The European project: is the nation-state withering away?

Abstract

This paper starts with a brief overview of the three main areas of disagreement within the European project (the discussion on enlargement versus deepening, the question of proteccionism, and the debate between supranationalism and a Europe of nations-states). The paper then discusses the origins of these disagreements and draws attention to the fact that national interests - namely those of France, Germany and the United Kingdom may still be perceived as being at the origin of the disagreement mentioned above. The paper also refers to a certain «cognitive dissonance» which the subject of nationalism often induces among some scholars, and it emphasyzes the role of the nation-state in capturing the allegiance of its citizens. Allegiance, in its turn, is indispensable to enforcing democratic citizenship rights. For these reasons, the paper concluds that it is too soon to predict the withering away of the nation-state.