European Disintegration: A Response to Ben Rosamond and William Outhwaite

The chapters by Ben Rosamond and William Outhwaite stimulate new thinking about the causes, manifestations and trajectories of de-Europeanisation, differentiation and disintegration in Europe in different ways. While Rosamond focuses on what we can and cannot learn from (neofunctionalist) integration theories about the manifestations and causes of disintegration, Outhwaite draws our attention to the significant differences in how (member) states have related to Europe while also discussing key pathologies and problems of the Union’s constitutional order. Outhwaite’s piece returns frequently to the British case and the country’s elite’s relations to Europe, whereas Rosamond is more interested in exploring larger forces at play in the systemic weakening of the ‘democratic capitalism compact’ and ‘permanent austerity’. While neither of the pieces claims explicitly to advance recommendations on how to best respond to the increasing contestation of the European order, Rosamond appears to agree that more of the same kind of Europe should NOT be the answer.