Harnessing differentiation in the EU - flexibility after Amsterdam

This report presents the results of seven hearings on enhanced cooperation between European Union member states in the light of the changes made by the Treaty of Amsterdam. In this Treaty, the member states added a number of important new clauses on enhanced cooperation. The most momentous innovation brought by these clauses was that enhanced cooperation between member states, which had been practised in a freely agreed manner outside the Treaty system proper since the early days of European Integration in the 1950s can now be implemented within the institutional framework of the EU, and utilise its institutions and procedures. The organisation of the hearings and the types of questions asked derived from the organisation of these new clauses on enhanced cooperation in the Treaty of Amsterdam.