Enhanced Cooperation under the Lisbon Treaty

resumé Enhanced cooperation is often regarded as being a way out of EU decisionmaking deadlock and as a major possibility of proceeding with European integration in selected areas. Although the mechanism has been in place since the Treaty of Amsterdam, enhanced cooperation has only recently become a reality, in two policy fields: divorce law and the single EU patent. Using these two cases, in this paper the pros and cons of enhanced cooperation (as compared to unitary integration and alternative integration) are analyzed. The paper concludes by pointing out some possible weaknesses of the enhanced cooperation mechanism. Paper presented at the research meeting on European & International Affairs, Aalborg University, March 9, 2011 * Jean Monnet Professor of European Economic Governance, Centre for European Studies, School of Management & Governance, University of Twente. E-mail: [email protected].