Christiansen, Thomas; Best, Edward; Settembri, Pierpaolo --- "Conclusion" [2008] ELECD 280; in Best, Edward; Christiansen, Thomas; Settembri, Pierpaolo (eds), "The Institutions of the Enlarged European Union" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: The Institutions of the Enlarged European Union

Editor(s): Best, Edward; Christiansen, Thomas; Settembri, Pierpaolo

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847203458

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Conclusion

Author(s): Christiansen, Thomas; Best, Edward; Settembri, Pierpaolo

Number of pages: 10

Extract:

13. Conclusion
Thomas Christiansen, Edward Best and
Pierpaolo Settembri

At the outset of this book we observed that several studies had indicated
that the impact of enlargement on the institutions of the EU was more
limited than initial expectations had suggested. In the light of the detailed,
empirical studies of the key institutions of the European Union we can talk
with greater confidence about the remarkable continuity the institutional
architecture of the EU has been demonstrating. Indeed, on the basis of the
studies of individual institutions and governance mechanisms that this
volume brings together, we are able to say that the ­ sometimes apocalyp-
tic ­ pronunciations of a `break-down', `blocage' or `collapse' of the
enlarged EU have turned out to be wide of the mark. Instead, the over-
whelming evidence that the contributors to this book have brought together
points to a conclusion of a Union doing `business as usual', albeit with
some variation across different institutions.
The accession of 12 new member states, even before the EU reformed
itself through a revision of the treaties, was not the kind of critical juncture
that would have forced difficult decisions about the functioning of its insti-
tutions. As Kenneth Dyson points out in Chapter 7, such a crisis may yet
occur ­ and it may or may not be related to the Union's enlarged member-
ship ­ but at the beginning of 2008 there was no sign of it. Enlargement has
done numerous things to the EU ­ caused certain difficulties in some
...