The Politicization of the European Union

The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the politicization of European affairs. The final aim is to assess the institutional and socio-political impact of EU politicization, detecting how the European elites could exploit the saliency gained by European affairs to enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of the European institutions.

The Maastricht Treaty remains a crossroad in the history of European integration. Since its ratification, policy areas at the core of the national sovereignties have been included in the Brussels agenda, the power balance between the European institutions has started to mutate, and the European Union affairs have progressively become a controversial issue in the public debate. The goal of the book is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the politicization of European affairs. The final aim is to assess the institutional and socio-political impact of EU politicization, detecting how the European elites could exploit the saliency gained by European affairs to enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of the European institutions.

Autorentext

Stefano Greco is a Jean Monnet professor of European Union politics and founder director of the Chitkara Spaak Centre for Multidisciplinary European Studies, Chitkara University. His research activities relate to political sociology, EU politicization and European political parties.

Inhalt

The politicized post-Maastricht era.

The EU in the spotlight: the politicization of the European governance.

The causes of politicization: a top-down and bottom-up assessment.

The consequences of the politicization of European affairs.

Power and legitimacy in the politicized European Union.

A vision for the politicized European Union.