Theoretical Approaches to European Integration

Abstract

The process of European integration has generated a wealth of academic literature and analysis. What is striking, however, is the diversity of the approaches followed and the conclusions reached. Academics have, of course, been the first to recognize this diversity. The ‘Jekyll and Hyde’¹ nature of the EC attracts much of the blame, the Community being described as an ‘enigma’ that ‘furnishes hope for intergovernmentalists, confederalists and federalists alike’.² It is also striking that different theories have ebbed and flowed as the EC itself has gone through different phases in its history, as was evident in the neglect of neofunctionalist theories in the 20 years between the ‘Luxembourg compromise’ and the negotiation of the Single European Act. The recent prominence of debate about federalism also illustrates this point, but it serves too to remind us that perceptions and preoccupations can vary also according to national/cultural/political backgrounds and predispositions, and it is not only politicians who can write in a way that colours reality with their own prejudices, hopes or expectations.