Stumbling Blocks to EU and Member State Development?

Abstract

The collection of studies entitled “The Aftermath of the Global Crisis in the European Union1” presents the various dimensions of the effects of the 2008 global crisis on the Europe-an Union. The analysis of the subject matter is made more difficult, for both the analyst and the reader, by the complexity and dynamics of the structure of the European Union. One source of the complexity is the large number and heterogeneity of the Member States, the other is the multitude of macroeconomic aspects. As for the dynamics, the region is in a state of transition: the current 28 Member States are moving at different speeds from sovereign nation-statehood to a future vision of a Europe-an federation, which is not yet fully developed. Probably the two most important chapters in the 60 years of this “convergence process” were concluded with the introduction of the single currency in 1999 and the accession of 13 new Member States since 2004, when the Europe- an Union was hit by several waves of the crisis sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. In summary: the object of the investigation is a complex macro-region with its compo-nents getting combined at many levels, when the system suffers an external shock that af-fects its elements differently. The book’s struc-ture logically follows from the scope of the comprehensive subject matter as stated in its title: Beáta Farkas brings together papers by 11 distinctive authors, enabling the various viewpoints to be expounded by the most ex-pert researchers in each field.