Differentiated Integration as a Fair Scheme of Cooperation
26 Pages Posted: 17 Apr 2019 Last revised: 10 Jan 2022
Date Written: April 1, 2019
Abstract
Differentiated integration (DI), whereby some MS opt out or are excluded from certain common EU policies for sovereignty or capacity reasons, may be thought to undermine the EU’s functioning as what John Rawls called a fair scheme of cooperation, grounded in norms of impartiality and reciprocity. However, we argue that different forms of DI can be compatible with either fair cooperation between states on the model of Rawls’ Law of Peoples or cooperation among citizens on the model of Rawls’ two principles of domestic justice. Meanwhile, the EU has features of both, being an international Union of states and a supra- and trans- national Union of citizens. We defend the coherence of this combination and contend that DI can provide a justified mechanism for overcoming conflicts between the two to ensure fairness between states remains compatible with fairness between citizens both within and across states. Indeed it offers a potential model for other forms of international cooperation, such as the WTO or the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, involving socio-economically and politico-culturally heterogenous states.
Keywords: European Union, differentiated integration, integration theory, heterogeneity
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