Leadership in the european union: Europeanization crisis and austerity

Purpose - Europeanization involves institutional development as well as the adaptation of Member States policy and regulation towards EU directed expectations and transformations. Design/methodology/approach - Europeanization provides a means of mapping, analysing changes and enables a starting point for developing leadership strategies within the EU. Findings - Through discourse, leaders in the EU and Member States continue to consider issues relating to late capitalism, democratic accountability and the efficiency and effectiveness of socio-economic models and problems regarding these when assessing the changing role of the nation-state in a transforming global environment. Research limitations/implications - Even though a transformation in leadership and discourse became apparent to ensure the continuation of the Eurozone the research does not clearly map how far treaty amendments will enable closer fiscal and political integration. Originality/value - Europeanization is conceptualised on a number of different levels; initially it may be considered as an extension of ideas relating to civil constitution and international law through recognition and dialectical or transformational discourse. Second, Europeanization may be seen as the means by which EU polity provisions affect Member States or as an important mechanism for the development of EU structures/institutions and cultural transformation. Through transformations in discourse propagated by the leadership an intensification of Europeanization in terms of content, mechanism and processes became apparent.