Conversations on Europe. "Europe in Four Pieces."

Aspects of European integration: economic, social, fiscal, and democratic Europe.

James Caporaso (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is a professor in the Department of Political Science at University of Washington. He is a specialist in international political economy, regional integration, and international relations theory. He has published articles in International Studies Quarterly, American Political Science Review, International Organization, Journal of Common Market Studies and European Political Science Review. He has written, co-authored, and edited numerous books, most recently Globalization, Institutions, and Governance with Mary Anne Madeira forthcoming by Sage Publications Ltd (Dec. 2011). He is also editor of Comparative Political Studies. Caporaso’s teaching interests include international political economy, international relations theory, regional integration, and comparative politics.
Abstract: The European Union has often been characterized as a Europe of Bits and Pieces and the process of European integration has been described as following a "variable geometry," "moving at different speeds," and as using "first mover advantages" and "go it alone power." The imagery suggests that the different parts of European integration are out of sync with one another. In this talk, I analyze four different aspects of European integration: Economic, Social, Fiscal, and Democratic Europe. These different Europes do indeed move at different speeds, but they are not unconnected to one another. Indeed, differential movement in one part of Europe serves as a stimulus for movement in other parts. Democratic, Fiscal, and Social Europe lag behind Economic Europe. What are the prospects for further European integration, especially in the social, fiscal, and democratic areas? These prospects are tied to movement in both economic and political integration, and to the economic crises Europe presently faces.