EUROPEAN INTEGRATION THEORY IN TIMES OF CRISES: UPDATING ‘THE OLD DEBATE’ WITH A MORPHOGENETIC APPROACH
EUROPEAN INTEGRATION THEORY IN TIMES OF CRISES: UPDATING ‘THE OLD DEBATE’ WITH A MORPHOGENETIC APPROACH

Summary/Abstract: This research seeks to contribute to the literature on how to utilize the explanatory approaches of European Integration Theory to understand the broad and complex nature of the European integration dynamics and its politics in times of crises. The recent literature encourages the scholars to remain open to pluralism of approaches and shows that Neo-functionalism provides much convenient account to understand short- and medium-term outcomes of the European Union`s crises decide in comparison to (New, Liberal) Intergovernmentalism and Post-functionalism. Nevertheless, Neo-functionalist theorizing requires further investigation to shed light on its potential to deeply examine European integration dynamics in times of crises. This research argues that Margaret Archer`s Morphogenetic approach provides a convenient meta-theoretical foundation for Neo-functionalist kind of theorizing, especially in terms of spill-over and counter-vailing forces logics, and to engage with pluralism of the approaches within a larger Neo-functionalist framework. For this purpose, the revised Neo-functionalism of Arne Niemann is fused with the Morphogenetic explanatory approach and, the main explanatory concepts of (New) Intergovernmentalism and Post-functionalism are accommodated within a larger Neo-functionalist framework. The research presents explanatory reflections on the post-crisis management of the Schengen regime followed by the 2015 Migration crisis, and its medium-term European Union level governance and regulation outcomes through various kinds of spill-over forces and feedback loops within the nexus of the interaction between supranational, governmental, and non-governmental actors, alongside the rules, procedures and norms triangle of the EU Politics. The research concludes that the Schengen regime has been updated after the Migration crisis as a result of the unforeseen consequences of the earlier institutional arrangements and the entrepreneurship activities of its emergent properties.

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