Differentiated integration in Europe aafter Brexit: an institutional analysis

This essay discusses the relationship between unity and differentiation within the EU. It delineates two opposite political visions of the European construction. The first is the vision that is centred on the idea, or ideal, of an “ever closer union among the peoples of Europe”. The other vision of Europe postulates a wide and loose union, a sort of ‘club’. The differing solutions provided by these visions are examined with regard, first, to some mechanisms of differentiated integration, which are considered against the twin criteria of clarity and coherence and, finally, with a view to understanding the options that available for the UK after Brexit coherence and, second, with regard to other legal mechanisms, which imply an interaction between EU members and third countries