More Integration, Disintegration or Something in Between: Lessons from Brexit and Some Other Issues

Abstract

This paper, by presenting and analysing some recent phenomena – like Brexit, the income (or more generally: prosperity) gap both between Western and Eastern, and Northern and Southern European member states, tensions within the Euro system, or even the resolution of the Greek crisis – would like to point to a certain direction which is worth to be considered in relation to the future of the European Union. In contrast to the standard narrative, it argues that instead of ever more integration – i.e. consisting of forcing more and more dogmatic economic policy under German domination –, Europe would benefit from a looser, multi-tier integration, based on mutually advantageous cooperation of nations. Such a solution would not exclude the preservation of a hard core of countries with deepening integration amongst their economies, but would give countries of the periphery the opportunity to preserve their room for manoeuver, their chances of development, and ultimately their dignity.

Keywords

• eu
• gdp per capita
• reer
• east-west divide
• north-south divide
• disintegration
• net earnings
• unemployment
• depopulation
• sovereign debt crisis
• brexit
• democratic deficit