The study of European integration has increasingly become an important topic for IR-scholars and has developed into a field of its own. Scholarly interest in the role of identities in these regional integration processes has also risen over the last decades. This study can be comprised within this line of study. By using social constructivism as a theoretical framework, the paper seeks to understand the role of national and European identities in the case of Brexit. The paper also looks at identity formations of citizens and their attitudes towards European integration in relation with these identities. Although the UK has always stood on the sidelines of the European project, the results of the vote indicate that there are deeper processes that need to be studied. By using qualitative content analysis, the paper looks at framings in two national British newspapers and by two political leaders. The paper comes to the conclusion that these identities are both portrayed as compatible and competing with each other.

We have studied if there is a link between identity and support for integration within the European Union. We have used three hypotheses in order to investigate the issue. First if there is a positive relationship between european identity and european integration, secondly if individuals who experience less of a threat of the national cultural identity and state by the European Union is more supportive of european integration than those who experience a threat, and thirdly if socioeconomic factors such as years of education and household income is linked with self-experienced european identity and support for european integration.We have used statical data from European Social Survey 2018 round 9 as well as previous research for the hypothesisOur conclusion is that socioeconomic factors have a low impact on identity and perception of threat, that there is a strong link between european identity and support for european integration and that perceived threat on national cultural identity and state has a negative impact on views on european integration.

European integration has resulted in the emergence of political parties at the European transnational level. These parties are primarily consisting of members of the European parliament from various EU-member states. Thereby a substantial number of the MEPs today have two party memberships to adhere. This study aims to analyse the differences and similarities in the election manifestos of the Swedish party Moderaterna and the European People’s Party, examine the prevalence of the two concepts europeanization and eurocentrism between the two parties manifestos and investigate possible explanations stemming from the different concepts and the empirical study The europeanization of national political parties. Therefore said study consists of a comparative analysis of the manifestos in the categories energy, environment, integration and defense in order to highlight the differences and similarities. The result reveals that there are examples of both europeanization and eurocentrism in each manifesto in all categories. The results also made it clear that the two concepts and the empirical study could explain some of the differences and similarities pointed out between the two manifestos, but not all of them.

The dissertation is a multi-method study on current and common challenges to liberal democracy facing governments and societies on both sides of the Atlantic, with a particular emphasis on disaffection with democracy in Europe. It examines the factors that have led to disaffected publics in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Greece, by looking at political and economic developments that unfolded over the last decade including the Eurozone and Greek crisis, the Trump Presidency and the Brexit vote to leave the EU. By looking closely at these events, a number of factors are put in the forefront of analysis, such as globalization, European integration, domestic party politics and populism, and the rise of authoritarian politics. The dissertation draws evidence from a large pool of public opinion data on a number of issues relating to the quality of government and democracy, in-depth interviews with high-ranking officials and political actors in Brussels and Athens, discourse analysis of political statements and party manifestos, and employs literature underpinning the concepts applied in the research as analytical frameworks. Looking at the discontent relating to democracy in three particular contexts, the following insights can be drawn: public disaffection in the United States is primarily attributed to factors such as the indirect effects of globalization. However, further research shows that globalization has been more of a populist narrative taken out of its real context and consequences to garner further political support for populist leaders both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Public disaffection in United Kingdom is seemingly stemming from the perceived disadvantages of EU membership, and its connection to global economic forces. Hence anti-establishment politics, and nationalist populism turn out to be major factors contributing to disaffection and help explain voters’ attitudes both regarding the Brexit vote and the Trump Presidency. Finally, the Greek case sharply illustrates how all of these factors have been at play during the management of the Greek economic crisis adding to further delegitimization of the European project. This was on the one hand manifested by the EU’s turn to neoliberal economic policy and neoliberal globalization, austerity politics, and the dismantling of the welfare state following the IMF’s economic prescriptions. On the other hand, what makes Greece distinct is its particularly troubled past of adversarial politics pertaining to the country’s political system, state and reform capacity, and not least the special character of the relationship between citizens and the political class, which has been traditionally marked by low levels of trust towards political parties and national governments. In this context, both the effects of the economic crisis and crisis management across the national and supranational context, further contributed to the citizens’ disaffection with democracy in Greece. / 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z

The European integration process has been a relevant topic since the creation of the European Communities. Member states of the European Union have often formed its projections on the development of the institutions, either favoring further integration or disagreeing with it. In this study, the establishment of the perception of European integration will be analyzed. This will be done through a critical discourse analysis on four speeches by four different conservative leaders of Germany and Britain. Speeches selected from German political leaders are by Helmut Kohl, a speech from 1991, and Angela Merkel, a speech held in 2012. The two British leaders’ speeches, which will be analyzed, are by Margaret Thatcher, a speech from 1988, and David Cameron, a speech held in 2013. After the analysis of each speech, a comparison will be made in order to consider a development in perception of the two countries. Two relevant European integration theories, supranationalism and intergovernmentalism will be applied, as well as the concept of Euroscepticism. These have helped to come up with the results: Germany has developed a clear supranational, pro- European stance towards the EU and British leaders the opposite, a clear Eurosceptic, intergovernmental perception. Both stances have developed increasingly towards both poles.

