Diversity in Unity: A Proposal for the Differentiated Integration in the European Union

Date

2025-9-29

Author

Türker, Emre

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Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union (EU) has gained three new candidate countries in Eastern Europe in just two years. European integration also followed the fast pace of the European enlargement, with new members in both the Eurozone and the Schengen Area. Finally, the European Political Community (EPC) has been established to include all European countries. While the discussions regarding European enlargement and integration made their comeback into the EU agenda, new questions are also raised about how the EU can be more integrated inside, how new countries can be added into this system and how relations with non-member countries can be framed. Many proposals tried to find answers, including the idea of a multi-tier structure proposed by a Franco-German working group of experts in 2023. This thesis will focus on whether a differentiated integration model can be implemented and how a multi-tier system between member states and other European countries can work with an institutional framework. Starting with the classification and the theoretical background of differentiated integration, the thesis will continue with the explanation of the current differences of integration between more and less integrated countries, first inside and then outside of the EU. It will be followed by political and academic proposals of a multi-layered Europe, from the past to the present. Then, the practicality and legitimacy of the differentiated integration will be analysed. The thesis will be concluded with a brief analysis of what has been discussed.

Subject Keywords

Differentiated integration, European Union, Multi-tier, Enlargement, Proposal

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116153

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis