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.

The contributors to this volume, all leading specialists in the field of EU studies, examine the trajectory of the EU and draw on the theoretical tools of historical institutionalism to assess the central political challenges facing the EU.

Integration is the most significant European historical development in the past fifty years, eclipsing in importance even the collapse of the USSR. Yet, until now, no satisfactory explanation is to be found in any single book as to why integration is significant, how it originated, how it has changed Europe, and where it is headed. Professor Gillingham s work corrects the inadequacies of the existing literature by cutting through the genuine confusion that surrounds the activities of the European Union, and by looking at his subject from a truly historical perspective. The late-twentieth century has been an era of great, though insufficiently appreciated, accomplishment that intellectually and morally is still emerging from the shadow of an earlier one of depression, and modern despotism. This is a work, then, that captures the historical distinctiveness of Europe in a way that transcends current party political debate.

"Marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, this publication examines some of the key developments in European integration from an Irish perspective." "The book explores different aspects of Ireland's relationship with the process of European integration, including Ireland's relationship with the six founding members before it joined in 1973, and how European developments formed the backdrop to domestic debates over changing Irish economic policy in the 1950s and 1960s. The increasing importance of the European Union in different policy areas is also analysed, as is the impact the Union has had on the work of ministers and the Oireachtas, and how EU business is managed within government departments. The publication also reflects on the different amendments to the Treaty of Rome, and how Ireland has contributed to the negotiation of new treaties since the 1980s." "With contributions from both practitioners and academics, the book offers a diverse range of perspectives on how European developments have impacted on Ireland, as well as reflections on what Ireland has brought to the European integration project. In these different ways the authors offer interesting new insights into Ireland's involvement in the integration process, and illustrate how Ireland's position within the European Union has matured and entered a new phase of development."--BOOK JACKET.

The author is presenting a broadly structured study about the first fifty years of European integration, its geopolitical context and academic reflection. His study is based on the two-fold thesis that since a few years, the European Union is going through a process of its Second Founding while simultaneously changing its rationale.

First published in 1962, The Theory of Economic Integration provides an excellent exposition of a complex and far-reaching topic. Professor Balassa has been remarkably successful in covering so much ground with such care and balance, in a treatment which is neither in any way abstruse nor unnecessarily technical. His book will interest economists in Europe by reason of its subject and treatment, but it is also a valuable and reliable textbook for students tackling integration as part of a course of International Economics and for those studying Public Finance. He distinguishes between the various forms of integration (free trade area, customs union, common market, economics union, and total integration). In addition, he applies the theoretical principles to current projects such as the European Common Market and Free Trade Area, and to Latin American integration projects. In offering this theoretical study, the author builds on the conclusions of other writers, but goes beyond this in providing a unifying framework for previous contributions and in exploring questions that in the past received little attention – in particular, the relationship between economic integration and growth (especially the interrelationship between market size and growth, and the implications of various factors for economic growth in an integrated area).

A comprehensive, concise--and unique--examination of the history of European monetary integration since the end of World War II, and how this fits into the anticipated economic and monetary union and closer political cooperation of European countries.