Extending the Logic of Integration Beyond EU Borders: External Differentiated Integration in the Case of the Energy Community

Abstract

How can the EU remain a transformative power without offering a full membership perspective? This question has triggered an intense debate among academics and practitioners alike. This article contributes to this debate by highlighting the conceptual relevance of Differentiated Integration (DI). We argue that DI offers an analytical concept to capture dynamics and processes often neglected in established approaches. This is especially so if one adopts a comprehensive understanding of DI, as we propose here. First, we focus on DI beyond EU borders, i.e. on external DI. Second, we argue that DI entails more than the inclusion of non-EU Member States in selected EU policies. Thus, external DI involves the extension of general integration dynamics (i.e. widening, broadening, and deepening) beyond EU borders. To illustrate our argument empirically, we analyse the Energy Community, an international organization initiated by the EU that has gone through significant processes of deepening, broadening and widening since its foundation. Overall, we maintain that external DI points to the EU’s potential of exporting the general logic of integration beyond its borders. Applied in this comprehensive sense, DI can add to our understanding of the EU as a transformative power. European Integration, Energy Policy, Energy Community, External Governance, Transformative Power, Neighbourhood Policy, Differentiated Integration, Deepening, Widening