Fifty Years of European Integration: Foundations and Perspectives

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the European Economic Community and the fifteenth anniversary of the establishment of the European Union, this collection of essays reflects on the foundations of these entities, their present state and their future, focussing on three important issues that have gained particular importance throughout the years: 1) the architecture of the Treaties and the role of the institutions and other bodies within the institutional setting; 2) the need for further integration and the possible limits to a more differentiated approach to integration; 3) the EU's borders and identity, including the issues of enlargement, neighbourhood policy and citizenship. In conclusion, the book raises the question whether the European integration process can serve as a model for other regional integration processes, comparing the South American, African and Asian integration processes and detecting commonalities and differences in relation to the EU integration process.