Federalism in the European Union

(Hardback)

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This edited volume aims to reveal the Janus-faced character of federalism in the European Union. Federalism appears in two main forms in the EU. On the one hand, numerous formerly unitary Member States have embarked on a path towards a (quasi-)federal governance structure. On the other hand, the EU itself is sometimes qualified as a federal system. Significantly, the concept of federalism has a very different, even opposite, connotation in both contexts. When associated with Member State reform, federalism is regarded as a technique for accommodating autonomy claims of sub-state nations. By contrast, when federalism is used as a label for the EU itself, it is conceived as a far-reaching way of integrating the nations of Europe. This dual appearance of federalism in the EU context is central to the structure of the book. The first collection of essays addresses the question whether the EU may be described as a federal system, and whether it can learn from existing federations. In the second set of contributions, the attention shifts to domestic federalisation processes, more particularly to the impact of these processes on EU law and vice versa.

Reviews

...the book offers an important contribution to the study of EU constitutional law; it lays down rigorous theoretical and methodological foundations for further inquiries into Federalism and the EU topics and provides much useful information. The extensive use of comparison is to be welcomed because it makes it possible to highlight differences between the EU federalising process and constitutional life in other, better-established federal systems -- Giacomo Delledonne * Public Law Volume 1 *
In addressing the question of how the decentralisation of public authority within a Member State interrelates with European Union law, the book fills a significant gap in scholarly literature. Further, it offers some interesting insights into how federalism relates to the structure of the EU itself. The large variety of issues covered by the book makes it a good read, with interesting and sometimes brilliant analysis, for anyone interested in EU law. The book is particularly noteworthy as it participates in a slowly emerging debate on the relation between the Member State's sub-national authorities and EU law. While there is as yet no principled and coherent approach to EU law towards local and regional autonomies within its Member States, the book provides some answers and provides a valuable starting point for anyone interested in further research on the topic. -- Michele Finck * Publius *
...the contributions are well written and make for stimulating reading. -- Gerhard van der Schyff * European Law Review, Volume 39 *

Author Bio

Elke Cloots is a Researcher at the University of Leuven and a Fellow of the Research FoundationFlanders. Geert De Baere is Assistant Professor of International Law and EU Law at the University of Leuven, and senior member of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. Stefan Sottiaux is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law and Discrimination Law at the University of Leuven.