Beyond the Pro/Anti-Europe Divide: Diverging Views of Europe within EU Institutions

Abstract

This general introduction aims at explaining the rationale behind this special issue. EU institutions have long been seen as bastions for Europhile actors and they indeed seem to have, over time, promoted further European integration. This pro-integration bias is here examined through the analysis of three interrelated factors: ideas, interests and institutional logics. But this introduction also shows that there have been diverging views of Europe among EU elites and therefore we argue that it is necessary to explore these views and their impact on EU institutions but also to go beyond the binary pro/anti-Europe divide. It exposes the main research questions that structure the special issue and briefly presents the different articles.

Key words:

• Euroscepticism
• European integration
• European institutions
• elites
• legitimacy

Notes

1. On socialization in the EU, see among others Christiansen, Jorgensen, and Wiener (2001) and Checkel (2007).

2. Even in the Council, some socialization effects are noticeable, especially in its working groups. See for instance Beyers and Dierickx (1997) and Joerges and Meyer (1997).

3. As an example, a recent poll of civil servants in the Commission emphasized the deep pessimism among staff, including the integration process, 63% partially or totally agreed that ‘the European model has entered into a lasting crisis’. But at the same time, members of the Commission stress the need for the member states (and not so much the EU institutions) to defend the European project, showing a sense of powerlessness. See http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/brussels-eurocrats-see-eu-project-lasting-crisis-news-506381.