Interdependence and Contestation in European Integration

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Table of Contents: I. Introduction. – II. Institutionalising interdependence. – II.1. The institutions of interdependence. – II.2. Interdependence through law? – II.3. 1992-2019: Ever further interdependence? – III. Institutionalising contestation. – III.1. Beyond the regulatory polity. – III.2. Beyond the individual. – III.3. Beyond uniformity. – III.4. Brexit and structural contestation of the EU. – IV. Institutionalising integration. – IV.1. Contestation through law? – IV.2. Contestation of law? – IV.3. Contestation in conditions of interdependence. – V. Conclusion.

Abstract: The past years has seen a dramatic rise in the contestation of the European Union and its policies. This Article seeks to understand this rise as a result of the way in which we “do” integration. This method, which heavily relies on the use of law to prevent the creation of negative externalities among the Member States, has increasingly limited the scope for political self-determination within and between the Member States. The ensuing contestation, it is argued, cannot solely be resolved by re-assessing the role of law in the process of integration, but requires a significant institutional reconfiguration as well.

Keywords: interdependence – institutional structure of EU – nature of EU law – contestation – conflict – legitimacy of the EU.

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European Papers, Vol. 3, 2018, No 2, pp. 475-509
ISSN
2499-8249 - doi: 10.15166/2499-8249/244

* Associate Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science, f.e.de-witte@lse.ac.uk. Many thanks to Mark Dawson, Niamh Dunne, and René Smits for their insightful comments on a previous draft, as well as the faculty members in Cambridge and Amsterdam, where this Article was presented. The usual disclaimer applies.

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