The risks and benefits of DI as perceived by academic experts

Whilst Brexit might have reinforced the overall commitment to the integration project amongst the EU27, it has not done away with significant differences between them. Since Maastricht in particular, a number of these differences have been addressed by allowing for flexibility in membership between member states, a development that has been met with increasing scholarly attention under the heading of ‘differentiated integration’ (DI). Despite there now being an abundant literature on the topic, little is known about how academic experts assess the overall advantages and disadvantages of DI for the EU. Drawing on a novel expert survey (n = 95) on DI, this contribution sheds light on the risks and benefits of DI as perceived by academic experts, and against the background of Brexit. From the analysis emerge two main findings. First, the perceived benefits seem to outweigh the perceived risks, a finding that reflects the recent drive towards intergovernmentalism in the EU. Second, this is not least because pragmatic arguments in favour of DI seem to outweigh principled arguments against it. These findings are in sharp contrast with early scholarly contributions to the debate which were much more cautious about different forms of DI.