THE EUROPEAN-UNION AND A CHANGING EUROPE - ESTABLISHING THE BOUNDARIES OF ORDER

This article seeks to explore the relationship between the European Un ion (EU) and the changing European order, with particular respect to t he ways in which the EU structures and shapes the boundaries between i tself and the broader European arena. It evaluates a range of availabl e international relations theories, and adopts a 'critical neoliberal- institutionalist' approach to the problem. It applies this approach by assessing the EU's boundary-constructing and boundary-maintaining beh aviour in a number of areas, before developing two models of the EU's role: the 'politics of exclusion' and the 'politics of inclusion'. Aft er spending most of its life practising the 'politics of exclusion', t he EU has moved towards a 'politics of inclusion' to reflect the chang ing demands of the European order. Nevertheless, the tensions between the two types of politics will continue to be a central feature of the EU's role.