The European capitalist class and the crisis of its hegemonic project

More than any other area in the world Europe has over the past three decades witnessed a process of transnational capitalist class formation, representing the most transnationally oriented sections of European capital and overlaying national capitalist classes. Transnationalization here does not imply the withering away of national states and national social formations but rather the rise of relations across national borders and the constitution of actors that operate not ‘above’ the national state, but in different national contexts simultaneously. It is from this perspective that we can understand how transnational class agency has helped to transform the project of European integration into an ever more undiluted neoliberal project. The essence of this hegemonic class project has been the creation of a transnational space for capital in which the latter’s rule is established precisely by preserving the formal sovereignty of the member states while subordinating their democratic governance to the dictates of the single market. The inherent contradictions of this project have been exposed and exacerbated by the current Eurozone crisis, which is endangering more than the single currency but threatens to derail the neoliberal project that has been spearheaded by the European capitalist class over the past three decades. While its steadfast adherence to the current austerity drive may be seen as shortsighted, there are no attractive alternatives for the European capitalist class