Europeanization and Domestic Change

‘Europeanization’ is not a new term, but the growing interest in the domestic consequences of European integration has raised its profile enormously in recent years making it something of a ‘hot topic’ (Bulmer and Radaelli, 2005: 632). In turn, this scholarly attention has generated a need for new theories, analytical frameworks and conceptual tools (Buller and Gamble, 2002; Hix and Goetz, 2000). The term ‘Europeanization’ broadly relates to the impact of the EU on its member states. Judging by the recent proliferation of books and articles bearing the word ‘Europeanization’ in their title (for empirical evidence, see Featherstone, 2003 and Mair, 2004), it is undoubtedly now one of the key themes in EU scholarship.