Highs and Lows of European Integration

In light of Europe's prolonged state of crisis, this book reassesses the challenges and prospects of the European integration process. Scholars from diverse disciplines reflect on various types of integration by analyzing political, economic and sociological variables, while also taking legal and cultural constraints into account. Readers will learn about the dilemmas and challenges of the European transformation process as well as political reforms to overcome these challenges.
The book is divided into four parts, the first of which discusses the external dimension of the European Union, including a review of development aid policies and EU foreign policy. In turn, the second part focuses on institutional change and asymmetrical integration in the EU. The third part is devoted to the rise of populism and nationalism, including an analysis of the role of civil society organizations in the Brexit. In closing, the last part highlights the crisis of the Euro as a symbol ofEuropean integration and the emerging social and economic divide between countries of the North and South.

Auteur
Luisa Antoniolli (LL.M Trento, PhD Florence) is Professor of Private Comparative Law at the University of Trento, where she teaches courses in the area of private comparative law, EU law and law and gender. Her research interests focus on the effects of the European integration process on national law, particularly private law, consumer protection and contract law in EU law, and the relationship between law and social sciences in the empirical evaluation of legal rules.
Luigi Bonatti (Laurea in philosophy Pisa, Diploma Scuola Normale Superiore, PhD in economics Columbia) is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Trento. In recent years, he published on China's growth and its impact on the world economy, the crisis of the Eurozone and the German standpoint toward it, the Italian persistent stagnation, the socio-economic features underlying the US financial crisis, the structural causes of anemic economic growth in the advanced economies.
Carlo Ruzza (MA SUNY, PhD Harvard) is Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Trento where he teaches courses on European and International Politics. His research interests focus upon European Union studies, the populist radical right in Europe and political movements. He is also interested in advocacy processes at European level, which include a focus on the efforts of civil society groups to affect policy-making in areas such as EU anti-discrimination policy and environmental policy.

Contenu
Chapter 1 The Current Crisis of the European Union, its Origins and Consequences.- Part I The External Dimension of the European Union: European Development Aid, Enlargement Process in the Balkans, and the External Sanctions System.- Chapter 2 At the Origins of European Foreign Policy: European Exceptionalism and the Case of Development Aid.- Chapter 3 From Enlargement Perspective to Waiting for Godot? Has the EU Lost its Transformative Power in the Balkans?.- Chapter 4 The Challenges of a Sanctions Machine: Some Reflections on the Legal Issues of EU Targeted Restrictive Measures in the Field of Common Foreign Security Policy (CFSP).- Part II Institutional Change in the EU: the Rule of Law Crisis and Differentiated Integration as a Possible Solution.- Chapter 5 The Multi-Level Rule of Law System of the European Union: Eked out, Contested, Still Unassured,- Chapter 6 United in Diversity? Differentiated Integration in an Ever Diverse European Union.-Part III Populism and Nationalism in the EU: the Role of Institutions and Civil Society, Tensions in Central and Eastern Europe and Brexit.- Chapter 7 All Quiet on the Brexit Front? UK Civil Society Before and After the UK's Referendum on Membership of the EU.- Chapter 8 Populism, EU Institutions and Civil Society.- Chapter 9.- The Crisis, Economic Patriotism in Central Europe and EU Law.- Part IV.-Between Economic Divide and Social Cohesion: Features that Bond the EU Together and Centrifugal Forces.- Chapter 10 Addressing the Core-Periphery Imbalances in Europe: Resource Misallocation and Expansionary Fiscal Policies.- Chapter 11 TARGET 2: Understanding the Glue that Keeps the Euro Together.- Chapter 12 The Social Dimension: The Missing Glue of European Integration?.- Chapter 13 More or Less Social Europe? The Challenges of European Social Policy After the Recent Economic and Financial Crisis.- Chapter 14. Conclusions