Europe's Hidden Federalism

Bojan Kovačević is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade. As a Swiss Government scholarship holder he wrote his PhD thesis 'Federal features of the EU governance system' at the Institute of Federalism, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His research interests include history of political thought, modern political theory, political systems, theory of federalism and political theory of constitutionalism. At the Faculty of political sciences he teaches at the following courses: 'EU constitutionalism', 'Governing compound political communities', 'Managing crisis in the European Union', 'Political system of European Union' and 'Regionalism in the European Union'. He has published two books in Serbian, Hidden Federalism. Federal Features of the European Integration Process [Skriveni Federalizam. Federalističko iskustvo u procesima evropskih integracija] (Albatros plus, Belgrade, 2013) and The Role of the Regions in the EU’s Political and Economic System [Mesto i uloga regiona u političkom i ekonomskom sistemu Evropske unije] (Službeni glasnik, Belgrade, 2009). The book Hidden federalism, Federal experiences in the European integration process (in Serbian) was shortlisted for the award 'Nikola Milošević' (Radio Belgrade 2), as one of the three best Serbian books in the field of philosophy, theory of literature and esthetics in 2013.

"The study of federalism is finally coming back to EU studies. Contrary to mainstream’s approaches that continue to stress the sui generis or exceptional nature of the EU, Kovačević’s book merits the highest consideration for the successful attempt to conceptualize the EU through the perspective of comparative federalism." - Sergio Fabbrini, LUISS Guido Carli, Rome."This book gives an exhaustive and critical evaluation of the situation of the European Union. It compares the achievement of the EU with the achievements of other federal experiences (USA, Swiss, Yugoslavia, but also Germany) and introduces the interesting idea that it is useful to compare also with unsuccessful federations such as Yugoslavia.The author succeeds in presenting the construction of the EU in the light of the federal theory and his critical methodological claim against the mainstream of political science leads him to rehabilitate the field of political philosophy and legal theory with true success." - Olivier Beaud, Univ. of Pantheon-Assas (Paris II)"This is an outstanding monograph that gives a most interesting and creative view on federalism and will be of interest to scholars in political theory and practitioners in EU issues across all EU countries." - Thomas Fleiner, Prof. Emeritus, University Fribourg."The book focuses on the idea that EU can learn from successful federal countries, like the USA or Switzerland, but it must do so from the perspectives of political science and political philosophy together. In the year of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome (1957), this book offers a lucid analysis of the turning point at which the EU now finds itself. If the EU’s "hidden" (or not so hidden) federalism is clear to most scholars and analysts following the Maastricht Treaty, Kovacevic’s work asks whether it is advisable for the EU to break its baroque institutional structure at a moment when there is structural democratic crisis of legitimacy in the EU. Dissolution is not just a remote threat, but a potential outcome of the EU’s present-day "systemic crisis". The time of building Europe without the Europeans is over." - Ferran Requejo, Professor of Political Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Catalonia."Kovacevic makes an important contribution to the literature on federalism and the EU by introducing the element of crisis when both subjects are at stake. The author proceeds theoretically driven and discusses widespread federalist theories but also less popular thoughts on the topic. Furthermore, he takes a comprehensive perspective and refers to structure, process, and political culture when discussing hidden federalism within the EU. In addition, the analysis is not cross-sectional but longitudinal, and, thus, sensitive to historic developments of all cases analysed." - Alexander Arens, University of Bern, in the Swiss Political Science Review.

• Chapter 1: IntroductionPart I: Federalism and the Modern State – Friends or Foes?Chapter 2: Federalism, Freedom and OrderChapter 3: Federalism and DemocracyChapter 4: Federalism and the Making of NationsChapter 5: Federalism and the Challenge of LegitimacyChapter 6: The Challenge of Carl Schmitt for the Theory and Practice of FederalismPart II: An Attempt to Build European Federation in the Absence of EuropeansChapter 7: Federal Features of the European UnionChapter 8: Federalism and Democracy in the European UnionChapter 9:Political Citizenship Deficit in the EU – Relevancy of the Historical Models of Federal Nation BuildingConclusion: Hidden Federalism and Crisis