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In order to deal with the question of European society, it is useful to introduce a social-theoretical perspective that investigates the dynamics of multiplicity underlying European transformations. There are at least three co-existing routes to Europe-making that often clash with each other: “thick”, “thin”, and “parallel” Europe-making. These are in tune with definitions of Europe as an “exclusive civilizational entity”, as a “problem-solving instrument”, and as representing world society, respectively. Based on a notion of European multiplicity, this study argues that contemporary European society cannot to be reduced to a particular dynamic or to a set of actors, norms, and institutions because it paradoxically incorporates at the same time “thick”, “thin”, and “parallel” Europe-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is concerned with the problem of “society” and in particular with the notion of “European society”. Rather than reject the possibility of society, it draws on theories of the social as networks. The thesis proposed is that the concept of society should rather be understood as a relational field of interconnections. It is argued that this is highly relevant to the analysis of Europe conceived of in terms of a society. This approach can be seen as an alternative to methodological nationalism. The paper applies a network conception of society to Europe with the emphasis on the nineteenth century. In this account, European society is not something that was produced by European integration. Rather than see European society as a recent development, it is argued that the field of tensions between capitalism and democracy constituted the major elements that shaped a European model of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of Europe was radically transformed after the accomplishment of the idea of European unification. The European Union (EU) and Europe at the beginning of the twenty-first century were defined by a broad common ideology that consists of ideologies such as antinationalism, social democracy, pacificism and environmentalism. These ideologies are presented by pro-EU scholars and politicians as ideologies rooted in European history and parts of European identity and as being mostly absent in the American policies. The emergence of EU ideology is traced in the relaunch of European integration in the mid-1980s and in Delors’ conflict with Thatcher. It is argued that the emergence of EU ideology is the result of two long-term historical developments: the deepening and enlargement of European integration; and the changing relations between the USA and Europe. It is concluded that the emergence of EU ideology resembles the emergence of nationalism and national ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minority regulation in the EU has come under attack as ineffective and problematic. With the rise of nationalism, racism and xenophobia in Europe and the challenged role of Europeanization, minority/majority relations in the EU may become increasingly problematic. This article argues an inherent incompatibility between what is held as a European standard of minority rights and the dynamics of integration. On the basis of a historical and discursive analysis of the EU minority regime and its normative relationship to integration this article demonstrates how a reifying, state-centric, security-bound conceptualization of national minorities deeply influenced by the theory and practice of nationalism reinforces the logic of nationalism from within the European project. It suggests that a lack of imagination in the study and practice of national minority regulation has prevented the conception of minority policies compatible with the unique normative context of integration as supranational governance and a shared community. Instead of attempting to reproduce the best practices of minority protection invented within the logic of nationalism, Europeanization should categorically move away from them. This would enable it to re-affirm itself as a project of post-national belonging that acknowledges and accommodates the complex dynamics of identity maintenance of post-modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article addresses the politicisation of European tax governance in mass media. Although taxation is commonly assumed to remain a national prerogative, European institutions have extended their reach far into national tax regimes. Whether this expansion of EU authority towards one of the core functions of the nation state is accompanied by politicisation is the question to be addressed in this article. To analyse the causal nexus between growing EU authority – measured in terms of formal authority and tax legislation – and the politicisation of EU tax governance, the paper compares public debates in Germany, Ireland and Switzerland over a time period of 30 years between 1981 and 2011. Based on a newspaper content analysis, the empirical results demonstrate that EU tax governance is increasingly politicised in all three countries. Varying levels and content of politicisation across time and space are explained by national economic and socio-cultural conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses attitudes of the Catholic Church and Protestant churches in Europe regarding European integration. It examines the concept of Euroscepticism, the interaction between churches and the European Union (EU), and historical support for, and opposition to, the EU on the part of the Catholic Church. It also discusses EU policies concerning church and state, the concepts of European identity and national identity in the EU, and Protestant relations with the EU.