Differentiated Integration in the European Union: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

1. Tuesday – 09.01.2023

15.30 – 17.00 

17.00 – 18.30

Room 208

2. Wednesday – 10.01.2023

15.30 – 17.00 

17.00 – 18.30

Room 208

3. Thursday – 11.01.2023

17.15 – 18.45 

Room 208

4. Tuesday – 16.01.2023

15.30 – 17.00 

Room 208

5. Wednesday – 17.01.2023

15.30 – 17.45

Room 208

The process of European integration is characterized by the continuous extension of the EU's competences, policy scope, and membership. However, the degree of integration is a matter of negotiation among all member states, which creates conditions for differentiated integration. Differentiation in European integration means variations in the territorial extension of European public policies, as well as variations in the political and institutional degree of integration. This seminar aims to explain and analyze the causes and effects of differentiated European (dis)integration, addressing the following questions: Why are some European public policies more integrated than others? Why do member states respond differently to Europeanization? Why do demands for opting out from the EU integration process arise among member states? What factors drive divergent member states' responses to EU integration?

To answer these questions, three theoretical perspectives are used: (1) Neofunctionalism focuses on supranational institutional settings to explain differentiated integration; (2) Intergovernmentalism highlights intergovernmental bargaining power, and (3) the Societal Approach analyses the role of domestic foundations - societal value-based ideas and material interests. Students will apply this theoretical knowledge through the investigation of selected empirical cases, such as monetary and fiscal policy integration (EMU), security and defense policy integration (CSDP), asylum policy integration (CEAS), and enlargement policy/Brexit.

I. Monetary and fiscal policy integration (EMU)

1. EMU differentiation causes: the foundation of the currency union

Possible research question:

Why did countries with different economic interests and socio-economic settings agree on EMU?

Literature:

Hall, P. A. (2012): The Economics and Politics of the Euro Crisis, German Politics, 21:4, 355-371.

Frieden, J./ Walter, S. (2017): Understanding the Political Economy of the Eurozone Crisis. In: Annual Review of Political Science, 20, 371-390.

2. EMU differentiation effects: Eurozone crisis

Possible research question:

How can EU’s response to the crisis be explained, and what does it say about the future of European integration?

Literature:

Vilpišauskas, R. (2014). The Euro Zone Crisis and Differentiation in the European Union: a Threat to the Goals of the EU or an Instrument of Managing the Divergence of National Interests?. Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review. 12, 75-90.

Schimmelfennig, F. (2018). European integration (theory) in times of crisis. A comparison of the euro and Schengen crises, Journal of European Public Policy, 25:7, 969-989.

3. The problem of Eurozone enlargement

Possible research question:

Why is there a variation of governmental preferences among the non-eurozone EU Member States regarding the introduction of euro?

Literature:

Verdun, A. & Dandashly, A. (2015). Boarding the Euro Plane: Euro Adoption in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Review of European and Russian Affairs. 9:2, 1-27.

Dandashly, A. & Verdun, A. (2009). The Domestic Politics of Euro Adoption in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228159269_The_Domestic_Politics...

Novak, R. (2020). Value-based ideas or material interests? An explanation of Polish governmental preference formation towards Eurozone accession. Polish Political Science Review 8:1, 100-115.

II. Asylum policy integration (CEAS)

1. CEAS differentiation causes: outbreak of EU migration crisis

Possible research questions:

Why do the positions of EU Member States diverge regarding the reception of refugees?

Why is there a lack of EU-wide solidarity regarding the redistribution of refugees within the Schengen zone?"

Literature:
Niemann, A. & Zaun, N. (2018). Introduction: EU Refugee Policies in Times of Crisis: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Journal of Common Market Studies. 56, 3-22.

Zaun, N. (2018). States as Gatekeepers in EU Asylum Politics: Explaining the Non-adoption of a Refugee Quota System. Journal of Common Market Studies. 56, 44-62.

2. CEAS differentiation effects: management of EU migration crisis

Possible research question:

Why could the EU institutions operate more effectively in the external dimension of EU asylum policy than internally?

Literature: 

Niemann, A., & Speyer, J. (2018). A Neofunctionalist Perspective on the ‘European Refugee Crisis’: The Case of the European Border and Coast Guard. Journal of Common Market Studies, 56, 23-43.

Schimmelfennig, F., 2018, European integration (theory) in times of crisis. A comparison of the euro and Schengen crises, Journal of European Public Policy, 25:7, 969-989.

III. Security and defense policy integration (CSDP)

1. CSDP differentiation causes: foundation of EDC

Possible research questions:

Why did it take the EU member states a relatively long time to achieve only modest levels of vertical integration in security and defence policy cooperation compared to other policy areas?

Why did EDC not move beyond a low level of vertical integration and remain an intergovernmental policy based on consensual decision-making among member governments and voluntary participation of member states in CSDP operations?

Literature:

Leuffen, D., Rittberger, B., Schimmelfennig, F. (2013), Chapter 7: Security and Defence, In: Leuffen, D., Rittberger, B., Schimmelfennig, F. (Eds.) Differentiated Integration : Explaining Variation in the European Union (pp. 184-220). Palgrave Macmillan.

2. CSDP differentiation effects: PESCO

Possible research questions:

Why did the demand for consolidated and effective security and defence policy cooperation rise after 2016?

Why were the negotiations on PESCO revived after 2016?

Literature:

Howorth, J. (2019), Differentiation in security and defence policy, Comparative European Politics, 17, 261-277.

Biscop, S. (2018), European Defence: Give PESCO a Chance, Survival, 60:3, 161-180.

IV. Enlargement policy/Brexit

1. Causes of 'Brexit'

Possible research question:

Why did the British decide to leave the EU?

Literature:

Hobolt, S. B. (2016). The Brexit vote: a divided nation, a divided continent, Journal of European Public Policy, 23:9, 1259-1277.

2. Effects of 'Brexit'

Possible research question:

Why was the UK ready to narrow its demands and make concessions to the EU in the course of the Brexit negotiations?

Literature:

Schimmelfennig, F. (2018). Brexit: differentiated disintegration in the European Union, Journal of European Public Policy, 25:8, 1154-1173.

V. Differentiated integration: causes and effects

Possible research questions:

Why are some European public policies more integrated than others?
Why do member states respond differently to Europeanization/?
Why do demands for opt-out from EU integration process arise among member states?

Literature:

Schimmelfennig, F. (2019), The choice for differentiated Europe: an intergovernmentalist theoretical framework, Comparative European Politics, 17, 176-191.