PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Polit. Sci.
Sec. Comparative Governance
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing resilience: Multilevel crisis management in the European UnionView all articles
The need for a more ambitious structure of governance to face new challenges within the EU
Provisionally accepted
- University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and a political economy of national self-interest have characterised a process of European integration that was strongly oriented towards the full realisation of the three freedoms. The construction of the EU was centred on taking advantage of the allocative benefits of the market, without great pretensions in other fields. The subsequent pressing need to give the project a social dimension, to act as a key global actor in foreign affairs and defence, and to jointly tackle economic, financial, health and protectionist crises has faced severe limitations due to the lack of sufficient automatic response instruments, the complicated decision-making process, mistrust between Member States and the temptation to seek individual solutions to threats. A new and more ambitious structure of governance is needed to promote agility and ensure that the measures adopted are in line with the interests and values of citizens.
Keywords: European integration, Functionalism and intergovernmentalism, Political challenges, decision-making process, Creation of permanent reaction instruments
Received: 27 Oct 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bilbao-Ubillos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Javier Bilbao-Ubillos
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.