The BENELUX, Regional Groupings and the Dynamics of European Integration: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives

Abstract

Regional (sub-)groupings have played a significant, but comparatively neglected role in the processes of European integration. The BENELUX and the Nordic Council both offer longstanding models of regional cooperation which have, in various ways, often been cited as examples for the wider European integration project. More recently, both the Visegrád and Baltic states have seen the (re-) emergence of forms of regional cooperation in connection with their accession to and later membership of the European Union. Yet, though often cited, these experiences of (sub-)regional cooperation within the wider European project have been the object of relatively little systematic or comparative study. The aim of the edited volume is to address this gap by bringing together specialists on these regional groupings with a view to providing a fuller understanding of both their historical significance and their possible future role relative to a potentially fragmenting European political landscape