The European integration at the crossroad

Finn Laursen
Additional contact information
Finn Laursen: Dalhousie University (Canada)

EKONOMIAZ. Revista vasca de Economía, 2013, vol. 82, issue 01, 35-60

Abstract: This article asks a number of questions about the current stage of European integration. It traces past expansion of functional scope and membership of the EU and links these changes with efforts to increase the institutional capacity of the EU. After the big eastern enlargements in 2004 and 2007 and the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 and its entry into force in 2009 it is time to ask: where are we and where may we be going? A central issue is the eurozone crisis. Will the current muddling through add up to enough measures to pull us out of the crisis? Is there enough strategic thinking and leadership in the EU? German leadership with focus on austerity seems somewhat misplaced. Proposals for ‘more Europe’ in the form of banking, fiscal and political union, now appears to be the way forward. But how many member states of the EU –and eurozone– will be able to move in that direction? It looks as we may have more differentiated integration or ‘variable geometry’ in the future.

Keywords: EU enlargement; treaties; monetary and fiscal union; eurozone crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 E02 E42 E62 F33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.ogasun.ejgv.euskadi.net/r51-k86aekon/es ... ubl=78&registro=1246 complete text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ekz:ekonoz:2013102

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Dpto. de Hacienda y Finanzas, Gobierno Vasco, C/Donostia-San Sebastián, 1, 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in EKONOMIAZ. Revista vasca de Economía from Gobierno Vasco / Eusko Jaurlaritza / Basque Government Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Iñaki Treviño ().