State Intervention and the Question of European Integration in Spain

Abstract

European integration and the impact of the Maastricht Treaty raise a range of issues. The emergence of a coordinated economic and political space in Europe continues to depend on the political calculations and strategies that exist at the level of the nation state. In Spain, economic and social regulation in the last two decades has depended crucially on the utilization and reinterpretation of European policy developments. Maastricht not only provides a range of policy constraints but also provides a key point of reference for the development of economic and social regulation. Hence, there are ideological and political mechanisms that need to be explained if the actual impact and politics of Maastricht, along with the broader issue of integration, are to be fully comprehended. This chapter first of all outlines the broader framework of Spanish engagement with the EU. The quest for further integration and the concept of ‘Europeanization’ are explained from the point of view of Spanish developments. The chapter then points to the difficulties that have arisen as a consequence of the emerging European discourse of deregulation within the Spanish system, which has evolved in a complex manner and lacks the stability and coherence of northern European systems of regulation.