Collective Memory and the Stalling of European Integration: Generational Dynamics and the Crisis of European Leadership

Abstract

The project of European integration has been battered by repeated crises since the turn of the second millennium. However, in contrast to earlier periods in its history, when it responded to difficulties by adding new competencies to its repertoire of powers, since 2000, the deepening of integration has stalled. This article addresses why this is happening – and why this is happening now, 70 years after the foundation of the European Communities – using the paradigm of collective memory. More specifically, I argue that generational dynamics are crucial for understanding development of European integration. I identify and analyse the memories of three cohorts of leaders: the ‘founders’ of the 1950s, the ‘deepeners’ of the 1980s and 1990s and the current generation of ‘sceptics’. Based on this analysis, I conclude that debates about the European Union's (EU's) finalité politique should be set aside until a younger, more pro-European cohort of leaders has come to power.