Yes / This article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from the early 20th century to the present, setting this within the broader ‘security versus democracy dilemma’ that continues to surround international discussions on minority rights. Specifically, we analyse two organisations – the European Nationalities Congress (1925–1938) and the Federal Union of European Nationalities (1949–) – which, while linked, have never been subject to a detailed comparison based on primary sources. In so far as comparisons do exist, they present these bodies in highly negative terms, as mere fronts for inherently particularistic nationalisms that threaten political stability, state integrity and peace. Our more in‐depth analysis provides a fresh and more nuanced perspective: it shows that, in both cases, concepts of European integration and ‘unity in diversity’ have provided the motivating goals and frameworks for transnational movements advocating common rights for all minorities and seeking positive interaction with the interstate world.

Yes

Although the theoretical literature on the issue of European integration is extremely rich, the opposite phenomenon - disintegration - has so far escaped the attention of scholars. In the light of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, further ignorance of this phenomenon would be a mistake. The aim of this thesis is to analyze influential theories of European integration in order to determine whether they are able to grasp and explain the hypothetical disintegration of the European Union. Such an analysis can also provide us with the corner-stone for the creation of a coherent theory of European disintegration. In its course, the thesis focuses on the phenomenon of nationalism as one of the most frequently mentioned hypothetical causes of European disintegration.

The introduction of the single currency (Euro) in Europe has been referred to as the ‘world’s largest economic experiment’ and has led to major research on the effects of the adoption of a common currency on economic activity with considerable emphasis on its effect on trade flows at the macroeconomic level. However, the investigation of the euro effect on individual sectors has received very little attention and this provides the motivation for the research. The main contribution of this thesis is to the sectoral analysis of the single currency’s effect on bi-lateral trade flows, specifically the effects on the transport equipment manufacturing sector. In order to achieve this, a comparison of the different estimation methods applied in the gravity model literature will be employed to investigate this effect and to identify the factors affecting trade in this sector. This study uses a panel data set which comprises the most recent information on bilateral trade for the EU15 countries from 1990 to 2008. This research aims to build on the results obtained in previous studies by employing a more refined empirical methodology and associated tests. The purpose of the tests is to ensure that the euro’s effect on trade is isolated from the other pro- trade policies of the European integration processes, particularly the introduction of the Single Market. The desirable feature of this approach is that, while other studies limit their attention to a particular issue (zero trade flow, time trend, sectoral analysis, cross-correlation, etc.), very few, if any, apply a selection of techniques. Overall, the results demonstrate that the single currency’s effect on trade in this sector is limited with only the fixed effects formulation with year dummy variables showing a significant positive effect of the euro. An obvious policy implication for countries looking to adopt a single currency is that they should be cautious regarding the potential for growth in intra-bloc trade in a particular sector, although they will benefit from the on-going process of integration.

L'étude se propose de mesurer l'impact global que le phénomène européen exerce non pas sur le droit positif lui-même mais sur la manière d'en parler dans le discours doctrinal en droit constitutionnel. Le premier temps de la thèse s'emploie à montrer l'altération du savoir constitutionnel sous l'effet de la découverte du phénomène européen. L'enquête est ainsi menée, d'une part, sur la nature spécifique des relations que la discipline constitutionnelle a pu avoir par le passé – et encore davantage aujourd'hui – avec la construction européenne et, d'autre part, sur les répercussions actuelles de ces rapports sur la physionomie de la discipline. Dans un second temps, l'analyse s'appuie alors sur cette altération du savoir constitutionnel dont les catégories classiques ont dû être revisitées (Etat, Souveraineté, Constitution, Hiérarchie des normes, etc.) pour faire apparaitre l'importante valeur heuristique que recèle la construction européenne au profit de la connaissance du droit constitutionnel. En mobilisant plusieurs postures philosophiques, les développements de la thèse montrent combien la construction européenne invite les constitutionnalistes à la réflexivité et devient ainsi porteuse d'enseignements épistémologiques sur la manière dont les auteurs sont susceptibles de se mobiliser face aux évolutions juridiques contemporaines. En invitant à interroger les manières par lesquelles le droit constitutionnel savant peut appréhender son objet, l'Europe est ainsi utilisée comme un test révélateur des atouts épistémologiques dont dispose le savoir constitutionnel pour réagir, s'adapter, et se renouveler lorsqu'il fait face à des évolutions juridiques aussi amples que l'émergence et la construction d'une entité supra-nationale. / The interaction between European integration and the constitutional domain has predominantly been approached from a positivist legal perspective, limiting the research focus on specific issue areas. In contrast to this, this study analyses the global impact the European phenomenon has had by focusing on the discursive changes within the constitutional law literature. The first part of the thesis traces the transformation of the constitutional law paradigm through its interaction with the concrete processes of European integration. Research is conducted on the specific relations the constitutional knowledge had (and still has, now more then ever) with the European project, as well as on the concrete repercussions that this interaction might have had. This renders it possible to show. The second part of the thesis then proceeds on the basis of these findings, demonstrating the important heuristic value European integration has for the body of knowledge in constitutional law. Drawing on several philosophical perspectives, the study argues that the European construction offers important lessons on how constitutionalists are capable of mobilising against “consequential legal evolutions”. By questioning the ways through which its purpose can be approached, Europe constitutes a pertinent case through which to demonstrate the epistemological advances in constitutional law to react, to adapt and to renew itself when facing legal evolutions such as the construction of a supranational entity.