Grand Theories of European Integration in the 21st Century

Allison Brown 4215: European Union Dr. Anderson March 11, 2021 Reading Paper #11: “Grand theories of European integration in the twenty-first century” Authors: Liesbet Hooghe - Currently, Hooghe is a professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the past, she was a research fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. Hooghe is from Belgium, it’s interesting to consider how that impacts her views on the EU and European integration theory. Gary Marks - Is also a professor of Political Science at UNC Chapel Hill. Marks was born and attended the University of Birmingham (alongside US institutions) in the United Kingdom (again, interesting to consider how this impacts his views on integration theory) and is a recurring research fellow at the Robert Schuman Center in Florence. Published: This text was published in the Journal of European Public Policy. The journal is peer reviewed and academic, and is known as a formative publication on issues of EU policy and integration. The journal is published by Taylor & Francis, a reputable publisher with high ratings and well known by researchers. According to their website, “...the primary objective is to integrate theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of public policy in Europe as a whole”. Date: This text was published on January 17, 2019. Negotiations for the UK’s exit from the EU (Brexit) began in 2019 with the debate surrounding their exit taking place in 2017/2018 and the referendum in 2016. The EU itself saw significant changes in leadership with David Sassoli becoming President of the European Parliament, Charles Michel taking over from Donald Tusk as President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen becoming President of the European Commission. The EU saw a parliamentary election as well. The European People Party (EPP) and S&D remain the primary powers in the parliament. With this parliamentary election, there also was a law change the prior year updating the 1976 Electoral Act to increase participation in elections, raise understanding of their European character and prevent irregular voting while at the same time respecting the constitutional and electoral traditions of the member states (European Council). It’s clear in the reading how issues such as Brexit and the European parliamentary elections would change the contemporary examples and current events when this journal submission was written. Thesis: Three major schools of European integration policy exist, no one policy is “fundamentally wrongheaded”, and each looks at historical and contemporary European issues in different ways to address integration and social changes on the European continent. Gist: No one theory-- neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, or post functionalism-- is exclusively the “right” or “correct” interpreter of European integration theory and EU institutions, in the text’s worlds, “Each [theory] provides a line of sight into European integration.” (1128) Each school of thought has its own thoughts about the behavior of state and non-state actors, the areas in which they act, and their methods that directly connect to the policy and integration outcomes. These different integration theories can be used to look at contemporary issues facing Europe. Telling Examples: 1) Brexit, Intergovernmentalism has examined Brxit from two different thoughts: (1) to challenge the notion that Brexit will have a large impact on the UK or the EU (or both) as a whole and (2), intergovernmental bargains did not depend on the outcomes of the brexit referendum but instead on “... economic interests , relative power, and credit commitments.” (1123) The text draws the conclusion that both views could be labelled “illusionary”, and has impacts and implications for the UK itself with regards to domestic politics but not necessarily with the UK’s association with the EU. 2) The Migration Crisis, The number of migrants from Middle Eastern and African states is rising exponentially in Europe, and the Schengen area and the Common European Asylum System are the systematic approaches to address refugee populations, a show of utilitarianism amongst European states. The authors use the theories to examine different approaches to refugee populations, “... intergovernmentalism is pertinent to headline bargaining on refugee quotas, neofunctionalism’s wider lens helps to explain why, beyond the lime- light, there has been an incremental, albeit haphazard, increase in supranational activity” (1121). 3) The Eurocrisis, The authors state that the economic Eurozone was completely unprepared for an existential threat when the “Eurocrisis” took place in 2008 because of confidence in the US financial sector after the Lehman bankruptcy and start of the global economic recession. For intergovernmentalism, this crisis required an “extraordinary response” (1118), required coordination with Eurozone governments because of interdependence and placed certain states (Greece) in heightened positions of need. The severity of the eurocrisis also revealed a different theoretical interpretation, “Intergovernmentalism explains the particular bargaining outcomes as dis- crete episodes, whereas neofunctionalism connects them in a longer-term perspective.” (1119) Criticism: I thoroughly enjoyed this reading and felt it was a great follow-up to reading #10 that also dealt with integration theories. Examining how the theories respond to current issues like “Brexit” or the migration crisis was helpful in understanding how the theories adapt and look in modern European issues. The “comparing the schools” section was a succinct review of the differences between neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, and the introduction of postfunctionalism.