The evolution of enhanced cooperation in the EU: from EnCo to PeSCo (2009-2019). Bruges Political Research Paper 80/2020.

Missiroli, Antonio and Lonardo, Luigi (2020) The evolution of enhanced cooperation in the EU: from EnCo to PeSCo (2009-2019). Bruges Political Research Paper 80/2020. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the way(s) in which the intent(s) and design(s) of a multi-speed Europe have evolved and have been applied in practice since the mid-1990s. Part 1 focuses on the drive toward differentiation in the discussion in the 90s and points to Economic and Monetary Union as its first (albeit implicit) case in point. Part 2 discusses how the Lisbon Treaty framed ‘enhanced cooperation’. Part 3 offers an overview of the of the few specific cases so far in which those provisions have been triggered and used (family law, patent, taxation, European Public Prosecutor Office). Section 4 then zooms in on the configuration especially designed for defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation (PeSCo) – and the way in which it has been first activated, while Section 5 analyses its implementation. Finally, the paper presents a comparative assessment of these tools and their use to date. It highlights their correlation with one another as well as the original intent of facilitating differentiated integration within the EU.

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