How should the EU understand its relation to the wider world? As a unique institution based on the limited sharing of sovereignty, how should it attempt to present that uniqueness to others? This book argues that the EU should support a Global Union, built up like itself from small beginnings and based on a limited sharing of sovereignty.
Preface x
1 Introduction 1
A proposal 1
Patriotism is not enough 2
The sharing of sovereignty 4
The structure of the book 6
A point about language 10
Conclusion 13
Part I Towards European Union 15
2 The Rise of the Nation-State 17
The end of Christendom 17
The nation becomes the nation-state 21
The nation-state as a 'civilising force' 27
Norbert Elias and the sociological perspective 29
Conclusion 31
3 From Nationalism to Supranationalism 34
The idea of 'supranationalism' 34
'Supranationalism' finds its moment in history 36
British and French approaches to supranationalism 40
The British approach 40
The French approach 42
British and French approaches to the treaties of Rome 45
Conclusion 52
4 Managing Supranationalism 54
Introduction 54
European law 54
'Own resources' 59
Supporting vulnerable economic sectors 62
The later development of the European Union 65
Conclusion 72
Part II Options for Global Governance 75
5 The United Nations 77
Introduction 77
The Security Council 78
Outside the Security Council - UN 'agencies' 83
The legal framework of the UN 88
Recent developments - The problem of intervention 91
The financial framework of the UN 94
Conclusion 97
6 Other Potential Global Authorities 101
Introduction 101
Financial and economic bodies 102
The International Monetary Fund 102
The World Bank 105
The World Trade Organisation 106
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 109
G7, G8, G20 . . . G200? 112
The Commonwealth and the International Francophone Organisation 114
NATO and the OSCE 116
New organisations 122
Can the problem be bypassed? 124
Conclusion 128
7 Other Regional Unions 130
Introduction 130
The African Union 131
ASEAN 136
MERCOSUR and UNASUR 141
Conclusion 146
Part III A Global Union 149
8 Current EU Thinking 151
Introduction 151
'Effective multilateralism' 151
'Effective inter-regionalism' 155
Success and failure: Europe, and its 'near abroad' 157
The EU and the Southern Mediterranean 158
The EU and Eastern/South-Eastern Europe 161
The Balkans 161
Europe's 'Far East' 165
Turkey 169
Conclusion 170
9 A Global Sharing of Sovereignty 173
Moving beyond other organisations 173
The McClintock system 176
Food security 181
Extending the sharing of sovereignty 187
The EU as a member of a Global Union 189
Conclusion 193
10 The Copernican Revolution 195
Introduction 195
A Union to serve the nation-state 199
The sharing of sovereignty and the domestic analogy 201
The EU and its malaise 205
Can the EU manage a Copernican revolution? 207
European 'presumption' 209
The need for a trigger 211
Conclusion 213
Notes 215
References 232
Index 237
Overview
How should the EU understand its relation to the wider world? As a unique institution based on the limited sharing of sovereignty, how should it attempt to present that uniqueness to others? This book argues that the EU should support a Global Union, built up like itself from small beginnings and based on a limited sharing of sovereignty.