ABSTRACT
It is clear from the foregoing discussion that no single theory has proved capable of explaining adequately the critical dynamics of the processes of international change that are the key to regional integration. The recent emergence of altogether more conditional accounts of these immensely complex processes is evidence of the acknowledgement of this fact by contemporary contributors to this debate.1 Theoretical revisionism has gained considerable impetus during recent years, as the Community was transformed into a Union and new challenges were confronted, with the potential for both confirming and challenging the members’ sense of common purpose. At the same time, the momentum for integration provided by the 1992 project also revived interest in the pre-existing paradigms. Federalism and neofunctionalism have both been revisited by those theorists who continue to define a supranational dynamic as the driving force of the European regional process.
