Small states and the EU: Does the EU promote secession within EU Member States?

• Nuria González Campañá ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat de Barcelona

     Universitat de Barcelona

     Barcelona, España

     
• Localización: Revista de estudios políticos, ISSN 0048-7694, Nº 190, 2020, págs. 43-70
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.18042/cepc/rep.190.02
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Estados pequeños y Unión Europea: ¿promueve la Unión Europea la secesión dentro de sus Estados miembro?
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    Este artículo analiza en qué medida el proceso de integración europea ha podido tener un impacto, aunque involuntario, en la consolidación de movimientos independentistas en regiones europeas. El trabajo constata que después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial el escenario internacional es particularmente propicio para el surgimiento de Estados pequeños independientes y que las condiciones que lo posibilitan son especialmente idóneas en el contexto europeo. Se toman en consideración los movimientos independentistas en Escocia y Cataluña para comprobar que en ambos casos la dimensión europea juega un papel relevante en su consolidación.

  • English

    This article reviews to what extent the EU integration process has had an impact, although unintended, in the consolidation of pro-independence movements across Europe. The article will show that, due to global trade and the legal norms against aggression put in place after WWII, it is now easier being an independent small state than it was before 1945. It will be shown that this is particularly true in the European context. Moreover, European regions play a very limited role in the EU governance and the EU remains predominantly a matter for states and the EU’s own institutions, which provides an additional incentive for those seeking statehood. The examples of the Scottish and Catalan pro-independence movements are taken into account to show that the European dimension played a pivotal role in their consolidation.

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