Empire vs federation: which path for Europe?

Abstract

The article discusses the concepts of federation and empire in the context of the European Union (EU). Even if these two concepts are not usually contrasted to one another, the article shows that they refer to related type of polities. Furthermore, they can be used at a time because they shed light on different and complementary aspects of the European integration process. The article concludes that the EU is at the crossroads between federation and empire and may remain an ‘imperial federation’ for several decades. This could mean that the EU is on the verge of transforming itself to another type of project from the one which led to its creation.

Keywords:

• empire
• federation
• EU
• integration process

Notes

1. There are some notable exceptions, such as the stimulating work of Motyl (2001) or, more recently, Nexon and Wright (2007) and Nexon (2009).

2. Although the Holy Roman Empire is usually dated 962–1806, some consider that it started with Charlemagne, as far back as 800.

3. According to Schnapper (1994, p. 29), ‘An ethnic group can be defined by two dimensions: the historical community and the cultural specificity’.

4. The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the USA has mentioned the idea of ‘one nation indivisible’ since it is very first formulation in 1892. Since Eisenhower’s amendment in 1954, it has become ‘one nation under God, indivisible’.

5. Cf. Article 3 of the Constitution of 16 April 1871.

6. A more systematic study would need to be done in order to find out whether the Roman model practiced in the Western and Eastern Roman Empires was an exception or if there are indeed two models of imperial citizenship, direct and indirect. In any case, while the direct model is not specific to federations or empires, the indirect model is characteristic of empires.

7. This is not self-evident, since from a geological point of view, Iceland is, roughly, half European half American.

8. In the particular context of the EU, federalization is a centripetal (Safire 2000), not a centrifugal force, because it is a polity-building process. In other words, in the EU, both federalization and imperialization are processes of centralization.

9. ‘The solidarity in production … will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible’. Schuman declaration, http://www.touteleurope.eu, consulted 31 August 2011.