Forging European Union

Abstract

Post-Cold War society has exposed the inability of states to deal with the economic, political and social challenges looming on the horizon. It has also reopened the debate on the future of the ‘oldest continent’: the arguments in favour of closer integration have re-emerged within the countries of Europe in order ‘to realise the potential gains from the evolution of a multi-polar world and to avoid [its] potential dangers’ (Marquand, 1988: 2). However, the difficulty in finding a formula acceptable to all Member States, most notably with regard to Denmark and the UK, due mainly to the diverging interpretations of the nebulous term ‘European identity’, has delayed and, to a certain extent, even suspended the dynamics of the unification process. At the same time, it has raised several awkward questions: Can the ambitious goal of deepening the European Union (EU) in economic, monetary and political terms be fulfilled without altering its multifaceted social and cultural base and without distorting its institutional balance?