Europe’s Union in the 21st century : from decision trap to politics trap

Abstract

This paper begins with the proposition that the EU faces a problem of politics or to put it another way is characterized by a politics trap and that trap is consequential. A trap, for the purpose of this paper, is defined as a position or situation from which it is difficult or impossible to escape. The idea of a trap draws on the seminal article by Scharpf on the joint-decision trap (Scharpf, 1988) which had a major impact on the study of the EU. The focus of this paper is an analysis the politics trap by examining the three components of political order-polity, policy and politics. The politics trap is significantly more complex and multifaceted than the decision trap, which is one mode of decision making whereas the politics trap is a product of the nature of the EU itself and the structuring of politics in Europe. The compound character of the EU polity (states and peoples) is identified as the root structural cause of the Union’s politics trap. There remains a deep tension but also multiple binding ties between the national and the European, between the new polity and the older order of Europe’s nation states.