Europeanisation

Europeanisation (or Europeanization, see spelling differences) refers to a number of related phenomena and patterns of change:

Europeanisation in political science has been referred to very generally as 'becoming more European like'. More specifically than this, it has been defined in a number of ways. One of the earliest conceptualisations of the term is by Ladrech (1994, 69) who defines Europeanisation simply as ‘an incremental process of re-orienting the direction and shape of politics to the extent that EC political and economic dynamics become part of the organisational logic of national politics and policy making.’

This emphasises what is known as the 'top-down approach' to Europeanisation with change emanating from the impact of the Union onto the national policy. The state is viewed as re-active towards changes in the union.

Another definition that needs to be taken into account is Radaelli, who describes Europeanisation as "a process involving, a) construction, b) diffusion and c) institutionalisation of formal and informal rules, procedures, policy paradigms, styles, 'ways of doing things' and shared beliefs and norms which are first defined and consolidated in the EU policy process and then incorporated in the logic of domestic (national and subnational) discourse, political structures and public choices."

More recently, Moumoutzis (2011: 612) has revised Radaelli's definition and he has argued that Europeanisation should be defined as 'a process of incorporation in the logic of domestic (national and sub-national) discourse, political structures and public policies of formal and informal rules, procedures, policy paradigms, styles, “ways of doing things” and shared beliefs and norms that are first defined in the EU policy processes'.

From a 'bottom-up' approach Europeanisation occurs when states begin to affect the policy of the European Union in a given area.

A more nuanced analysis posits that the institutional interaction of policy actors at the various levels of European governance leads to the re-definition of national, regional and other identities within a European context, where the multiple levels of governance in Europe are not seen as necessarily in opposition to one another. An elected representative can, for example, see his loyalties and responsibilities as lying with Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Europe or with Amsterdam, Netherlands and Europe, for unitary states. Some scholars, including Samuel Huntington, argue that citizens of European states increasingly identify themselves as such, rather than Portuguese, British, French, German, Italian etc.

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