Meso‐Level Dynamics of Crisis in the European Union

ABSTRACT This special issue calls for a deeper examination of the meso‐level dynamics of crisis, using the European Union (EU) as a living laboratory to explore and define what a meso‐level analysis of crisis entails. Here, such analysis is understood as the study of processes, institutions, and mechanisms that lie between—or cut across—(a) grand theories of European integration and (b) explanations focused on the immediate, short‐term responses of EU or member‐state crisis management institutions to specific crises. This introductory article provides initial support for a meso‐level research agenda on EU crises. We frame how the EU is perceived through the analytical lens of crisis and provide a theoretically‐oriented statement of why it is valuable to study the EU through such a lens. We then summarize the main contributions from each individual contributions to this special issue and conclude with a brief statement of what we learn about meso‐level analysis of EU crises from them.