Europe's Future: Decoupling and Reforming

Sergio Fabbrini

Mar 2019 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Sergio Fabbrini proposes a way out of the EU's crises, which have triggered an unprecedented cleavage between 'sovereignist' and 'Europeanist' forces. The intergovernmental governance of the multiple crises of the past decade has led to a division on the very rationale of Europe's integration project. Sovereignism (the expression of nationalistic and populist forces) has demanded more decision-making autonomy for the EU member states, although Europeanism has struggled to make an effective case against this challenge. Fabbrini proposes a new perspective to release the EU from this predicament, involving the decoupling and reforming of the EU: on the one hand, the economic community of the single market (consisting of the current member states of the EU and of others interested in joining or re-joining it); and on the other, the political union (largely based on the eurozone reformed according to an original model of the federal union).

About the author

Sergio Fabbrini is Director of the Department of Political Sciences and Professor of Politics and International Relations at the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Roma. His recent publications in English include, Which European Union: Europe After the Euro Crisis (Cambridge, 2015). He also writes political editorials for the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, for which he was awarded the 2017 Spinelli Prize. He is one of the best known European political scientists.