What is intergovernmental about the EU’s ‘(new) intergovernmentalist’ turn? Evidence from the Eurozone and asylum crises

Smeets, Sandrino and Zaun, Natascha ORCID: 0000-0002-0436-6275 (2021) What is intergovernmental about the EU’s ‘(new) intergovernmentalist’ turn? Evidence from the Eurozone and asylum crises. West European Politics, 44 (4). 852 - 872. ISSN 0140-2382

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Abstract

Engaging with recent claims of increased intergovernmental dynamics, this article asks what exactly is intergovernmental about the EU’s major crisis-induced reforms. Drawing on central claims of both New Intergovernmentalism and Liberal Intergovernmentalism, it is demonstrated that the Eurozone reform and the asylum reform differ significantly regarding the role played by the European Council (NI) and the role of institutional expertise provided by supranational actors (LI). While the European Council played a central facilitating role in the Eurozone crisis and worked effectively with the Commission, which provided important technical expertise, expertise in the area of asylum still largely lies with the member states. The Commission therefore acted as a political stakeholder, thus estranging the European Council that subsequently acted as a reform blocker. This article is a first attempt to assess empirically the micro-level foundations of different types of intergovernmentalism and to nuance claims on the weakened role of supranational institutions.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fwep20
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Authors
Divisions:	European Institute
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) J Political Science > JZ International relations
Date Deposited:	29 Jun 2020 17:06
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 00:30
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/105244

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