The Conference on the Future of Europe and EU Reform: Limits of Differentiated Integration

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2020 5(2), 989-998 | Dialogue | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Venues of differentiated integration: differentiated treaty revisions v. exclusive outside agreements. - III. Issue types and differentiated integration. - IV. Conclusions. | (Abstract) There is considerable uncertainty about the outcome of the planned Conference on the Future of Europe, especially regarding possible treaty change. This contribution to the Dialogue comments on the possibility of an intergovernmental agreement outside the EU treaty framework on the basis of theoretical and empirical knowledge about differentiated integration. It argues that such an agreement would deviate from the traditional logic of differentiated integration venues, and that differentiated integration is generally of limited value for overcoming decision-making blockades on constitutional and redistributive issues.