Ever looser union? Differentiated integration in Europe

Differentiated integration – as in the Eurozone and the Schengen Area – has become a durable feature of the European Union. What explains differentiation? Does it signify a trend towards ‘ever looser union’? Is differentiation the key to successful EU reform? And what does it mean for future EU-UK relations? The lecture presents key findings from a forthcoming Oxford University Press book.

Frank Schimmelfennig is Professor of European Politics and a member of the Center for Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich. He is also a Fellow of the Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, Florence and Chairman of the Scientific Board of Institut für Europäische Politik Berlin. His research focuses on European integration and, more specifically, integration theory, EU enlargement and Europeanization, differentiated integration, democracy promotion and democratization. His most recent book is Ever Looser Union? Differentiated European Integration (Oxford University Press, 2020, with Thomas Winzen).