ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the concept of flexible integration and the various forms it can take, with an emphasis on alternative integration and differentiated integration. The Lisbon Treaty has once again made some minor changes to the conditions under which Member States can engage in enhanced cooperation. The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) state, enhanced cooperation is regarded as a measure of last resort and applicable only if the Council establishes that certain objectives cannot be obtained within a reasonable period of time by the Union as a whole. Although there is the European Patent Organization (EPO), there is no single EU patent, which is in sharp contrast with, for example, the United States of America and is regarded as putting EU inventors and innovators at a significant competitive disadvantage. Finally, the case of enhanced cooperation in divorce law shows that the concept of a vanguard group is a relative one.
