The European Union at an Inflection Point ─ (Dis)integrating or the New Normal?

The cutting-edge contributions to this volume analyse different facets of the European Union: closer integration among the member states; policy making within a ‘normal’ political system; and the implications of European integration for its member states. The volume also considers whether the challenges currently confronting the EU – the lingering Eurozone debt crises; the migrant/refugee crisis; the British decision to leave the EU; and terrorist attacks in Belgium, France and Germany – mark an inflection point for the Union and for the study of the EU. For the first time, ‘less Europe,’ rather than closer integration, has emerged as a serious option in response to crisis. This possibility reignites questions of (dis)integration and calls into question the assumption of the EU as a ‘normal’ political system. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

Alasdair R. Young is a Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Co-Director of the Center for European and Transatlantic Studies, a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence. He is chair of the European Union Studies Association (USA) (2015-17).