State-building in Europe : The Revitalization of Western European Integration

The relaunch of European integration in the 1980s and 1990s will affect profoundly the continent's course in the twenty-first century, changing statehood in Europe dramatically. Based on interviews and case studies, this discussion of the origins of this process is a valuable contribution to the debate on the future of Europe.

Why and how was the process of Western European integration relaunched in the 1980s and 1990s? This volume suggests a new framework of analysis of the European statebuilding tradition. Based on qualitative research (including more than 30 interviews with protagonists from EU member states), and detailed case studies and policy analyses (the genesis of the Single Market programme and the Single European Act, ESPRIT technology corporatism, biotechnology, EU regional and social policy) the authors show that new forms of cooperation between political and economic actors have developed, both at transnational and supranational level. The book shows how the European Commission, bureaucratic cabinets, national diplomats, transnational companies, pressure groups and representatives of the regions have set in motion a process that is changing statehood in Europe dramatically. This discussion of the origins of this process is a valuable contribution to the debate on the future of Europe in the world system.