The Influence of Federalism on the process of European Integration

Federalism is one of the oldest political theories through which to view the process of European Integration. Federal thinking has been implicit throughout the history of European Integration and it has always been a point of reference and a source of inspiration for European construction. The objective of this study is to shed light on the influence of federalism throughout the process of European Integration. Whilst various federal influences had significant impact on the process of European integration, contemporary issues reveal that political integration in such policy areas needs to gain further momentum in order to mark more impact of federalism on the process of European integration. A general conclusion is that economic integration took the lead over political integration throughout the process of European integration. However, since globalisation is expected to leave an increasing impact on governments, federalism can be seen as a vital instrument to be used by governments to the increasing challenges of globalisation. This is explained by the establishment of supranational institutions which are better equipped to deal with certain issues than Nation-States.