Politics and Science in Disguise Not Quite the History of European Integration

In his De passage naar Europa. Geschiedenis van een begin [The Passage to Europe: History of a Beginning], Luuk van Middelaar makes European integration intelligible by applying a distinction between three spheres – the states, the community and the intermediate sphere of the Member States – to various events that have proven crucial in ‘the making of’. These events form passages that have made Europe what it is today; as well as what it is not. Van Middelaar’s writing is sensitive and inspired; his perspective is open-minded; the cases are well-documented (but not always adequate); and his book is innovative, as he introduces political/theoretical terminology into history, combined with insights from political science. He could even have gone further in narrowing the disciplines gap, however, and he has not always avoided the traps of history writing. In any case, he succeeds brilliantly in his ambition ‘to tell another story about the birth of political Europe’ (9; author’s own italics).


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In order to understand Europe, we must first consider the manner in which we speak about Europe. According to Van Middelaar, this takes place through three discourses. According to the Europe of the States, European politics emerge through cooperation between national governments. In the Europe of the Citizens, the European institutions (as a component of the instruments of a European federation) play the primary role. Finally, the language of the Europe of the Bureaus emphasises the realisation of the European bureaucracy, as manifest in the form of directives, funds, programmes and other facilities.
These three discourses are in constant conflict with one another. Given that politics is driven by discourse (even in Europe), the outcome of such conflict is anything but neutral. According to Van Middelaar, however, these discourses do not tell the whole story. They have no concept of 'the actual historicity of politics' (29). Unexpected events transverse and interrupt them. Although the three discourses are 'historical' (in the sense that they are oriented towards the past, future and present, respectively), they are not resistant to time nor, more accurately, to the facts that accompany time. Van Middelaar proposes that the past, present and future must therefore be connected to one another, as 'only then can one do justice to both discontinuities and continuities' (30).

Mapping Europe's intermediate sphere of Member States
By this route (which was actually a detour, as it was not entirely necessary for the rest of Van Middelaar's own discourse, which thereafter makes only sporadic reference to the three discourses), the author arrives at the true heart of his story: the three spheres. These are the three spheres within which European states have organised. 'Each sphere has its own rules of movement and order' (32) and its own public. These three spheres are not separate, however; they enclose one another. The outermost sphere is that of the States (plural). States are sovereign, bounded, act in their own interest and organise themselves in relation to one another in a permanent quest for a balance of power. This is the classic domain of international relations or, from the point of view of the states involved, foreign affairs. The innermost sphere is that of the Community (singular). This is the sphere of voluntary cooperation and integration based on treaties. Here, relations between states are driven by an orientation towards 'the European project'. The third (intermediate) sphere is that of the Member States. This is the sphere within which states attempt to reconcile their sovereignty with membership of an integration project that undermines this sovereignty. This is the space of 'give and take', of common interest. Sometimes, the overlap with the outermost sphere is greater; at other times, with the innermost sphere. Member states, however, always operate in The insight that European integration consists not only of states and common institutions is nothing new. In my opinion, the earlier politicaltheoretic terminology Van Middelaar adopts in this respect is indeed new, however. Describing European politics as a process that takes place primarily in this intermediate sphere meshes seamlessly with recent insights from the field of political science and, more specifically, EU studies. Van Middelaar is familiar with this discipline, making explicit reference to it (albeit not always in glowing terms) when discussing the combined forms of the three discourses. In supranationalism, the discourses of offices and citizens are brought together; intergovernmentalism refers to the discourses of offices and states; while constitutionalism combines the discourses of states and citizens.
Van Middelaar does not systematically apply this or other theories (as is normally the case in political science); conceptualisations, hypotheses and case selections included. In this way, the book is not political science stricto sensu.
Neither does he relate these theories to the three spheres -although he would have been perfectly capable of completing such an exercise.

Explaining Europe with(out) theory
In sketching this and other passages, Van Middelaar spans the gap between political theory, law and history. The book therefore offers more than merely a summary of names, dates and facts. The other story is primarily the story of the author and the disciplines in which he is at ease. Political science is not one of them. Although the author is aware of and uses political science, he does not always integrate this, either explicitly or systematically. This is astonishing, as the intention of the book -to explain Europe as it is, as it works and as it does not work, with major roles for a variety of actors (and thus not only the Community institutions and/or the states), albeit through the detour of the past -is absolutely relevant to political science. This is also unfortunate, as More generally, the author takes a critical stance against plain and simple theory development. This also seems neither completely justified, nor consistent. In his work, Van Middelaar makes copious use of abstract concepts and ideas to order, distinguish and explain the historicity of political Europe.
At the same time, his words are unilaterally positive with regard to experience, events, perception and personal involvement (as well as the value thereof), while remaining extremely critical with regard to theory development. the Europe of today. This volume of more than 500 pages (including a 70-page reading guide, which is quite useful to the reader) is highly recommended for any reader who wishes to know more about the history of the European integration process. The author achieves his ambition: to do more than simply tell the story of the birth of political Europe in another way, but to 'tell another story about the birth of political Europe'. This book is therefore worthy of broad distribution, including translation into English. q politics and science in disguise: not quite the history of european integration van hecke

How to Understand European
Integration?

andré gerrits
De passage naar Europa [The Passage to Europe] is an interesting book -creative, original and readable, but for a doctoral dissertation it is also remarkably devoid of theory. Van Middelaar introduces various interesting notions and ideas (European 'discourses', 'policy spheres' and 'zones of interactions'), but these remain ambiguous, and therefore rather noncommittal. The book stands out for its interpretative richness, its analytical sensitivity and its imaginative prose.
It lacks an overall theoretical framework, however. It fails to link up with the wider academic debate on European integration.
'The eu's greatest tactical advantage is that it is, in a word, so boring', writes Andrew Moravcsik regarding the apparent ease with which the Member States of the European Union agreed on an alternative to the Constitutional Treaty following its rejection by the French and Dutch electorates, just a few years previously. 1 What goes for the European Union, also goes for much of the literature on European integration: as empirically rich and theoretically innovative as it might occasionally be, it is rarely exciting or particularly entertaining. Generally, the combination of social science terminology and eu jargon does not make for very enjoyable reading. De passage naar Europa.
Geschiedenis van een begin [The Passage to Europe. History of a Beginning] 2 written by Dutch historian and philosopher Luuk van Middelaar (currently adviser to Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council), could be mistaken as another general history of European integration, from its earliest days to the Lisbon Treaty. However, this is one thing it is not. De Passage naar Europa is an extraordinary book; not so much because of its empirical or theoretical content, but because of its creative structure and individual style. This is a sparklingly written book: creative, original and highly readable.