Experimental differentiation as an innovative form of cooperation in the European Union: Evidence from the Nordic Battlegroup

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the use of experimental differentiation, a form of small-scale pilot program that aims at testing whether further institutional integration can be bolstered in an area where cooperation has not been tested or proven. Experimental differentiation consists of three features. Firstly, participation should not be constrained by membership in the European Union. Secondly, experimental differentiation should consist of short-term projects. Thirdly, the functional scope of such experiments should be clearly limited to reduce the expected political costs of participation. Empirically, this article focuses on the EU Battlegroups and analyzes how the above-mentioned features drove political actors to support participation. While EU Battlegroups have been criticized for their lack of effective action and the political and financial costs they entail, this article offers a more positive feature, arguing that Battlegroups should be seen as experiments that lead reluctant political actors to consider their cooperation under the EU framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Differentiation
• Experimentalist governance
• Battlegroups
• CSDP
• PESCO

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré, Monika Sus, Stefan Gänzle, the editors of CSP, and two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on earlier versions of this paper. A draft version was presented at the University of Agder’s Trans-Nordic Conference on European Differentiated Integration (June 1–2, 2022) and greatly benefited from comments from the audience.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Leruth

Benjamin Leruth is an Assistant Professor in European Politics and Society at the University of Groningen. His research focuses on differentiation in the European Union, democratic innovations, comparative social policy, and political long-termism. He is the lead Editor of the Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union (2022).