Introduction: the European Union beyond the polycrisis? Integration and politicization in an age of shifting cleavages

Abstract

Over the past decade, the EU has faced multiple crises. In the introduction to this collection, we argue that this 'polycrisis' is fracturing the European political system across multiple, simultaneous rifts, thereby creating a 'polycleavage'. As a consequence, the EU is caught in a 'politics trap'. Similar to other decision traps, this multi-level politics trap is dysfunctional, but difficult to escape altogether. The contributions to this collection analyze the mechanisms of the politics trap, its relationship to the European polycrisis, and the strategies pursued by a plurality of actors (the Commission, the European Parliament, national governments) to cope with its constraints. In light of this analysis, we argue that comprehensive, 'grand' bargains are for the moment out of reach, but national and supranational actors can find ways of 'relaxing' the politics trap and in so doing perhaps lay the foundations for more ambitious future solutions.

EU Aid Policy in the Middle East and North Africa: Politicization and its Limits

“…In such cases a particular issue is nested within broader debates with multiple cross cutting concerns at stake, rather than there being one hard, all‐defining set of internal divisions (Antentas, 2017, p. 470). Disagreement can be dampened where there is ‘poly‐cleavage’ in the sense of various different issues becoming salient at the same time with different divides in each respective issue area (Zeitlin et al ., 2019, p. 966).…”

Public Interest and EU Competition Law

“…It thus provides a more effective tool by which to address contentious issues that may struggle to reach the level of consensus required for direct legislative intervention. 111 Second, the competition rules themselves are comparatively wide-ranging and amorphous; if not exactly a "blank cheque" 112 for enforcers, then certainly amenable to progressive development and reinterpretation in light of changing market circumstances. Accordingly, even if it remains necessary, when applying competition law in furtherance of public interest objectives, to make a connection to the functioning of market competition, there is scope to bring the wider context to bear in doing so: what Ezrachi describes as antitrust's "sponge-like" qualities.…”

Unpacking old and new conflicts of sovereignty in the European polity

“…The politicization of European issues, understood as an increased polarization and mobilization of both citizens and political entrepreneurs at the national level, has led to a complexification of conflict lines. Due to the prolonged period of distress, the EU now faces a polycleavage (Zeitlin et al 2019), with sovereignty being a key element of these new dividing lines (Hutter and Kriesi 2019). Alongside the typical conflicts between member states and between member states and the EU, the conflicts between national governments and their publics, between segments of societies and between elites and masses have become a structuring feature of European integration (Bickerton, Hodson, and Puetter 2015;Zeitlin et al 2019).…”

“…Due to the prolonged period of distress, the EU now faces a polycleavage (Zeitlin et al 2019), with sovereignty being a key element of these new dividing lines (Hutter and Kriesi 2019). Alongside the typical conflicts between member states and between member states and the EU, the conflicts between national governments and their publics, between segments of societies and between elites and masses have become a structuring feature of European integration (Bickerton, Hodson, and Puetter 2015;Zeitlin et al 2019). Not only normative positions, but also agents' selfinterested strategies are bound to play a role in today's conflicts of sovereignties.…”