The European Union Explained: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact

1. Parameters of European Integration

1 Parameters of European Integration Given the multitude of treaties, political actors, and policies, trying to gain an understanding of European integration can indeed be a daunting task. Coming to terms with the European Union is further complicated by often confusing official terminology with similar sounding names. What is the difference, after all, between the European Council, the Council of Europe, and the Council of the European Union? And exactly how does the European Community differ from the European Economic Community and the European Union? In answering these questions, this chapter introduces the key processes, actors, and developments that have shaped European integration ever since the start of the project in the 1950s. The key issues are the following: The factors contributing to early European cooperation that were 1. common to all West European states or relevant only in certain countries. Policies, political actors, and political developments involved in 2. supranational or intergovernmental integration. The Eurosclerosis of the 1970s that resulted from the Luxembourg 3. Compromise in the 1960s. The re-launch of European integration in the 1980s. 4. 2-EUE Ch1 (1-28).indd 3 9/24/08 9:10:47 AM 4 · The Evolution of the European Union The 2001 Treaty of Nice and its goal of preparing the European Union for 5. enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe. The impact in 2007 of the proposed Reform Treaty on the future 6. development of the European Union. The Concept of European Integration European integration is most frequently associated with the period after the end of the Second World War, as Western European states increasingly cooperated during various developmental stages of the European Union. But the concept of governing Europe actually has a far longer history. From the Roman Empire of Julius Caesar, to Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin, European history is marked by many attempts to organize the multitude of nations and ethnicities into a more or less coherent political entity with competing views of how the different states should be related and the degree to which autonomy and sovereignty should be preserved. Nonetheless , though the concept of an integrated Europe is not new, without question the European Union, the most recent vehicle for organizing Europe, has, to date, been a highly successful attempt at integration. Minimalism vs. Maximalism With the end of the Second World War, debates over European integration again dominated the political agenda. Europe had just been through one of the most damaging and catastrophic events mankind had ever experienced, and there was a pressing need for an organizational vehicle that finally would be able to deliver peace and ultimately prosperity. The debates centered on two different views of European integration that would characterize many of the future discussions on the subject. The “maximalist” view called for a federal structure with the goal of establishing the United States of Europe, whereas the “minimalist” view envisioned a loose union based largely on trade relations between sovereign member states. The maximalists were personified by the Italian political philosopher Altiero Spinelli, and the minimalists were championed by the former prime minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill. Churchill’s position developed from the perspective of a European country that did not endure fascist occupation and that emerged victorious from World War II. The UK could also look back on a strong democratic tradition, a powerful Commonwealth, and strong political and economic links with the United States. Borrowing heavily from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant and his work on “Perpetual Peace,” Churchill, in a famous speech in Zurich in 1946, argued that one way of establishing peace would be to forge closer ties among the peoples of Europe through stronger trade relations. The prospect of war would then be greatly reduced, since any possible hostilities across borders would threaten one’s potential customers. Churchill, confusingly, termed this project the “United States 2-EUE Ch1 (1-28).indd 4 9/24/08 9:10:47 AM Parameters of European Integration · 5 of Europe,” but in reality it was a watered-down version of what America’s Founding Fathers had in mind. Establishing peace along the lines of a trading union did not go far enough for Spinelli. After all, a loose economic union could not be expected to keep in check the rise of another dictator such as Hitler or Stalin. Hence Spinelli argued that only the combination of an economic and a political union could secure long-term...