European Union Between the Big Bang and the Big Crunch

As the European Union (EU) has been shaken by various challenges such as the economic and immigration crises, Euroscepticism, Brexit, the raise of extremist parties, we consider timely a short overview on the political, social, and economic contexts that lead to the creation of the EU, and on its predecessors. The present chapter provides insights into the enlargements of the EU and it lays the foundations that lead to the current situation in the EU by shading light on the multilayered causes and consequences of UK leaving the EU. Reflections are made on the clash of national and supranational entities and on political regimes and parties that dominate the EU stage as of the 2014 elections.