Differentiated European Integration

Differentiated integration (DI) has become a crucial feature of the European Union triggered by the combination of the deepening of the integration process and its enlargement. Provided by the EU Treaties and secondary law, differentiation has also at times evolved to respond to crises and emergencies. It has been seen as a temporary arrangement with a view to achieving “an ever closer Union” amongst the Member States or as the only way for the EU to survive in a context characterized by increasing heterogeneity. What is the status quo of DI in the EU post-Brexit and in the aftermath of the implementation of NGEU’s recovery package? What are the stakes in the governance of DI in the present “critical juncture” and almost five years after the publication of the European Commission White Paper on the Future of Europe? Moreover, after extensive research on its historical development and origins, what can we say about the governance, consequences, and limits of as well as alternatives to differentiation? This section, proposed in the framework of the ECPR Research Network on DI, invites submissions of papers and, preferably, panels (ideally, consisting of four papers) on a wide range of questions related to DI. Contributions could show a normative, empirical-analytical, or descriptive account, take a historical perspective or be more forward-looking, deal with the internal or external dimension of DI, investigate the various forms of DI (enhanced cooperation, opt outs, etc.) and their drivers (e.g. the divide between capacity and sovereignty DI), focus on the institutional governance of DI, on the relationships between the EU institutions and the Members States as well as on its impact on the composition and functioning of the EU institutions, or follow a more policy-oriented approach. The section welcomes contributions on DI in specific policy areas such as those experiencing significant challenges at present (e.g., Economic and Monetary Union, migration, defence, or health). This section also wishes to stimulate discussion on the “boundaries” of DI, its sustainability, its relation to compliance with the rule of law, citizens’ support for differentiation, the risk of disintegration, and on how to govern diversity in the EU with or without Treaty reforms and depending on the outcomes of the Conference on the Future of Europe. For the time being, the section features the following panels and papers. Panel on “Implications of differentiated integration for national policies” dealing with the tension between uniformity and differentiation in the implementation of EU law • Chair: Asya Zhelyazkova • 1 Differentiated Implementation, Uniform Procedures: Joint operations of EU agencies in core state powers (Adina Akbik (Leiden University), Christian Freudlsperger (ETH Zurich) & Marta Migliorati (European University Institute) • 2: When a looser Union hits home: Does flexible integration affect the implementation of EU asylum and migration policies? Asya Zhelyazkova (Erasmus University Rotterdam) • 3 Differentiated implementation of decisions on environmental disputes in the European Union. Andreas Corcaci (Goethe University Frankfurt) • 4 Domination and differentiation: Examining the link between implementation of and support for differentiated integration. Martin Moland (ARENA, University of Oslo) Panel on “Differentiated Integration in EMU: Investigating and Explaining Its Evolution in Two Crises” focusing on how DI has been affected by the Eurozone and the Covid-19 crises in the fields of economic, fiscal and banking governance • Chair: Alexander Schilin (Leiden University) • 1 From Differentiation to uniformity? Fiscal burden-sharing during the Eurozone and the Covid-crisis. Philipp Genschel (EUI) & Marta Migliorati (EUI) • 2 De-facto differentiation in Economic and Monetary Union: A Rationalist Explanation. Tobias Hofelich (University of Agder) • 3 Institutionalising differentiation in EMU through rules: The cases of the Six and Two-Pack. Alexander Schilin (Leiden University) • 4 European Central Bank and the Single Supervisory Mechanism: Differentiation put to the test during the Covid-19 related economic crisis (Lucia Quaglia, University of Bologna) & Amy Verdun (University of Victoria, CA) Panel on “Differentiated integration. Perspectives from smaller member states” looking at how DI is perceived in small and medium-size countries from Central, Eastern and Northern Europe • Chairs: Stefan Telle (EUI), Mathew Doidge (University of Canterbury, NZ), Marco Brunazzo (University of Trento) • Paper 1 Differentiated Integration - Views from Austria. Katrin Auel (Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna) • Paper 2 Slovenia: a case of a small, relatively new member country. Maja Bučar and Boštjan Udovič (University of Ljubljana) • Paper 3 Differentiated Integration or Discriminatory Integration? Romania’s view on DI in the EU. Claudia Badulescu (EUI) • Paper 4 Differentiated integration: The Irish perspective. Stefan Telle (EUI) Panel on “Differentiated Integration and Sectoral Governance” considering the impact of DI on various EU policies, notably higher education, the banking union, the neighbourhood policy and the relationship with the UK post-Brexit • Chairs: Marina Cino Pagliarello (LSE) and Sandra Eckert (AIAS) • 1 Rethinking integration in Higher education: the (differentiated) governance of the European Universities Initiative, Marina Cino Pagliarello (LSE) • 2 The Dynamics of Differentiated Integration and Sectoral Governance – Revisiting the Banking Case, Sandra Eckert (Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, AIAS) • 3 Differentiated integration and European Neighbourhood policy: the asymmetry supporting EU external action (?). Lucia Mokrá (Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave), Donald Wertlen (Comenius University) and Danijela Čanji • 4 The UK’s external integration in the EU: How satisfied is business with the existing trade arrangement? Maria Dede (University of Exeter) and Sandra Kröger (University of Exeter) Panel on “The Politics of Differentiated Integration” analysing the formats, the dynamics and the tools that put DI into operation • Chair: Paolo Ciocchetti (EUI) • 1 Opting for opt-outs – Untangling the role of identity in shaping support for differentiated integration. Martin Moland (ARENA, University of Oslo) • 2 Differentiation without principles? Contrasting discriminatory and informal opt-outs in the European Union. Stefan Telle (EUI) • 3 Models of differentiated integration: past, present, and proposed. Paolo Chiocchetti (EUI) • 4 Europeanisation in candidate states: Revisiting the role of EU conditionality. Theofanis Kakarnias (Pompeu Fabra University/Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).