Multi-speed Europe

For broader coverage of this topic, see Multi-speed integration.

Multi-speed Europe or two-speed Europe (called also "variable geometry Europe" or "Core Europe" depending on the form it would take in practice) is the idea that different parts of the European Union should integrate at different levels and pace depending on the political situation in each individual country. Indeed, multi-speed Europe is currently a reality, with only a subset of EU countries being members of the eurozone and of the Schengen area. Like other forms of differentiated integration such as à la carte and variable geometry, "multi-speed Europe" arguably aims to salvage the "widening and deepening of the European Union" in the face of political opposition.

Reasons and actuality of the concept

The concept entered political discourse when, after the end of the Cold War, an eastward enlargement of the European Union began to materialise and the question arose how "widening" could be made compatible with "deepening", i.e., how the imminent enlargement process could be prevented from diluting the idea of an "ever closer union among the peoples of Europe", as the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community of 1957 had put it. In 1994 – still at a time of the EU12 – the German Christian Democrats Wolfgang Schäuble and Karl Lamers published a document in which they called for a Kerneuropa (= core Europe). This idea envisaged that "core Europe" would have a "centripetal effect", a magnetic attraction for the rest of Europe. A precursor to that concept had been a proposal by two advisors to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Michael Mertes and Norbert J. Prill, published as early as July 1989. Mertes and Prill called for a concentric circles Europe, built around a federal core consisting of the Inner Six (EU6) and like-minded EU member states. In 1994 they partly revoked their original idea, arguing that the post-Cold War EU would rather look like a "Europe of Olympic rings" than a "Europe of concentric circles".

The multi-speed Europe concept has been debated for years in European political circles, as a way to solve some institutional issues. The concept is that the more members there are in the Union, the more difficult it becomes to reach consensus on various topics, and the less likely it is that all would advance at the same pace in various fields.

The Inner Six alongside the Outer Seven from 1960 to 1972

  Inner Six (EEC)

  Outer Seven (EFTA)

Intermediate forms could be limited to some areas of close cooperation, as some historical examples are given below. It is also possible now for a minimum of nine EU member states to use enhanced co-operation, but this new framework has been used only once. A second proposal, a unified European patent, is nearing completion [as of December 2010] with only two countries (Italy and Spain) not participating.

The idea of a multi-speed Europe has been revived because of the following initiatives:

• the eurozone, with 20 member states and two more in ERM II (Bulgaria and Denmark). Every EU member except Denmark has agreed by treaty to join, but many currently have no plans to do so.
• the Schengen Area, with 29 member states, 25 EU members and four non-EU members (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland). It excludes two EU members: Cyprus, which is legally obligated to join in the future, and Ireland, which has an opt-out from participating.
• other initiatives limited to some states, such as the European Defence initiative and Prüm Convention.

Furthermore, important events were:

• the enlargement of the European Union to 28 member-states and in the forthcoming years other candidates (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine) where new members initially don't join the Schengen area and the Eurozone for some time.
• the European Convention that led to the European Constitution that was signed in 2004 by the 25 Heads of State, but was not ratified by all national parliaments or assemblies and so failed. Later most of its provisions were adopted through the Treaty of Lisbon that included additional opt-outs for some states.
• differences of view between EU members on some foreign diplomatic and military issues. In a 2004 article The Economist compared the variances of Europe to a lake that has many deep parts (areas in which countries are similar) and many shallow parts (areas in which countries have major differences).

An Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations and agreements

Currently in the EU there are the following cases of non-uniform application of the European Union law:

permanent deviations	request by states to cooperate more than EU (post-accession: request to participate at EU level instead of less)	request by states to cooperate less than general EU level
allowed by the EU	Enhanced co-operation	Opt-outs in the European Union Minor EU law derogations or exemptions special territories status
not allowed by the EU	Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification Eurozone/Schengen suspensions (post accession: benchmarks for adoption of EU level)

Overview of non-uniformity inside the EU

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Slovenia participate in all EU provisions.

Participant	European Union Agreements				Enhanced cooperation				PESCO	Open method of coordination	Related Intergovernmental treaties			Symbols
	Schengen	AFSJ	CFR	Euro	Patent	Divorce	Int. couples' property	EPPO		Euro+	SRM	ESM	Prüm
Bulgaria	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x
Croatia	x	x	x	x	o	o	x	x	x	o	x	x	o	o
Cyprus	c	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x
Czech Republic	x	x	x	c	x	o	x	x	x	o	x	o	o	o
Denmark	x	o	x	o	x	o	o	o	x	x	c	o	o	o
Estonia	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	x	o
Finland	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o
Greece	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Hungary	x	x	x	c	x	x	o	o	x	o	x	o	x	x
Ireland	o	o	x	x	x	o	o	o	x	x	x	x	o	o
Italy	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Latvia	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	o	o
Lithuania	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	o	x
Malta	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	o	x
Netherlands	x	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o
Poland	x	x	o	c	x	o	o	x	x	x	c	o	o	o
Portugal	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Romania	x	x	x	c	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	o	x	x
Slovakia	x	x	x	x	x	o	o	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Spain	x	x	x	x	o	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Sweden	x	x	x	c	x	o	x	x	x	o	o	o	c	o
x  – Member  c  – Candidate (or conditions to be fulfilled before joining)  o  – Non-member

Membership in European Union agreements

  EU, Schengen, EMU, AFSJ (All agreements): 18 c.

