While the Russian invasion of Ukraine has created a new momentum for EU defence integration, the political feasibility of such integration remains disputed, as it may entail both additional financial costs and a loss of sovereignty. Furthermore, design of defence integration is inherently...

Societies and economies are experiencing deep and intertwined structural changes that may unsettle the perceptions European citizens have of their economic and employment security. Such labour-market perceptions are likely in turn to alter people's political positions. For instance, those...

The present special issue of Perspectives on Federalism reflects on the nature and characteristics of solidarity within a supranational context, it explains what solidarity has meant so far in the EU, how much solidarity we had during the crisis, what type of solidarity is needed and how to...

Criticism of European solidarity relies on three cornerstone arguments with mythological features. First is the “Myth of the Beggar”: it is believed that supranational solidarity is self-defeating, as it produces a moral-hazard scheme where endogenous incentives to reform (otherwise known as...

The recent European elections have shown a sharp rise in parties and independent parliament members generally perceived as “Eurosceptic”. Against this background, this paper analyses the interconnections between distressed economies, the fall of confidence in traditional political parties,...

While several countries still struggle to return to sustainable growth and Euroscepticism has shown its strength during the 2014 European Elections, Europe is slowly advancing on the path of fiscal integration. Against this background, this paper reassesses how legitimacy is provided and why the...

Since 2011, the European Semester constitutes the main instrument for strengthening economic policy coordination between member states. Economic policy coordination is of particular importance in a monetary union deprived of a full-fledged fiscal union as a backstop for shock-smoothing capacity....

Labour mobility in the EU is comparatively low, despite major efforts from the European Institutions to support cross-border mobility. This study evaluates the potential implications of a European Unemployment Benefits Scheme (EUBS) for labour mobility in the EU. We find that the introduction of...

Does integration advance through crises, as hinted by policy-makers such as jean Monnet or Romano Prodi? To what extent failure in responding to crises may lead to disintegration instead? Building on Historical-Institutionalist and Neofunctionalist approaches, as well as on macroeconomics this...