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Europe's Future

Europe's Future

Europe's Future

Decoupling and Reforming
Sergio Fabbrini, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Roma
April 2019
Available
Paperback
9781108723275

    Sergio Fabbrini proposes a way out of the EU's crises, which have triggered an unprecedented cleavage between 'sovereignist' and 'Europeanist' forces. The intergovernmental governance of the multiple crises of the past decade has led to a division on the very rationale of Europe's integration project. Sovereignism (the expression of nationalistic and populist forces) has demanded more decision-making autonomy for the EU member states, although Europeanism has struggled to make an effective case against this challenge. Fabbrini proposes a new perspective to release the EU from this predicament, involving the decoupling and reforming of the EU: on the one hand, the economic community of the single market (consisting of the current member states of the EU and of others interested in joining or re-joining it); and on the other, the political union (largely based on the eurozone reformed according to an original model of the federal union).

    • Advances an original interpretation of the divisions within the EU
    • Proposes an original perspective for dealing with the EU crisis, based on dividing it into two organisations
    • Written in a clear accessible style, which will appeal to specialists and the larger public alike

    Reviews & endorsements

    'Europe's Future provides an incisive analysis of the design weaknesses of the European Union - its dual supranational and intergovernmental character - and explains how that structure has contributed to the extraordinary surge of opposition to the EU among voters across the continent. Sergio Fabbrini, one of the leading scholars of the EU, presents his case in a highly readable form and provides guidance as to how it can get out of its current predicament.' Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University, California

    'Fabbrini’s book is a twofold exercise in lesson-drawing and forward-looking. He designs a stimulating and challenging alternative to the present process of Europeanisation by decoupling market objectives from the aspiration of political integration. Both scholars and students will be nourished with food for thought aplenty in this rich and provocative study.' Yves Mèny, European University Institute, Florence

    'In a brilliant and complex study, Fabbrini develops a powerful explanation of the EU’s present malaise and an original perspective on its possible correction. The way forward suggested would decouple the supranational regime of the Single Market from a more selective 'federal union'. This fascinating vision of a federal union 'functioning without a people, a government and a state' will push the debate on EU reforms beyond the current agenda of predictably ineffective or illegitimate proposals.' Fritz W. Scharpf, Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Cologne

    'In this tour de force, Fabbrini boldly demonstrates how and why the EU’s current institutional architecture, challenged by the euro and migration crises combined with the rise of nationalism and populism, can only be resolved by creating two unions, the economic one wide, for the Single Market, the political one deep, around the Euro area.' Vivien A. Schmidt, Boston University

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    Product details

    April 2019
    Paperback
    9781108723275
    180 pages
    228 × 152 × 11 mm
    0.28kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction: multiple crises and European governance
    • 1. Supranational and intergovernmental governance
    • 2. Intergovernmental governance and its implications
    • 3. Sovereignist challenges and the political union
    • 4. From Statist to federal political union
    • 5. The future of Europe as constitutional decoupling.
      Author
    • Sergio Fabbrini , Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Roma

      Sergio Fabbrini is Director of the Department of Political Sciences and Professor of Politics and International Relations at the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Roma. His recent publications in English include, Which European Union: Europe After the Euro Crisis (Cambridge, 2015). He also writes political editorials for the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, for which he was awarded the 2017 Spinelli Prize. He is one of the best known European political scientists.