The Foundations of the EU as a Polity

Massimo Fichera, University of Helsinki, Finland

In this insightful book, Massimo Fichera provides an original account of European integration as a process. He argues that European constitutionalism has been informed from its earliest stages by a meta-rationale, which is expressed by security and fundamental rights as discourses of power. Employing this descriptive and normative conceptual framework to analyse the development of the EU as a polity, chapters cover significant recent events such as the Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, the rule of law crisis, Brexit and the constitutional identity crisis.

‘Fichera’s book is an original contribution to the field, which will – without a shadow of doubt – be viewed by members of the target audience with a great interest.’
– Jaakko Husa, CML Review

‘This book is aimed at academics in the field of international law, with a particular focus on the EU, its make-up and politics. It is an excellent research tool, which provides a wealth of information on the topic addressed in the title – The EU as a Polity. . . The book is thorough in its examination and does answer the questions in which it sets out to tackle.’
– Janet Furness, Legal Issues Journal

‘Today we are swamped with analyses of and solutions to the current crises of the EU that pay insufficient attention to the historical roots of our present problems. Fichera is an exception. He is particularly alive to the deep preoccupation of the European project with matters of security and rights, and has produced an account that is as complex and subtle as it is accessible and compelling.’
– Neil Walker, The University of Edinburgh, UK

‘Boldly asserting that constituting itself as an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice is the very core of the EU as a political and legal project, Fichera shows, in this incisive and illuminating book, that security is both the presupposition of, and a threat to, the project of European integration.’
汉斯-林达尔lburg University, the Netherlands