Conclusion: New Nationalisms in a New Europe?

Abstract

European integration has transformed the economic and political decision-making landscape of the twenty-seven member states of the EU, with central state actors now sharing power with supranational institutions and with other member states over an expanding range of policy areas, including those once considered linchpins of sovereignty, such as monetary policy. Integration has also brought into the European political arena actors never before empowered to participate in the decisions of international—or supranational—organizations, actors such as regional and local authorities and opposition political parties. The Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty recast political opportunities for actors at all levels of the European polity, and raised new questions about the ability of state governments to regulate political, economic, and social relations within their borders.