Perceptions of Dominance and Visions of the Future of European Integration

• In Event: Sovereignty, Rule of Law and Democracy Challenges in Contemporary Europe

Abstract

The process of European integration is currently facing growing reconsideration. From an ever-closer EU to completely disintegrated European nation-states, diverse scenarios are being developed and debated on what the future of European integration could be. The Future of Europe debate ensued in 2015 in Europe and as framed by the White Paper on the Future of the EU (2017) was meant to be an exercise of searching for the best future construction of the EU after the multiple crises that almost toppled the bloc. However, the debate also revealed that the differentiated solutions triggered debates on (perceived) dominance as a structural feature of the integration as well as on the position of the nation (sovereign) states within the future models of integration. The multiple crises that the EU endured in recent years – but specifically financial and migration – revealed perceived inequalities in the status of different states and actors. Against this background, the main aim of the paper is to analyse the perceptions of dominance featuring in ongoing Future of Europe (FoE) debates especially expressed by populist and Eurosceptic actors. This proposed paper presents an overview of the debates on the FoE held in 11 national parliaments across the EU and associated countries. Based on a comparative analysis of national parliamentary debates on the FoE from 2015 to 2022, it discusses how the perceived dominance within the EU is used by political actors to pursue specific visions of integration. This in turn allows for the analysis of sovereigntist proposals pursued by populist and Eurosceptic actors.

Author

• Magdalena Gora, Jagiellonian University