Shielding the Market from the Masses: Economic Liberalism and the European Union

In a well-known ancient fable, one child topples the myth that has captivated the masses by pointing out: the Emperor has no clothes. Michael A. Wilkinson is here, in his outstanding new book, telling us the unvarnished truth about the European Union. He is one of the first scholars to depict, with devastating clarity, what has been perfectly plain to see all along. The European Union is not the world’s greatest champion of democracy, despite decades of academic contortions to explain why its famous democratic deficit can be mended, or does not exist, or does not matter. The EU’s rhetorical commitment to human rights, or the welfare of the member states, or to any of the abstract political ideals it claims to embody are secondary to its core purpose: to advance the project of economic liberalism. This is a project that has been pursued at all costs, even up to the point of inflicting immense suffering on the populations of the member states it claims to protect. Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe charts the history and development of the organisation now known as the European Union, and traces the corresponding role of legal scholars in providing the theoretical basis for its actions.