The European Union Between Transnational Integration and National Disintegration: Challenges of the 2020s

This chapter addresses four major challenges the European Union must manage in the 2020s in order to regain its legitimacy among the European people. The first of these is the democratic deficit, a problem that has been on the agenda for 30 years now but has not been resolved in any way. The second is the monetary union, which, so far, has not served as an integrating force but much more as a dividing force. The third challenge is the emergence of a transfer union, which exceeds the available economic powers and the bonds of solidarity between the richer and poorer member states. The fourth one is uncontrolled immigration exceeding the available resources of welfare and solidarity between people. The less the European Union succeeds in managing these challenges, the more it will be confronted with right- and left-wing populist movements aiming to give back decision-making powers to the member states and returning to the original idea of a European Economic, but not Political, Union.