European Integration Scope and Limits [Hardcover]

While acknowledging the ability of the European Union to advance towards greater political and economic integration, this book questions the wisdom of the European 'project'. Economic and monetary union is a risky venture even for the convergent countries of the continent - let alone divergent Britain - as the uncertain birth of the Euro proves. Political union, moreover, remains an elite aspiration which weakens democratic accountability and lacks popular legitimacy. The likelihood is that the full scope of EU integration will also reveal profound limits.Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: BRITAIN AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION The Conservative Party and Europe John Major and Europe: the Failure of a Policy William Hague's European Policy PART II: ECONOMIC INTEGRATION From Single Market to a Single Currency: Evaluating Europe's Economic Experiment The European Economy East and West: Convergence or Divergence? The Transatlantic Implications of European Monetary Union PART III: POLITICAL INTEGRATION European Federal Integration: The Case Against Franco-German Friendship and the Destination of Federalism Reviewing Europe: Selected Book Reviews 1991-97 Index

'...thoughtful and intelligent.' - Janet Bush, Times Literary Supplement

MARTIN HOLMES is a Lecturer in Politics at St Hugh's College, Oxford and Director of the College of Business Administration (UNL) Oxford. He is editor of The Eurosceptical Reader.