Federalism: is it the solution to the European Union crisis? A Portuguese view

T he underlying federalist ambitions of the Communi- ties/European Union integration process are wellknown.The period from immediately after the 2nd World War to the moment when the Communities were formed in the 1950s was particularly rich in terms of these unification ideals.However, once achieved, they also fell short of their proponents' most ambitious expectations.But this does not mean that they had no impact on the path of European integration at relevant moments.This was visible not only at the moment of its foundation but also in the period immediately following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.In these cases, federal ideals had a marked influence on several of the mechanisms created by the Maastricht Treaty, notably the creation of the Euro.With the current crisis, which started in A B S T R A C T F ederal aspirations have been sub- jacent to the integration of the European Communities/European Union since its inception.With the current crisis that started in 2007/2008, we have seen a new wave of ideas related with economic federalism.However, it is unclear what the concrete solution could be, particularly in terms of the division of competences and powers between the EU and the member states.The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the major proposals and/or federalistoriented measures to resolve the Eurozone crisis.It is also an aim to assess the eventual design of a more economically integrated European Union, based on any form of economic federalism, and discuss its implications and risks for Portugal.