EU institutions would be adversely affected as a result. By the time of the enlargement of 1995 to Austria, Finland and Sweden, and with the prospect of Eastern enlargement on the horizon, concerns grew over how widening might generate gridlock, undermine the functioning of EU institutions and prevent deepening. This has been encapsulated in recent years in discussions concerning the ‘absorption capacity’ of the European Union.

 

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