Exploring the EU’s legitimacy crisis. The dark heart of Europe

Exploring the EU’s Legitimacy Crisis provides a profound analysis of the causes and the consequences of the EU’s growing legitimacy problem. Since the onset of the eurozone crisis the EU’s governance has been narrowly driven by the semi-hegemonial leadership of Germany – manifesting itself in functionalist and technocratic policy reforms concentrated on strengthening economic governance coordination. Other crucial policy areas have been neglected as member states show decreasing solidarity and a growing emphasis on national interests in response to mounting external challenges. This book examines these developments in detail by scrutinising the EU’s ability to maintain legitimacy through political leadership, democratic accountability and governance efficiency.

This state-of-the-art exploration of the EU’s internal and external challenges, including the eurozone and the migration crisis, provides critical analysis of the EU’s leadership in the context of diverging national interests. The author outlines the essential background to understanding the rise in euroscepticism in the EU and provides an insightful analysis of the 2014 European Parliament election Spitzenkandidaten system. A comprehensive critical analysis of the latest developments in the EU’s major policy areas in terms of their problem-solving capacity and democratic legitimacy is also included.

This exploration of the reality of the EU’s governance in light of persistent crises is aimed at students, academics and practitioners interested in the development of the EU, its member states and European politics more generally.

Contents

1. Introduction: the process of institutionalised European integration and the permissive consensus of the first four decades
2. After Maastricht: how the EU started losing its citizens
3. Who calls the shots? The EU's unstable leadership constellation between bipolarity, variable geometry and semi-hegemony
4. Towards a core-periphery divide: the financial crisis and the new wave of technocratic spill-over
5. Freedom without a purpose? The flaws of the Single European Market
6. The 2014 European Parliament elections and the limited success of the Spitzenkandidaten system
7. Managing instability and insecurity in the neighbourhood: the EU's disjointed external relations
8. Rebuilding public trust in the European project: concluding recommendations

This book is also available electronically via Elgaronline. The Source URL will give you direct access to the title if you have the appropriate subscription.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Euro-Area Fiscal Stance: Definition, Implementation and Democratic Legitimacy http://www.europeansources.info/record/euro-area-fiscal-stance-definition-implementation-and-democratic-legitimacy/

ESO: Background information: The EU’s problem-solving capacity and legitimacy in a crisis context: a virtuous or vicious circle? http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-eus-problem-solving-capacity-and-legitimacy-in-a-crisis-context-a-virtuous-or-vicious-circle/

ESO: Background information: The euro trilemma, or: how the Eurozone fell into a neofunctionalist legitimacy trap http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-euro-trilemma-or-how-the-eurozone-fell-into-a-neofunctionalist-legitimacy-trap/

EUObserver, 30.12.16: [Opinion]: EU legitimacy in question https://euobserver.com/europe-in-review/136041

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