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Over the past decade, the EU has faced multiple crises. In the introduction to this collection, we argue that this 'polycrisis' is fracturing the European political system across multiple, simultaneous rifts, thereby creating a 'polycleavage'. As a consequence, the EU is caught in a 'politics trap'. Similar to other decision traps, this multi-level politics trap is dysfunctional, but difficult to escape altogether. The contributions to this collection analyze the mechanisms of the politics trap, its relationship to the European polycrisis, and the strategies pursued by a plurality of actors (the Commission, the European Parliament, national governments) to cope with its constraints. In light of this analysis, we argue that comprehensive, 'grand' bargains are for the moment out of reach, but national and supranational actors can find ways of 'relaxing' the politics trap and in so doing perhaps lay the foundations for more ambitious future solutions.

This article explores the link between identity, legitimacy and political order in Europe. The central argument is that the politics of identity have enormous salience in the new Europe and for the European Union at this juncture of its development, because the Union is moving from issues of instrumental problem-solving to fundamental questions about its nature as a part-formed polity. Problems of identity are raised by the politicization of immigration, the fragmentation of the post-war order, regionalism, the revival of the ultra Right and the process of European integration itself. The article concludes with an assessment of the affective dimension of integration. Copyright 1996 BPL.

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