The European Union and Its Crises : Through the Eyes of the Brussels' Elite

Based on interviews with some of the EU's most important leaders, this book is designed to probe and elucidate what they think. The goal of the book is to find out whether they believe that the current period in the history of the European Union constitutes a 'crisis, ' and if so, what kind of crisis is it? The integration of Europe has often been seen as bringing prosperity and peace. The European Union has innovated by transcending nationalism and inventing unique forms of cooperative regional governance in which a pluralism of national cultures can flourish. However, in the EU of the early 21st century there are strong disagreements among members exacerbated by a difficult enlargement, voters in several countries rejecting important reforms in national referendums, and chronic legitimacy problems. The financial crisis, labelled the 'greatest crisis in EU history' by EU officials, has increased the uncertainty. The European Union and its Crises: Through the Eyes of the Brussels Elite presents analyses by EU leaders (including administrative leaders in European institutions, European parliamentarians and key political figures) of the great problems and prospects the EU faces.and key political figures) of the great problems and prospects the EU faces Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 10 Part I: Introduction......Page 12 1 Trials by Fire: The EU and Its Crises......Page 14 Crises and the integration of Europe......Page 18 Sounding European elites: Analyses of the EU......Page 31 Part II: Europeans’ Thinking about Crisis......Page 40 The golden age – 1985 and after......Page 42 The complicated consequences of success......Page 44 The real problems are economic......Page 49 Backbone problems?......Page 52 The ‘more and better social policy’ puzzle......Page 54 Preparing the fifth enlargement......Page 58 Triumphs . . .......Page 62 Trials and uncertainties . . .......Page 63 Enlargement, institutions, and politics......Page 67 4 Flight of the Member States......Page 71 ‘Member states are not doing what they are supposed to do!’......Page 73 5 Institutions: Virtues, Vices, and Rebalancing......Page 85 How the institutions became the issue......Page 86 6 Bringing the People with Us......Page 104 Referendums and democratic deficits......Page 105 The ‘real’ problems . . .......Page 108 What really is wrong, then?......Page 113 Surviving the EU’s crises......Page 118 The worlds of the EU are changing......Page 121 New outlooks for a new world?......Page 123 Part III: A Global Crisis......Page 134 Economic problems as facts of EU life......Page 136 Enlargement: An EU success with perverse consequences?......Page 139 Member states in retreat......Page 141 Shifting institutions......Page 143 Legitimacy problems......Page 145 Turning outward......Page 148 Crisis, crises......Page 150 9 The Great Recession as Reality Test......Page 152 Bailouts, stimulus plans, regulation......Page 153 Beware of Greeks bearing debts: Crisis within the Crisis......Page 159 And then came the Irish......Page 163 Reforming EMU?......Page 165 Other matters, other problems......Page 167 Legitimacy, futures, and faith......Page 171 Appendix: List of Respondents......Page 175 Notes......Page 179 Bibliography......Page 208 Index......Page 217 The integration of Europe has often been seen as bringing prosperity and peace. The European Union has innovated by transcending nationalism and inventing unique forms of cooperative regional governance in which a pluralism of national cultures can flourish. However, in the EU of the early 21st century there are strong disagreements among members exacerbated by a difficult enlargement, voters in several countries rejecting important reforms in national referendums, and chronic legitimacy problems. The financial crisis, labeled the "greatest crisis in EU history" by EU officials, has increased the uncertainty. The European Union and its Crises: Through the Eyes of the Brussels Elite presents analysis by EU leaders (including administrative leaders in European institutions, European parliamentarians and key political figures) of the great problems and prospects the EU faces "George Ross's publication provides a fascinating insider's view on the European Union's successes, the crises it has gone through, and the challenges it faces. Above all, it is a stark reminder of the need to bring European citizens on-board to consolidate the European project."--Pascal Lamy, Director General, World Trade Organization "The European road staked out by elites towards an implicitly federal destination has lost direction with each succeeding crisis. By what is it to be replaced? In an original book of interviews, 80 key figures deliver their reflections, their diagnosis, and their doubts. Essential reading for understanding the current crisis." - Philippe Pochet, General Director of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and Visiting Lecturer at the Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL), Belgium Trials by fire: the European Union and its crises Economics, for better or worse? Enlargement: triumphs and trials Flight of the member states Institutions: virtues, vices, and rebalancing Bringing the people with us EU futures: exiting crisis, mastering globalization European elites and the Union's crises: an analytic summary The great recession as reality test.