Economic recession and disenchantment with Europe

Recent disenchantment with European integration has been associated with the economic recession, in particular the difficulties in ratifying the Maastricht Treaty and the weakening of the ERM. Cyclical perspectives see integration as driven forward by economic necessities and the present difficulties as temporary; structural perspectives identify recent changes in the political and the economic context as creating political obstacles to the resumption of integration. The structuralist perspective is seen as providing a more plausible account of the present state of the European Union. Evidence on the strength of popular support for European integration and the variations between member states is assessed. It is argued that the limited progress towards the creation of either a European economy or European polity creates serious problems for both the neo‐liberal and social democratic programmes for deeper integration.