Negotiating Unity and Diversity in the European Union

✍ Scribed by Florian Bieber, Roland Bieber

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 236
• Series: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book explores how the European Union has been responding to the challenge of diversity. In doing so, it considers the EU as a complex polity that has found novel ways for accommodating diversity. Much of the literature on the EU seeks to identify it as a unique case of cooperation between states that moves past classic international cooperation. This volume argues that in order to understand the EU’s effort in managing the diversity among its members and citizens it is more effective to look at the EU as a state. While acknowledging that the EU lacks key aspects of statehood, the authors show that looking at the EU efforts to balance diversity and unity through the lens of state policy is a fruitful way to understand the Union. Instead of conceptualising the EU as being incomparable and unique which is neither an international organisation nor a state, the book argues that EU can be understood as a polity that shares many approaches and strategies with complex and diverse states. As such, its effort to build political structures to accommodate diversity offers lessons to other such polities. The experience of the EU contributes to the understanding of how states and other polities can respond to challenges of diversity, including both the diversity of constituent units or of sub-national groups and identities.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 The Argument and Approach
1.2 Structure of the Book
References
Chapter 2: Regimes of Diversity
2.1 Early Modern Multipolar Regimes: The Holy Roman Empire
2.2 Early Modern Federal Systems: The United States
2.3 Early Modern Complex Empires: The Habsburg Monarchy
2.4 Multinational Federalism: Socialist Yugoslavia
2.5 Ethnonational Power-Sharing: Belgium
2.6 Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Diversity in the European Union
3.1 Diversity of Diversities
3.2 Diversity of Member States
3.3 What Is Diversity?
Linguistic Diversity
3.4 Diversity of National Identity
3.5 Diversity of Citizenship
3.6 Diversity and Integration
3.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Approaches to Diversity in the EU
4.1 What Unites the Union?
Features of Unity
Limits to Unity
4.2 Diversity as a Founding Principle of the European Union
Features of Diversity
Limits to Diversity
4.3 Unity and Diversity as Constituent Features of the Union’s Identity
Unity, Diversity, and Identity
Different Forms of Identity of the European Union
Objective Identity
The Self-Proclaimed Identity of the Union
Identity Perceived from the Outside
Situational Identity
4.4 Plurality of Identities
4.5 Federation or Confederation: or Something New?
References
Chapter 5: Unity and Diversity Through the EU Institutions and Procedures
5.1 Institutions
Relationship with Citizens, Civil Society, Sub-entities, and National Institutions
Citizens and Civil Society
Relations with Sub-entities and National Institutions
Size and Composition of Institutions
Mode of Appointment and Status of Members
Functions of the Institutions
5.2 Procedures
Constitutional Procedures
Legislative and Budgetary Procedures
Administrative Procedures
Procedures in International Relations
References
Chapter 6: ‘Europe’ as a Symbol: Symbols of Europe
6.1 Symbols and European Integration
The Paradox of Symbolization of the European Union
The History of the Official EU Symbols
‘Genuine’ Symbols in the European Union
Another Paradox: The Easy Way to European Symbols in the Council of Europe
6.2 The Difficult Co-existence of Symbols in the European Union
6.3 Symbols and the Identity of a Polity
6.4 Pluralism and Symbols (‘Unity and Diversity’)
6.5 The Co-creation of the European Union’s Symbolic Landscape
6.6 Conclusions
References
Chapter 7: Exclusion and Belonging: The Ambiguities of European Citizenship
7.1 The Legal Foundation of Citizenship of the European Union
The Substance of EU Citizenship: Rights
Rights Which Can Be Claimed Against All Member States
Free Movement
Diplomatic Protection
Rights Against the Member State in Which an EU Citizen Lawfully Resides
Participation in the Elections to the European Parliament
Participation in Municipal Elections
Social Benefits
Rights Which Can Be Claimed Against the European Union
Citizens’ Initiative
Right of communication with EU institutions
Access to EU Institutions (Transparency)
7.2 European Citizenship and the Equality of Political Rights
7.3 Accepting Citizenship
7.4 European Citizenship: Prerequisite or Contribution to Balancing Unity and Diversity?
References
Chapter 8: The Gradual Emergence of European Minority Rights
8.1 Integration as a Tool to Accommodate Diversity
Border Elimination Strategy
Symbolic Pluralism
Institutional Diffusion and Inclusion
8.2 Externalizing Minority Protection
8.3 Increased Protection of Diversity Through EU Instruments
8.4 Negotiating Between European Integration and Minority Rights
References
Chapter 9: Conclusions
9.1 Final Considerations
9.2 Implications for Multinational Polities
References
Epilogue
References
Index