The purpose of European integration has often been described as delivering public goods: the provision of cross-border common benefits that would otherwise not be available, given the ability and inclination of individual countries to free-ride while others shoulder the cost. Examples given include peace and security in Europe, tackling climate change, the rule of law and concrete achievements like the Single Market.
However, in recent years, member states have found ways of free-riding within the structures of the EU. Furthermore, the nature of today’s public goods has changed: they no longer promise integration benefits but rather allocate costs, for instance for common security. Even if there are benefits, they accrue in the long term, while costs and enormous distributional consequences are immediate. Such a short-term, negative sum game is much trickier politically, even when, overall, a common approach minimises necessary total expenditure.
Europe now needs to think about club goods rather than public goods. These only accrue to those who are contributing to their provision, reaping a return from their investment. Europe has been most successful when it has turned public goods into club goods, preventing free-riding by excluding from the benefits those who are not willing to share the costs; the Single Market is a good example. But given the nature of today’s challenges, these European club goods need to be provided by coalitions of the willing from within and outside the EU, excluding free riders and no longer relying on the community method.
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