Differentiated integration in the EU: from the inside looking out

Flexibility might be convenient when it comes to accommodating member states’ differing socio-economic and political interests in an expanding EU. Yet, opt-outs, enhanced cooperation and cooperation between member states outside the EU’s legal framework are calling into question the boundaries of this constitutional, institutional and legal differentiation in an EU that is founded on common principles, with a specific legal order and common institutions.
This book analyses the various means by which differentiation is shaped in the realm of EU external action. The contributors offer a kaleidoscopic view of legal constructs and policy aspects of differentiation in EU external action, namely the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the external dimension of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ).