Integration and Diversity in the New Europe

Field Chairs: Ulrike Liebert and Susanne K. Schmidt
Field Coordinator: Arndt Wonka

The European Union (EU) currently comprises 27 member states which differ, amongst others, with respect to institutional make-up as well as regulatory and welfare state regimes. Given the considerable heterogeneity between EU member states, this field addresses three core questions relating to efficient and legitimate governance in the EU:

  1. How does heterogeneity among member states affect politics and decision-making in the EU arena and which institutional and political provisions allow efficient EU decision-taking?
  2. Which consequences follow from increased EU integration for welfare state and regulatory governance in EU member states and how do different kinds of actors and institutions in the latter deal with those?
  3. What is the democratic quality of the EU and the legitimacy of EU policy-making when assessed against different normative models of democratic and legitimate governance and how do actual political processes conform to these different normative models?

Please find a pdf with more detailed information on thematic field 2.