A short history of the European Union
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A Short History of the European Union
WORLD WAR II
European Defense Community
signed (1952) but never ratified
The Hague Congress of Europe
idealistic
European Atomic Energy Community
European Economic Community
Treaties of Rome
United States of Europe
1957
European Constitution
defeated in 2005
Commission, Council of Ministers,
Common Assembly, Court of Justice
Millions of refugees
Poverty, GDP down 70(!)%
Destruction
Marshall Plan (1948)
9 May 1950
1951
9 May 1945
1967
1986
1979
1992
2007/9
1997
2012
2001
Treaty of Paris
The empty chair crisis and the
Luxembourg compromise
The Schuman Declaration
Charles De Gaulle boycotts the European institutions (1965)
Merger Treaty
Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Amsterdam
Maastricht Treaty
Single European Act
Treaty of Nice
First elections of the Parliament
European Stability Mechanism
German armed forces capitulation
(Victory day in Russia)
Proposes to pool coal and steel
de facto veto power for each state (1966)
Important to make armaments
European Coal and Steel Community
Further extension of the use of QMV
set a goal to complete the common market
Why coal
and steel?
Base for industrial development
Present in the contested Ruhr region
Schengen co-operation included (border controls)
Germany has coal, France has steel mills
The European Union is born
increased the use of qualified majority voting (QMV)
Institutional reforms
(preparation for Enlargement)
Euro-zone members only
Financial assistance and support to members
Increased role for the Parliament
Two new pillars - CFSP and JHA
gave the Parliament a bit more influence
Reform of Justice and Home Affairs
Still three separate communities, but
only one set of institutions!
Proposes a High Authority to manage the sectors
justice and home affairs
common foreign and security policy
A single legal personality (no pillars and communities)
More powers for the Parliament
European Union
Long-term objective to ensure peace through
co-operation between France and Germany
Economic and Monetary Union
The EU Civil Service
Jacques Delors
President of the Commission (1985-1994)
ECSC
The Commission
CFSP
JHA
Austria, Finland,
Sweden, (Norway) (1995)
EEC
C o n c l u s i o n s
more than an international secretariat,
less than a national bureaucracy
UK, Ireland and
Denmark (Norway)
Greece (1981),
Portugal and Spain (1986)
Euroatom
The early High Authority: first president - Jean Monnet
Small, non-hierarchical, informal body
“If one day there are more than 200 of us we would have failed!”
Now - still, a relatively small administration
Strong sectoral specialization (Directorate-General, DG)
No national quotas in principle but in practice generally proportional
In principle merit-based entry and promotion, no national or party considerations, but…
supranational
intergovernmental
Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia (2004)
Bulgaria and Romania (2007)
Croatia (2013)
1962 Application
Accession 1973
pragmatic
The progress of European integration has been uneven
High Authority, Council of Ministers,
Common Assembly, Court of Justice
European integration saves the nation-state in an era of globalization
It has been mostly an elite-driven project; progress often rejected by the public
To understand the EU one needs to know its roots
2016
The EU is mostly a regulatory organization
Very little re-distributive capacity (no welfare state)
No protection (internal and external) (no nigthwatchman state)
Influence through the creation of rights and rules