Substance and Symbolism: An Anatomy of Cooperation in the New Europe

This text claims that the beliefs behind symbolic agreements provide a greater understanding of European integration than a focus on the material motivations of agreements of substance. The book argues that intergovermental co-operation amongst EC states in the immediate post-Cold War period was due to the agreement of symbolic, yet insubstantial new policy areas. It also suggests that ten years after the Cold War in Europe these symbolic agreements are becoming more substantial, thus moving the focus away from material gains and towards subjective beliefs. Fives cases of European co-operation in the period 1989-2000 are covered; climate change policy, asylum policy, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and defense policy. These cases indicate the move from symbolic to substantial intergovernmental co-operation amongst European states.