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European Disintegration – non-existing Phenomenon or a Blind Spot of European Integration Research? Preliminary Thoughts for a Research Agenda

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  • Henrik Scheller
  • Annegret Eppler

Abstract

The still continuing effects of the financial and economic crisis 2008/2009 constitute a dilemma for political science research on European integration. Since an elaborated European disintegration theory does not exist, it is hard to oppose the popular scenarios on a possible collapse of the EU with well-grounded scientific explanations. This Working Paper therefore wants to stake out the research field to outline the complexity of the problem. We argue that the discussion of European disintegration phenomena extends our understanding of the whole integration process and its functional conditions. For this purpose, the Working Paper first collates the most recent state of research. In a second step, we evaluate established integration as well as federalism theories with regard to their explanatory power of European disintegration. This is followed by our own definition of disintegration, which allows us to capture the various dimensions of the phenomenon. In the penultimate section, we exemplify the requirement for a multidimensional understanding of European disintegration by a brief empirical analysis of the integration process since the outbreak of the financial and economic crisis in 2008/2009.

Suggested Citation

  • Henrik Scheller & Annegret Eppler, 2014. "European Disintegration – non-existing Phenomenon or a Blind Spot of European Integration Research? Preliminary Thoughts for a Research Agenda," Working Papers of the Vienna Institute for European integration research (EIF) 2, Institute for European integration research (EIF).
    • Handle: RePEc:erp:eifxxx:p0027
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    1. V. Sidenko, 2017. "The crisis processes in the EU development: origins and prospects," Economy and Forecasting, Valeriy Heyets, issue 1, pages 7-30.

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