  EU, Schengen, AFSJ: 6 c.

  EU, EMU, AFSJ: 1 c.

  EU, Schengen: 1 c.

  EU, EMU: 1 c.

  EEA, Schengen: 3 c.

  Schengen, Bilateral treaties: 1 c.

  Candidates, some agreements: 9 c.

  Microstates, some agreements: 4 c.

  Association Agreement: 1 c.

  some agreements: 0 c.

A small group of EU member states have joined all European treaties, instead of opting out on some. They drive the development of a federal model for the European integration. This is linked to the concept of Multi-speed Europe where some countries would create a core union; and goes back to the Inner Six references to the founding member states of the European Communities.

At present, the formation of a formal Core Europe Federation ("a federation within the confederation") has been held off at every occasion where such a federation treaty had been discussed. Instead, supranational institutions are created that govern more areas in "Inner Europe" than existing European integration provides for.

Among the 27 EU state members, 18 states have signed all integration agreements: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The agreements considered include the fifth stage of economic integration or EMU, the Schengen agreement, and the Area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ).

Thus, among the 27 EU countries, 20 have joined the Eurozone, 25 have joined Schengen, and also 25 have no opt-outs under AFSJ.

Further, some countries which do not belong to the EU have joined several of these initiatives, albeit sometimes at a lower stage such as the Customs Union, the Common Market (EEA), or even unilaterally adopting the euro, and by taking part in Schengen, either as a signatory state, or de facto.

Thus, 6 non-EU countries have adopted the euro (4 through an agreement with the EU and 2 unilaterally), and 4 non-EU states have joined the Schengen agreement officially.

The following table shows the status of each state membership to the different agreements promoted by the EU. It lists 47 countries, including the 27 EU member states, 9 candidate states, 3 members of the EEA and Switzerland, Kosovo which has applied for membership, 4 microstates, and the United Kingdom and Armenia as special cases.

Hence, this table summarises some components of EU laws applied in most European states. Some territories of EU member states also have a special status in regard to EU laws applied. Some territories of EFTA member states also have a special status in regard to EU laws applied as is the case with some European microstates. For member states that do not have special-status territories the EU law applies fully with the exception of the opt-outs in the European Union and states under a safeguard clause or alternatively some states participate in enhanced co-operation between a subset of the EU members. Additionally, there are various examples of non-participation by some EU members and non-EU states participation in particular Agencies of the European Union, the programmes for European Higher Education Area, European Research Area and Erasmus Mundus.

European Union Agreements

State	Map	EU	EEA	Customs Union	Schengen	EMU (Euro)	AFSJ
Austria		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Belgium		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Croatia		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Estonia		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Finland		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
France		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Germany		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Greece		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Italy		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Latvia		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lithuania		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Luxembourg		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malta		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Netherlands		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Portugal		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Slovakia		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Slovenia		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Spain		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bulgaria		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	ERM II	Yes
Czech Republic		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Obliged to join	Yes
Hungary		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Obliged to join	Yes
Poland		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Obliged to join	CFR partial opt-out
Romania		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Obliged to join	Yes
Sweden		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Obliged to join	Yes
Cyprus		Yes	Yes	Yes	Obliged to join	Yes	Yes
Denmark		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Opt-out, ERM II	Opt-out
Ireland		Yes	Yes	Yes	Opt-out, Visa Free	Yes	Opt-out (Opt-in)
Liechtenstein		No	Yes	No (Swiss-Liecht CU)	Yes	No	No
Norway		Applications withdrawn	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Iceland		Applications withdrawn	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Switzerland		Application withdrawn	Bilateral treaties	No (Swiss-Liecht CU)	Yes	No	No
Albania		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Bosnia and Herzegovina		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Georgia		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Moldova		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Montenegro		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	Unilaterally adopted	No
North Macedonia		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Serbia		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Turkey		Candidate	No	Customs Union	No	No	No
Ukraine		Candidate	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	No	No
Andorra		No	No	Customs Union	No, Visa Free	Yes	No
Monaco		No	No	de facto, with France	de facto, with France	Yes	No
San Marino		No	No	Customs Union	Open border	Yes	No
Vatican City		No	No	No	Open border	Yes	No
Kosovo		Applicant, SAA signed	No, EC, ECAA	No	No, Visa Free	Unilaterally adopted	No
Armenia		No ( CEPA signed )	No, EC, ECAA	No	No	No	No
United Kingdom		No (withdrew)	No (withdrew)	No	No, Visa Free	No	No

Notes:

Participation of European countries in non EU-only integration initiatives

For integration activities not initiated by the EU, see European integration.

