Over the last decades, the EU has faced a number of crises, from financial and economic to migration crises, but also renewed geopolitical tensions, domestic opposition and Brexit. Such challenges have resulted in calls to make arrangements more flexible and adaptable to member states’ different needs and to different policy areas. Differentiation has gained prominence on the European agenda and is a crucial matter in today’s debates on the future of Europe, raising new questions: Is differentiation sustainable and acceptable? Can differentiation instead lead to democratic problems, or ultimately, disintegration?
Partners, projects and network
DiCE is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) that brings together the three successful projects funded by the EU’s 2018-2019 governance call on Past, present and future of differentiation in European governance.
The project is composed of the three coordinators of the sister projects listed below. These projects collectively constitute an unparalleled network of scholars on differentiation.
In addition to the three coordinating institutions EUI, IAI and ARENA, the DiCE consortium includes TEPSA and the University of Exeter.
Sister projects
InDivEU: Integrating Diversity in the European Union
InDivEU’s main objective is to provide Europe’s policy makers with an important knowledge hub on ‘Differentiated Integration’. It aims to contribute concretely to the current debate on the ‘Future of Europe’ by re-assessing, developing and testing a range of models and scenarios for different levels of integration among EU member states. InDivEU is coordinated by the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute and has 14 partner institutions.
Coordinators: Brigid Laffan, European University Institute & Frank Schimmelfennig, ETH Zürich
Time period: 01.01.2019-31.12.2021
EU3D: EU Differentiation, Dominance and Democracy
It is widely recognised that the EU that emerged from the financial and other recent crises is more differentiated, but it is not clear if differentiation is part of the problem or part of the solution. EU3D’s main objective is to develop a theory of differentiation that specifies the conditions under which differentiation is politically acceptable, institutionally sustainable and democratically legitimate, and the conditions under which it is not. EU3D does that through comprehensive analyses of the multilevel EU’s institutional and constitutional make-up across a wide range of policy areas.
Coordinator: John Erik Fossum, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo
Time period: 01.02.2019-31.07.2023
EU IDEA: EU Integration and Differentiation for Effectiveness and Accountability
EU IDEA’s starting point is that differentiation is not only necessary to address the EU’s current challenges more effectively, but also desirable as long as such flexibility is compatible with the core principles of the EU’s constitutionalism and identity, sustainable in terms of governance, and acceptable to EU citizens, member states and affected third partners. EU IDEA addresses whether, how much and what form of differentiation is conducive to a more effective, cohesive and democratic EU by testing different forms of differentiated integration against the reality of policy-making in key policy areas.
Coordinator: Nicoletta Pirozzi, Istituto Affari Internazionali
Time period: 01.01.2019-31.12.2021
Objectives
DiCE is dedicated to translating state-of-the-art research into policy-relevant advice on appropriate approaches to differentiation tendencies and proposals. Through four key objectives, DiCE aims to better anticipate and prepare the EU for future differentiation trajectories:
Academic expert network
Linking research and policy and considering the different interests and perspectives of citizens, parties and governments is decisive for making informed and constructive policy decisions. DiCE does this through developing an extensive network of academic experts working on differentiation or related topics. DiCE establishes a comprehensive database of experts in EU member and partner countries.
Differentiation portal
Extensive research exists on differentiation and related topics. DiCE undertakes a comprehensive stocktaking and synthesis of research in order to provide a complete picture on this complex subject. The comprehensive academic literature is sorted by means of a 'differentiation manual' and made available through an extensive differentiation portal. The portal will serve as the go-to place to connect policy, academics and other stakeholders to research on differentiation.
Future differentiation scenarios
A major challenge in designing policies with regard to differentiation is to ensure that these policies are solid, complementary and acceptable for all actors involved, as well as anchored in research. In order to support policy makers in examining how much differentiation is necessary, conductive, sustainable and acceptable in Europe, DiCE maps, synthesises, develops and tests future scenarios across a selection of policy areas. In the scenario mapping, DiCE engages with policy makers and planners about future opportunities and risks of differentiation.
Sustainability
DiCE aims to ensure the sustainability and impact of its network and research findings on differentiation also after the end of the project. To this end, DiCE develops training material and teaching tools, and aims to establish an ECPR standing group to institutionalize the academic discussion. DiCE also explores the possibility of establishing a think tank on differentiation.