How Press Propaganda Paved the Way to Brexit by Francis Rawlinson

Author:Francis Rawlinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030277659
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

5.2 How Far Will EU Integration Go? Is It Moving Inexorably Towards a European “Super-State”?

Before answering these questions, we have to ask ourselves in what areas it is desirable for countries to cooperate in order to improve economic and social outcomes for their citizens. We have seen that the EU’s involvement in fields of government policy varies from a high level of involvement to virtually none. There is a reason for that. International cooperation in certain fields is necessary or desirable because it increases economic and social welfare. In other fields, the benefits of cooperating are less significant and after a certain point diminishing returns set in because decision-making at the national or local level is better. It can be assumed that the EU will only continue to integrate as long as integration still yields positive benefits and that it will not pass the point of diminishing returns where decisions begin to be best left to member states. That is not because of any modesty or superior knowledge on the part of the EU institutions but because there are external constraints, checks and balances, preventing the EU gaining powers it does not need—of which more below.

Table 5.2 classifies the policy areas of the “Balance of Competences” review according to the need for the EU to be involved in those areas, judging by how much it is involved at present. In many areas, the perception of a need for EU action is likely to increase over time, causing an area to move up the scale from “Nice to have” to “Desirable” or “Necessary.” But demotions are possible, too, as has already been mentioned. The UK’s priorities for cooperation post-Brexit—whether with the EU or with other countries or organizations—are likely to be broadly similar, because there are inherent, objective reasons for cooperating in certain areas. However, of course, for some areas more national control may be a priority.Table 5.2Degree of perceived current need for EU integration, by policy area

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.