Abstract
The purpose of the volume is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the contribution of the Maastricht Treaty to the process of European integration. In conceiving the book, the editors assembled nine thematically demarcated contributions from prominent international experts.
In the first contribution, Michael Smith contends that the framework of the treaty has had a constraining effect on the successive frameworks for EU external relations. Jörg Monar argues that, despite the limited output in the domain of justice and home affairs, the treaty prepared the ground for institutionalised cooperation in the areas of freedom, security and justice. Anne Rasmussen analyses the impact of the co-decision procedure on the balance of power and cooperation between the European Parliament and the Council. James A. Caporaso and Min-Hyung Kim explain the development of the Eurozone crisis by highlighting precarious structural imperfections in the design of the treaty, among other factors. Kenneth Dyson returns to the predicament of the Eurozone and concurs with Caporaso and Kim on the inadequacy of the treaty to address the flaws in the provisions for crisis prevention and management in EMU (European Monetary Union). In the final chapter, Desmond Dinan carries out a nuanced analysis of the institutional innovations contained in the treaty – namely the co-decision procedure and qualified majority voting. The above contributions are to be particularly commended for their consistency with the research objectives of the book.
However, the reader might discover that certain chapters somewhat distort the trajectory of the narrative in the volume. Wolfgang Wessels, for instance, provides an exhaustive account of the institutional evolution of the European Council and merely contextualises the treaty within its evolution. J.H.H. Weiler explores three concepts of legitimacy and demonstrates their inoperability in the European construction. The reader might observe that the treaty is somewhat inadequately articulated in this contribution and hence expect a more conclusive contextualisation, for instance, in that legitimacy concerns comprised the rationale for the institutional reforms. Beate Kohler-Koch argues that the treaty induced the expectation to increase societal participation in EU governance but fails to draw a substantial link between this impetus and the treaty.
Nearly all the contributors construct their respective lines of argument following the broader research objectives of the edited collection and examine the far-reaching implications and repercussions of the treaty for the functioning of the EU. Nonetheless, the reader might expect that more potent or more novel empirical evidence should be presented in the book. Pedantry aside, these insignificant disadvantages are outweighed by the capacity of the volume to perpetuate further discussion on European integration.