A revisionist interpretation of the post-war evolution of European integration and the European Union (EU), this book reappraises and reassesses conventional explanations of European integration. It adopts a federalist approach which supplements state-based arguments with federal political ideas, influences and strategies. By exploring the philosophical and historical origins of federal ideas and tracing their influence throughout the whole of the EU's evolution, the book makes a significant contribution to the scholarly debate about the nature and development of the EU. The book looks at federal ideas stretching back to the sixteenth century and demonstrates their fundamental continuity to contemporary European integration. It situates these ideas in the broad context of post-war western Europe and underlines their practical relevance in the activities of Jean Monnet and Altiero Spinelli. Post-war empirical developments are explored from a federalist perspective, revealing an enduring persistence of federal ideas which have been either ignored or overlooked in conventional interpretations. The book challenges traditional conceptions of the post-war and contemporary evolution of the EU, to reassert and reinstate federalism in theory and practice at the very core of European integration.

This edited volume aims to reveal the Janus-faced character of federalism in the European Union. Federalism appears in two main forms in the EU. On the one hand, numerous formerly unitary Member States have embarked on a path towards a (quasi-)federal governance structure. On the other hand, the EU itself is sometimes qualified as a federal system. Significantly, the concept of federalism has a very different, even opposite, connotation in both contexts. When associated with Member State reform, federalism is regarded as a technique for accommodating autonomy claims of sub-state nations. By contrast, when federalism is used as a label for the EU itself, it is conceived as a far-reaching way of integrating the nations of Europe. This dual appearance of federalism in the EU context is central to the structure of the book. The first collection of essays addresses the question whether the EU may be described as a federal system, and whether it can learn from existing federations. In the second set of contributions, the attention shifts to domestic federalisation processes, more particularly to the impact of these processes on EU law and vice versa.

Comparative federalism is an important topic, with scholarly work comparing the US & EU 'proliferating rapidly'. This volume seeks to build on & contribute to this literature, by developing a systematic comparison of the institutions, policies & developmental patterns of the European Union & the United States.

What is the federal philosophy underlying the law-making function in the European Union? Which federal model best characterizes the European Union? This book analyses and demonstrates how the European legal order evolved from a dual federalism towards a cooperative federalist philosophy.

Kochenov's definitive collection examines the under-utilised potential of EU citizenship, proposing and defending its position as a systemic element of EU law endowed with foundational importance. Leading experts in EU constitutional law scrutinise the internal dynamics in the triad of EU citizenship, citizenship rights and the resulting vertical delimitation of powers in Europe, analysing the far-reaching constitutional implications. Linking the constitutional question of federalism and citizenship, the volume establishes an innovative new framework where these rights become agents and rationales of European integration and legal change, located beyond the context of the internal market and free movement. It maps the role of citizenship in this shifting landscape, outlining key options for a Europe of the future.

This book examines patterns of environmental regulation in the European Union and four federal polities--the United States, Germany, Australia, and Canada. Daniel Kelemen develops a theory of regulatory federalism based on his comparative study, arguing that the greater the fragmentation of power at the federal level, the less discretion is allotted to component states. Kelemen's analysis offers a novel perspective on the EU and demonstrates that the EU already acts as a federal polity in the regulatory arena. In The Rules of Federalism, Kelemen shows that both the structure of the EU's institutions and the control these institutions exert over member states closely resemble the American federal system, with its separation of powers, large number of veto points, and highly detailed, judicially enforceable legislation. In the EU, as in the United States, a high degree of fragmentation in the central government yields a low degree of discretion for member states when it comes to implementing regulatory statutes. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments 1. Regulatory Federalism and the EU 2. Environmental Regulation in the EU 3. Environmental Regulation in the United States 4. Environmental Regulation in Germany 5. Environmental Regulation in Australia and Canada 6. Food and Drug Safety Regulation in the EU 7. Institutional Structure and Regulatory Style Notes References Cases Cited Index R. Daniel Kelemen's The Rules of Federalism is an important contribution to both the literature on federalism and on the European Union. It makes an original theoretical and empirical contribution to our understanding of regulatory federalism and sheds new light on the federal systems which it compares. It will open up new avenues of inquiry. --Alberta Sbragia, University of Pittsburgh The Rules of Federalism makes a significant contribution to the literature on regulatory federalism. Keleman's original theoretical perspective is made plausible through a series of fascinating case studies. The book will be of interest to scholars of federalism, constitutional design, environmental policy, and the European Union. --Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale Law School

The hidden federal features of the European Union help explain the challenges of legitimacy, democracy and freedom that face an unfinished political community. Ideas about federalism and the reality of existing federal states cannot be sharply divided in an analysis of the EU’s multilevel political order, but so far, both scholars and major decision makers have shown interest only in the normal functioning of federal systems: ignoring the dilemma of the federation’s legitimate authority has resulted in an existential crisis for the EU which has become ever more manifest over recent years. This book employs a combination of political philosophy and political science, of federal philosophic ideas and their traces in real federal institutions, in order to achieve the task of understanding the federal features of the EU governance system. The first part of the work focuses on building an appropriate theoretical framework to explain the new meanings attached to familiar notions of democracy, legitimacy and citizenship in the context of a political community like the EU. In the second part the federal features of the EU’s political system are examined in comparison to other current and historical federal perspectives like the US, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Germany. Through an analysis of the hidden federal aspects of the EU and the links between hidden federalism and the EU’s legitimacy crisis, this book reveals the patterns that should be avoided and gives us guidelines that should be followed if the EU is to become democratic and politically united without jeopardising the state character of its members.