Introduction

Abstract

We cannot hope to make sense of contemporary Europe without understanding the history of European integration and the present-day European Union (EU). Its geographical scope and institutional form, the extent and shape of its policies, and the democratic quality of its governance have always been highly contested — within and among governments, political parties, interest groups, new social movements and European citizens. But without doubt, European integration has had, and is continuing to have, an enormous impact on the state of Europe: through transforming the nation-state; creating new supranational institutions and forms of joint policy- and decision-making; integrating markets and liberalizing trade; fiscal and social redistribution; and through fostering the formation of transnational elite networks and growing identification with Europe, although not necessarily allegiance to the EU; but also through accentuating social frictions resulting from its liberal competition policy, raising concerns about the remoteness of supranational policy-making and serving as a focal point for anti-elitist ‘Eurosceptic’ discourses and political mobilization.