Beyond nationalism
Author(s)
Labareda, João
Collection
Knowledge Unlatched (KU)Language
EnglishAbstract
This book presents the most comprehensive theory of the common good of the European Union (EU) currently available and proposes concrete policies to improve its achievement. It begins with a discussion of EU values, which are seen to provide a basis for identifying a transnational common good. The author discusses the distinctive nature of the EU common good, which he associates with three main conditions: maintaining liberal democracy, enabling decent standards of social welfare, and ensuring a high level of environmental protection. Relying on a constructivist understanding of national interests, the author recommends a set of reforms that would allow the EU common good to be more strongly represented in the process of national interest formation in domestic politics. At the same time, he proposes significant changes in the Brussels institutional apparatus with a view to democratising the pursuit of the common good, including the creation of an EU Citizens’ Assembly and the election of the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council. Furthermore, this book argues that a willingness by EU citizens to recurrently sacrifice their interests for the sake of an EU common good would require stronger bonds of civic friendship among them. The author proposes several policies to achieve this goal, including reducing socioeconomic inequalities in the EU, curtailing barriers against freedom of movement and creating a transnational curriculum on EU citizenship.
Keywords
common good; European Union; civic friendship; EU values; nationalism; European model; European common good; global common good; ever closer UnionDOI
10.7765/9781526169105ISBN
9781526169105, 9781526169105Publisher
Manchester University PressPublisher website
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/Publication date and place
Manchester, 2024Grantor
Series
European Politics,Classification
Politics and government
Political science and theory
Europe