Differentiation and Segmentation

Abstract

It is widely recognized that the EU that emerged from the financial and refugee crises of the last decade has become more differentiated. Such a development brings forth important questions about the nature and character of the EU as a political system, and the kinds of processes and mechanisms that drive its development. An important problem is that neither differentiated integration nor differentiation say much about the positive character or the distinguishing features of the EU as a political system. The claim that we set forth in this paper is that the notion of the EU as a segmented political system provides a more apt and precise characterisation of the EU as a political system. In addition, the notion of segmentation helps to capture some of the distinct dynamics that propel the EU’s development.