Having read with great expectation and a certain dose of anxiety the two chapters written by Ben Rosamond and William Outhwaite, a nonacademic and long-time practitioner of European affairs can only rejoice at the multi-layer analysis proposed to the reader as a tentative explanation of the multiple setbacks the EU integrative process is currently experiencing. For anyone dealing on a daily basis with the political challenges arising from the many unfolding crises, be it the migration inflows, the terrorist attacks, the eurozone fragilities or the growing internal divisions on foreign policy, a comprehensive interpretation about the unwinding of some of the key ingredients that allowed over past decades the European integration to successfully progress stands as a welcome assistance. It helps negotiators to understand the nature of the stalemate they face when they gather today helplessly in long and ineffective EU meetings.

The emphasis put by both authors on the structural dimension of this potential European disintegration is timely. The sense of disheartened activity spinning around in circles with very little result enhances the negative feeling among European observers that a more fundamental flaw than the usual EU symptoms of low productivity and long protracted negotiations may be in motion here. To prophets of doom underlining the repetitive nature of the recent crises and questioning the sustainability of the project European, old hands are quick to resurrect the empty chair row initiated by de Gaulle or the hardly less conflicting issue of the UK financial contribution (‘I want my money back’) fought with perseverance by Margaret Thatcher for nearly five years. Yet both sides do recognise the unprecedented conjunction of disruptive behaviours leading to situations not seen before in European memories with such intensity. From blunt disregard for any minimal degree of solidarity on the migration challenge to the more fundamental undermining of the EU judiciary system by way of disconnecting national judges from the European Court of Justice as observed in the Polish case to open violation of common agreed positions in the foreign policy field with the abstaining votes of some Union members on the issue of Jerusalem at the UN General Assembly, this multiplication of misdemeanours signals the reversal of some of the most commonly agreed principles embodied in the Treaty and faultlessly respected up to now by all.