Problems of Enlargement: Political Integration in a Pan-European EC

Abstract

This article highlights one aspect of the dilemma between the widening and deepening of integration which is becoming particularly acute in the context of the recent profound transformations in the European system. It analyses the effects of Pan-Europeanization and enlargement (including German "enlargement") on political integration, defined as the creation of a distinct European identity in foreign policy and security policy. Approaching the question from both a theoretical and empirical perspective, the author argues that on the whole the liberation of Eastern Europe and the pressure for Pan-European cooperation will function as an external catalyst on European integration: The political integration system will be reactivated by the pressure of expectations from Eastern Europe and it will be fed with new functional tasks. The legitimacy of the European unification process will be broadened as a consequence of the EC's new Pan-European role, and the more manifest German problem will unleash centripetal forces in Europe. Significantly, in order to cope with the East European challenges, the political dimension of the Community is likely to be strengthened — even at the cost of postponing and in some cases perhaps blocking enlargement.