Differentiation was at first not perceived as a threat to the European project, but rather as a tool to promote further integration. Today, more EU policies than ever are marked by concentric circles of integration and a lack of uniform application. As the EU faces increasingly existential challenges, this timely book considers whether the proliferation of mechanisms of flexibility has contributed to this newly fragile state or whether, to the contrary, differentiation has been fundamental to integration despite the heterogeneity of national interests and priorities.

The Constitutional Framework for Enhanced Cooperation in EU Law analyses the primary-law framework of the flexibility tool of “enhanced cooperation”. Against the background of recent Member State practice, Robert Böttner redefines its constitutional rules and draws conclusions on its potential for European integration.

The Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union offers an essential collection of groundbreaking chapters reflecting on the causes and consequences of this complex phenomenon. With contributions from key experts in this subfield of European Studies, it will become a key volume used for those interested in learning the nuts and bolts of differentiation as a mechanism of (dis)integration in the European Union, especially in the light of Brexit. Organised around five key themes, it offers an authoritative "encyclopaedia" of differentiation and addresses questions such as: How can one define differentiation in the European Union in the light of the most recent events? Does differentiation create more challenges or opportunities for the European Union? Is Europe moving away from an "ever closer Union" and heading towards an "ever more differentiated Union", especially as leading political figures across Europe favour the use of differentiation to reconcile divergences between member states? This handbook is essential reading and an authoritative reference for scholars, students, researchers and practitioners involved in, and actively concerned about, research in the study of European integration. As European differentiation is multifaceted and involves a wide range of actors and policies, it will be of further interest to those working on countries and/or in policy areas where differentiation is an increasingly relevant feature. The Introduction and chapters 13, 21, 30, and 35 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Offering a wealth of thought-provoking insights, this topical Research Handbook analyses the interplay between the law and politics of the EU and examines the role of law and legal actors in European integration.

This illuminating Research Handbook offers a detailed overview and critical discussion of the key themes and perspectives that characterize the burgeoning research area of transnational environmental law. Varied perspectives from leading and emerging scholars are brought together to deliver methodological and conceptual frameworks for future research, whilst providing an original view on this emerging field of law.

The decision made by the United Kingdom in 2016 to leave the European Union has produced shock waves across Europe and the world. Brexit calls into question consolidated assumptions on the finality of the EU, and simultaneously sparks new challenges. These new challenges are not only in regard of the constitutional settlements reached in the UK, notably in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but also on the future of European integration. Now that Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union has been invoked, and the path towards full withdrawal by the UK from the EU remains clouded in uncertainties, a comprehensive legal and political analysis of how Brexit impacts on UK and the EU appears of the utmost importance. This book brings together leading lawyers, economists and political scientists to discuss the constitutional implications of Brexit and propose possible solutions for the way forward. The book is structured around four main themes. First, it considers how Brexit will be implemented legally and politically, in terms of the withdrawal and the possible new relations between the UK and the EU. Second, it examines the implications of Brexit on the constitutional structure of the UK, as well as on the status of Northern Ireland and the relations with the Republic of Ireland. Third, it examines the implications of Brexit on the constitutional structure of the EU, focusing on a number of key areas of EU policy-making, notably the Area of Freedom Security and Justice, the Single Market, and Economic and Monetary Union. Finally, the book looks to the mid to long-term future, and discusses the prospects for relaunching the EU after Brexit.

The European Union (EU) is often portrayed as sacrificing national diversity for European unity. This book explores the alternative of a flexible EU based on differentiated rather than uniform integration. The authors combine normative theory with empirical research on political party actors to assess the desirability and political acceptability of differentiated integration as a means of accommodating heterogeneity in the EU. They examine the circumstances and institutional design needed for flexibility to promote rather than undermine fairness and democracy within and between member states. Clear, balanced, and accessible, the book provides fresh thinking on the future of the EU.

This book offers the first comprehensive legal study dedicated to the understanding of the Danish EU opt-outs. The impact of these is significant, falling as they do within Union citizenship, the euro, defense cooperation and the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Through a re-examination of the opt-outs individually, collectively and temporally, the book sheds light on their legal design and their interplay between international law, EU law and national law. This pioneering book takes a legal-doctrinal approach, which provides readers with a solid understanding of the opt-outs. Academics, judges and European Union civil servants will find this invaluable.

This book analyses the principle of equality from three perspectives: public international law, private international law and EU law. It is the first book in English providing a comprehensive overview of this principle in these areas of law and showing the current trends and issues concerning its application. Its main goal is to understand whether and to what extent the principle of equality has been affirmed in public and private international law, as well as EU law, and what – if any – the common core of this principle is. The analysis carried out in this contributed volume starts from general analyses of the principle of equality in the areas of the law covered by the book and then discusses the principle in more specific areas, such as human rights law, international adjudication (including investment law) and the law of international organizations. The book is intended to become a benchmark for academics dealing with matters of equality in public international law, private international law and EU law. It will be a useful tool for practitioners too, the collected chapters being based on the relevant case law dealing with the principle of equality. Daniele Amoroso is Professor of International Law in the Department of Law of the University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy. Loris Marotti is Assistant Professor of International Law in the Department of Law at the Federico II University of Naples, Italy. Pierfrancesco Rossi is Postdoctoral Fellow in International Law in the Department of Law of Luiss University, Rome, Italy. Andrea Spagnolo is Professor of International Law in the Department of Law of the University of Turin, Turin, Italy. Giovanni Zarra is Professor of International Law and International Litigation in the Department of Law at the Federico II University of Naples, Italy.

This book offers a topical inquiry into the legal and political limits of EU regulation in the field of risk and new technologies surrounded by techno-scientific complexity, uncertainty, and societal contestation. It uses agricultural biotechnology as a paradigmatic example to illustrate the complex intertwinement between environmental, public health, economic and social concerns in risk regulation. Weimer analyses the drawbacks of the EU approach to agricultural biotechnology showing that its reductionism, i.e. the narrow understanding of GMO risks as well as the exclusion of broader societal concerns related to environmental and social sustainability, has undermined both the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU regulation in this area. Resistance to this approach however has also triggered legal innovations prompting us to re-think EU internal market law, including the way in which it manages the tensions between unity and diversity, and between social and economic concerns. This text offers fresh and original insights into how far the EU can go in harmonizing regulatory approaches to risk. At the same time, it proposes new ways of re-thinking EU risk regulation to make it more responsive to different perspectives on risk and technology. A unique feature of this book is that it contributes to various strains of scholarship including risk regulation, internal market law, public administration, and studies of governance and regulation, as well as connecting these themes to broader debates about the legitimacy of European integration and new ways of differentiated integration. As a result it assists in re-imagining the EU internal market and its regulation as a site of diversity.