A number of countries have special relations to the European Union implementing many of its regulations. Prominently there are Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein which are the only remaining EFTA members while all other former EFTA members have converted into EU members. Through agreements Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (not including Switzerland) are members of the European Economic Area since 1994. As a consequence of taking part in the EU single market they need to adopt part of the Law of the European Union. Formally they would not need to fund the EU government but in practice they have opted to take on their part of financing EU institutions as required by EU law (see EEA and Norway Grants) with the financial footprint of Norway being equal to that of an EU member since 2009. Especially Norway and Iceland are known to forfeit EU membership on the basis of EU fishery regulations that they want to opt out on. Both Norway and Iceland have signed and implemented the Schengen zone agreements from the start. During the turmoils of the financial crisis, Iceland was looking into membership of the Eurozone and it did apply for EU membership in 2009. Norway has joined all EU political treaties and it has applied to EU membership multiple times but while fulfilling the requirements the membership was rejected by referendums in 1972 and 1994. This leaves Norway to be integrated into Inner Europe's institutions while not being part their governing body.

Participant	EU	OSCE	CoE	Schengen	Euro	EUCU	EEA	Energy Community	ECT	ECAA	EEA	EMCDDA	EMSA	EASA	ERA	EDA	ESA	Prüm	NATO
Albania	c	x	x					x	x	x									x
Andorra		x	x	s	s	x
Armenia		x	x					o	x	x
Austria	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Azerbaijan		x	x						x
Belarus		x							x
Belgium	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Bosnia and Herzegovina	c	x	x					x	x	x
Bulgaria	x	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x
Croatia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		o	x
Cyprus	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		o
Czech Republic	x	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x
Denmark	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x
Estonia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Finland	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
France	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Georgia	c	x	x					x	x	x
Germany	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Greece	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Hungary	x	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Iceland		x	x	x			x		x	x	x		x	x				x	x
Ireland	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o
Italy	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Kazakhstan		x							x
Kosovo	c				x			x		x
Latvia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		o	x
Liechtenstein		x	x	x			x		x		x			x				x
Lithuania	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		o	x
Luxembourg	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Malta	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		o
Moldova	c	x	x					x	x	x
Monaco		x	x	s	s	x
Montenegro	c	x	x		x			x	x	x									x
Netherlands	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
North Macedonia	c	x	x					x	x	x									x
Norway		x	x	x			x	o	x	x	x	x	x	x			x	x	x
Poland	x	x	x	x	c	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	o	x
Portugal	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Romania	x	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Russia		x
San Marino		x	x	s	s	x
Serbia	c	x	x					x		x
Slovakia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x
Slovenia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x	x
Spain	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Sweden	x	x	x	x	c	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	c	x
Switzerland		x	x	x					x		x			x			x	x
Turkey	c	x	x			x		o	x		x	x							x
Ukraine	c	x	x					x	x	x
United Kingdom		x	x						x								x		x
Vatican City		x	o	s

x – member
c – conditions to be fulfilled before joining
s – unilateral adoption/participation through another state who is a member/some instruments signed, but not yet ratified
o – observer

Post-Brexit-vote revival of "multispeed Europe" ideas

In March 2017, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker released a five-point view of possible courses for the EC and its to-be-27 post-Brexit members, looking forward to the year 2025. The points, among which Juncker expressed no preference, "range from standing down from policing of government financing of companies, for example, to a broader pullback that would essentially strip the EU back to being merely a single market", per one report. The updated possibilities would entail member countries or groups of countries adopting different levels of participation with the union. The EC was approaching a March meeting of the 27 members in Rome and Juncker's paper addressed the options that "once invited scorn from convinced Europhiles" and seemed maybe even to have some backing "of lifelong federalists" like the president.

See also

• Agencies of the European Union – different examples of non-EU states participation and non-participation of some EU members
• Differentiated integration
• Enhanced co-operation
• European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
• European integration
• Euroscepticism
• Eurosphere
• Federal Europe
• Inner Six
• Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification
• Opt-outs in the European Union
• Open Balkan
• Pro-Europeanism

External links

• Official EU glossary: Multi-speed Europe, Variable geometry Europe and other related concepts