European Integration and the New Global Disorder^*

Abstract

The global context within which European integration takes place is changing. The rise of China continues and the leadership of the USA has come under strain, while the global economy remains trapped in a phase of stagnation. We argue that, to capture these dynamics, EU studies would benefit from tracing the interactions between global order and contemporary dynamics within the EU. European integration has been decisively shaped by two phases of US-led global order in the past. However, we argue that a new global disorder has emerged. The decentring of globalization, geopolitical turbulence, monetary and financial instabilities and ideological fluidity are reshaping the context within which EU integration unfolds. This presents an old European question but under a new set of volatile conditions: how to secure a degree of relative autonomy within a rapidly changing global political economy.

Is the China-effect real? Ideational change and the political contestation of Chinese state-led investment in Europe

“…Third, our results speak to broader developments in Europe and beyond that signify a 'geopoliticization' of trade and investment policies (Meunier & Nicolaidis, 2019). Recent research has outlined the global disorder which both feeds this geopoliticization, but also presents the new conditions under which European integration is taking place (Lavery & Schmid, 2021). If neoliberal globalization was the condition under which European countries adopted the liberalization of trade and investment policies, the rise of a more statist form of globalization can have the inverse effect of closing Europe to different forms of state-led investment.…”

“…By studying two dissimilar cases, we add leverage to the argument that country-specific factors explain the degree, but not the general direction of the Chinaeffect. Third, we contribute to current discussions on the role of Europe in a changing global order, and how the rise of China affects these changes to a significant degree (see Lavery & Schmid, 2021). Our findings help to better estimate how European economic policy-making vis-à-vis China will develop in the coming years.…”

“…At the same time, we need to be careful to distinguish between such 'third order' changes of a paradigmatic nature from policy-shifts as discussed in this paper, which are rather 'second order' changes of policy instruments and settings (Hall, 1993, 279). The view of China as a systemic competitor is a more fundamental and abstract paradigm change in European politics which is still underway (Lavery & Schmid, 2021). To frame such large-scale paradigm changes as driving concrete policy-changes would be imprecise.…”

Economic Narratives and the Legitimacy of Foreign Direct Investments

“…At the same time, the results can also help our understanding of the unfolding backlash against unfettered globalization in present-day politics (Campbell-Verduyn et al, 2021;Lavery & Schmid, 2021;Meunier & Nicolaidis, 2019;Schmitz & Seidl, 2022;Trubowitz & Burgoon, 2020;Weinhardt & ten Brink, 2020). Many studies have attributed the rise of anti-globalist forces to the growing threats to local cultures brought about by technological advances and immigration, or economic grievances suffered in the aftermath of the North Atlantic financial crisis.…”

Benefits of Regional Integration: Redefining the Concept

“…The European Union's share in the world's population and GDP is steadily decreasing, the main center of global development is moving to Asia as the role of the United States weakens. The decentralization of globalization, the political and financial instability, and the fluidity of the ideological framework require the European Union to rethink its integration strategy (Kaveshnikov, 2021, p. 346;Lavery, Schmid, 2021, p. 1322. In recent years, the European Union has taken a decisive step away from the economic agenda.…”