| The Enlarged European Union: Unity and Diversity Contributor(s): Mair, Peter (Editor), Zielonka, Jan (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0714682551 ISBN-13: 9780714682556 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $50.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2002 Annotation: The European Union will be a much more diversified entity after the forthcoming eastward enlargement. The applicant states from Eastern Europe are much poorer than the current member states from Western Europe. Their democracy and in some cases even their statehood is newly established and presumably more fragile. Their economic, legal and administrative structures are less developed. This collection of essays will try to examine the origin, nature, scale and implications of this divergence. How much divergence is likely to be imported by the Union and will it hamper the process of European integration? This volume looks at differences and similarities in the field of macro-economics, welfare systems, democracy, institutional infrastructure, civic orientations and popular culture. The book shows that the map of convergence and divergence in the future EU will be very complex and will not correspond exactly with the old east-west divide. Moreover, the division lines are constantly changing with the enlargement process representing an important factor pushing individual states into a single regulatory frame, if not in a common political direction. However, there are other "unifying" factors at play: globalization produces different models and loyalties than Europeanization. Moreover, the European pulling effect works unevenly in different functional fields and in different countries. There are also many factors that produce greater divergence rather than convergence across the European Union; a certain degree of divergence is thus unavoidable. The book shows, in particular, that certain types of divergence can be beneficial rather than merely detrimental in the process of Europeanintegration. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - General |
| Dewey: 940.56 |
| LCCN: 2001008502 |
| Physical Information: 0.56" H x 6.1" W x 9.04" (0.79 lbs) 204 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Focusing upon the emerging patterns of unity and diversity in the enlarged European Union, this study explores enlargement from the East and the impact this will have on the future identity of Europe. |