European Integration and the Nation-State

Abstract

The state remains the starting point for many analyses of European integration. The Community, and after it the European Union (EU), were created by national states. If they did so, it is generally stressed that it is because they felt the development of international co-operation was likely to bring a number of collective benefits. In order to make sure it would serve their interests, structures and procedures were designed to preserve their control over decision-making; hence the weight of the member states in the European political system (Hoffmann, 1966; Garrett, 1992).