Dispute over European Union and Eurozone Crisis in the Light of Selected Theories of European Integration

The study tackles the issue of applying respective theories of European integration to explain the processes occurring in the EU, and in particular, in the debt-wrecked eurozone. In the author’s view, the eurozone crisis revived the dispute over the shape of EU. On one hand, it is the supranational neofunctionalism and on the other, state-centric intergovernmentalism views clashing with one another. The author believes that the key theory that successfully explains the member states’ behavior in face of eurozone crisis is the intergovernmentalism theory. It assumes the primacy of nation-state and its interests in the process of European integration. This is particularly apparent in the time of crisis when supranational mechanisms typical of neofunctionalist theory serve solely the purpose of legitimizing national interests of the economically strongest EU members.