Supranational or Intergovernmental?—the Present Situation and Future Prospects for European Integration

Supranationalism and Intergovernmentalism are two methods of decision-making for multi-state institutions, and ever since the founding of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) a debate has raged about which of these paths it should follow. This essay will be divided into two parts: the first is about how the EU is perceived on the international stage–is it seen as an intergovernmental organization or a supranational entity? The second focuses on the factors influencing the level of European integration, examines the present state of European integration, and predicts the likely development of this integration in the future.