Mann goes on to argue that, beyond these economic areas, the European nation states retain effective political sovereignty in most areas of social policy, public order, communications infrastructure and the regulation of personal life. This suggests to him that European regionalism has largely been constructed to promote the interests of European capitalism against the challenges of the USA and Japan, leaving the individual nation states with a broader range of functions that do not necessarily stem from problems arising from the operations of markets or global economic competition. It is arguable that the less highly developed regional trading blocs of NAFTA and APEC reflect the same kind of concern to promote regional economic interests rather than any more profound shift to trans-national political organization.
This economistic approach to European regionalism has merit, but it is equally arguable that the EU has moved some way beyond economic policy-making. This is reflected both in the human rights and regulation of personal life issues discussed by Weissbrodt (1988) and Held (1995), and also in the Social Chapter, concerned with social justice and welfare. Mann's defence of the resilience of the nation state is, at least in respect to Europe, somewhat exaggerated