How is a closer union conceivable under conditions of ever more socio‐economic and political diversity? Constitutionalising Europe's unitas in pluralitate

• Published date: 01 September 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/eulj.12289
• Date: 01 September 2018

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

How is a closer union conceivable under

conditions of ever more socio‐economic and

political diversity? Constitutionalising Europe's

unitas in pluralitate

Christian Joerges

*

Abstract

Under the impact of the financial crisis, socio‐economic divergence, even among the members of the

Eurozone, deepened dramatically. European crisis politics therefore sought to impose convergence

through budgetary prescriptions and austerity measures. This essay raises not only normative objec-

tions; it submits that these efforts are bound to generate serious resistance. The follow‐up query is

whether Europe would be better advised to replace its one‐size‐fits‐all mantra by policies tolerating

diversity and fostering cooperative problem‐solving. To what degree such a return to the ‘united in

diversity’motto of the Constitutional Treaty of 2014 would be economically beneficial is unpredict-

able. It seems highly likely, however, that it could help to overcome the increasing aversion against

the European integration project.

1|INTRODUCTION

The relationship between the title and the subtitle of this essay requires some explanatory remarks. The main title

may imply an unfortunate dichotomy. In European studies, socio‐economic, cultural and political diversity are widely

perceived as an obstacle to integration, and hence as something that should be overcome on the road to an ‘ever

closer union’. This, however, is by no means the message of these pages. Quite to the contrary, we suggest that

the Union would be well advised to live with diversity, that diversity can be a politically sound and economically ben-

eficial alternative to the kind of convergence which the integration through law agenda of the formative period of the

integration process and the crisis politics of the past decade have pursued so rigorously. But our thesis has a prom-

inent precursor, albeit one that remained an unspecified proclamation. ‘United in Diversity’was the fortunate motto

of the ill‐fated Draft Constitutional Treaty of 2004. The motto did not make it into theTreaty of Lisbon. This does not

mean that it is outdated. The times Europe is going through are so hard that we cannot shy away from rethinking the

*

Professor em. for Law and Society, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin; Co‐Director, Centre of European Law and Politics, Bremen;

and Hertie School of Governance, Berlin.

Presented at the conference ‘Europe in Hard Times—What's to be Done?’,8–9 February 2018, Tallinn University, Estonia

DOI: 10.1111/eulj.12289

Eur Law J. 2018;24:257–267. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/eulj 257