European integration in times of economic hardship: Lessons from history

The EU’s integration history is closely linked to economic challenges, particularly hardship. Over the course of more than 70 years, the economy has played a central role in both the narratives of the integration project (as a source of legitimisation) and its various episodes, from the Schuman Declaration to the Green Deal Industrial Plan. This article evaluates the importance of the internal market’s promise of ‘prosperity’ and describes some of the main responses to economic hardship, both failures and successes. Based on these, it concludes with a list of internal and external factors that always seem to be part of the way that further European integration offers answers in times of economic hardship. Given the crucial need to protect the internal market, the role of the EU is to look for (and beyond) what is necessary to supplement and to empower (but not to replace) the role of the member states. If opposing views are channelled towards a synthesis that strengthens the common good and integrates the interests of all stakeholders, economic hardship could ultimately strengthen the EU.