Václav Havel European Dialogues, Prague Conference 2014
"The Citizen, Power and Democracy in Europe´s Crisis"
21.- 22. February
4th Session: Federalism: the american vs. the European Way
While American federalism grew from the bottom up over a long historical period (from civil society to government to union), Europe's project is top down and has evolved in a historically short time. Federalism therefore appears to be impatient and in the end leads to a confusion of federalism and centralization. At the same
time, enlargement of the EU and the crisis of the euro have brought back to the fore the question of core and periphery. Will Europe steer towards a 'federation of nation-states'?
Speaker: Paul Flather (Oxford)
Discussant: Jan Macháček (Prague)
Chair: Lenka Rovná (Prague)
