With the referenda on possible Scottish and Catalan independence and the electoral successes of the Flemish pro-independence movement, secession of part of a EU Member State has become a real possibility that cannot be ignored any longer. The driving forces behind the referenda seek independence but they do not seek withdrawal from the Union. This is a scenario without precedent. An exploration of its legal and political aspects is therefore a timely matter. In this collection of think pieces a number of experts from both public international law and European Union law present their thoughts on key aspects of Secession within the Union.

This is the first book to jointly scrutinise two existential issues for the EU: withdrawal of a member state (i.e. Brexit) and territorial secession (affecting Scotland, Catalonia and beyond). The book applies normative and empirical analyses, explores new approaches and discusses the deep theoretical problems unleashed by these processes. Featuring a superb constellation of legal and political science scholars, the book combines specific legal analysis and considers the political dynamics behind the processes. It provides extensive coverage and sophisticated analysis of the interpretation of Article 50 and the possible consequences it may have. The implications of withdrawal and secession on EU citizenship are discussed in depth and there is an overview of the evolving nature of the relationship between the regions and the EU. Finally, there is an engaging normative discussion on the deeper meaning of these two processes with respect to the objective of European integration.

The book comprehensively discusses legal and political issues of non-recognized entities in the context of international and European Law, combining perspectives of international and European law with those of the non-recognized entities themselves.

The European integration project currently faces profound political, economic, legal, and societal challenges. These challenges seem increasingly to overburden the European Union as well as the cohesion among the Member States, and therefore pose a serious threat to the integration project. The EU faces a major task in coping with this situation and it is one that calls for new approaches and ideas This book addresses the major challenges confronting the EU, analyses the consequences for the integration project, and develops fresh perspectives on the EU’s future prospects for coping with the most debated, current and upcoming issues, such as the rise of Euroscepticism or the contested idea of an ‘ever-closer union’. Renowned experts in European Studies from the fields of political science, law, economics and sociology provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the different dimensions of the EU’s crisis-laden situation and question whether the EU’s existing problem-solving mechanisms and methods are sufficient to address the imminent tasks. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of EU Politics, European Politics, European Governance, and more broadly European law, history and the wider social sciences.

This book addresses a seemingly paradoxical situation. On the one hand, nationalism from Scotland to the Ukraine remains a resilient political dynamic, fostering secessionist movements below the level of the state. On the other, the competence and capacity of states, and indeed the coherence of nationalism as an ideology, are increasingly challenged by patterns of globalisation in commerce, cultural communication and constitutional authority beyond the state. It is the aim of this book to shed light on the relationship between these two processes, addressing why the political currency of nationalism remains strong even when the salience of its objective – independent and autonomous statehood – becomes ever more attenuated. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach both within law and beyond, with contributions from international law, constitutional law, constitutional theory, history, political science and sociology. The challenge for our time is considerable. Global networks grow ever more sophisticated while territorial borders, such as those in Eastern and Central Europe, become seemingly more unstable. It is hoped that this book, by bringing together areas of scholarship which have not communicated with one another as much as they might, will help develop an ongoing dialogue across disciplines with which better to understand these challenging, and potentially destabilising, developments.

Recently, numerous multi-national states have disintegrated along national lines, and today many more continue to witness bitter secessionist struggles. This study brings together a series of essays on the ethics of secession.