History of European Integration

• I: The Burden of the Past

• II: The Separation of Europe

• III: The Consolidation of Western Europe

• IV: From Boom to Economic Crisis

The Burden of the Past

• Europe: A continent of nation-states• Western Europe: Early consolidation of

nation-states (GB, France, Spain)• Central and Eastern Europe: Awakening of

nationalism in the 19th century• National unification (Italy, Germany)• National liberation (within the Habsburg

and Ottoman empires)

The Burden of the Past

• War of 1870/71 creates the Franco-German conflict

• WW I: War over dominance on the European continent

• Peace treaties (Versailles, Trianon, Sèvres):– Punishment of Germany

– Disintegration of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires according to the principle of national self-determination

The Burden of the Past

• Creation of the League of Nations– Weak structures and objectives– Major handicap: Absence of the United States

The Burden of the Past

• Efforts for enduring peace-making motivated by national interests

• Rise of Fascism and Bolchevism

• Idea of a united Europe rises during WW II– Italian resistance: Manifesto of Ventotene

(Spinelli)– French resistance: „Plus jamais cela“

The Separation of Europe

• Split-up of Germany and Austria into four occupation zones

• Breakdown of the Anti-Hitler-Coalition

• Soviet Union creates a „safety belt“ of politically dependent countries

• The „iron curtain“ makes the unification of the continent impossible

The Separation of Europe

• Options for Western Europe:– A „third force“?– An integral part of the „Transatlantic

Community“

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• The Marshall Plan (1947): Relief and reconstruction aid for Western Europe

• Creation of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (1948), in order to organize the distribution of aid and reinforce economic cooperation

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Creation of the Council of Europe (1949): Political Cooperation between numerous European countries (B, NL, L, DK, GB, IRL, IT, NW, SW, since 1951: GR, TK, FRG)

• Structure: Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly, General Secretariat

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Key document: European Convention on Human Rights (1951)– Key institution: European Court of Human

Rights

= Problem of the Council of Europe: Weak structure (purely intergovernmental with the exception of the Court), problem to enforce decisions

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• 1949: Creation of NATO. Organisation for the collective defense of the atlantic community. (US, CAN, GB, F, IT, NL, B, L, DK, NW, ICE, P, later TK and GR)

• 1950: Schuman suggests the creation of a European Community for Coal and Steel– Different political scope (one economic sector)– Different method (principle of supranationality)

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Institutional triangle: High Authority (equals the Commission), Council of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly

• Jean Monnet: „A start would have to be made by doing something both more practical and more ambitious. National sovereignty would have to be tackled more boldly and on a narrower front.“

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Robert Schuman: „The indispensable first principle ... is the abnegation of sovereignty in a limited but decisive field.“

• Konrad Adenauer: „.. the importance of this project is above all political and not economic.“

• Project served mutual interests: For France, security in relation to Germany. Safe supply with German coal for French steel industry. For Germany, recognition as a reliable partner (Adenauer‘s political priority)

The Consolidation of Western Europe

- Preliminary conclusion: Various integration efforts in the West:- Varying political scope (Political, defense,

economical)- Varying membership (from 6 to 12)- „Elite-driven project“

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Urgent question: The rearmement of Germany.

• 1950: Pleven plan: Creation of a European army, including German troups, under multinational leadership, within NATO.

• Treaty (European Defense Community) signed in 1952. But: Ratification fails in the French Parliament

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Success of the treaty would have meant a major step forward towards integration. (Issue of Common European Defense only reappeared on the agenda in the 1990s!)

• Consequence: NATO stays the only defense organisation of Western Europe (FRG member in 1955)

• Instead: Return to the field of economic integration. Messina conference 1955 prepares the project of the European Economic Community

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Treaty of Rome 1957. Six members.

• Objectives:– Customs Union– Common Market– Common Policies

The Consolidation of Western Europe

• Institutional framework taken over from the European Community for Coal and Steel:– Commission– Parliament– Council

From Boom to Economic Crisis

• The „Glorious Thirty“

• The peak of the Cold War: Berlin wall, Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam War begins

• The period of De Gaulle– Refusal of British membership– The „empty chair crisis“– The Luxemburg compromise (1966)

From Boom to Economic Crisis

• 1969: Relaunch under the motto:– Completion– Enlargement– Deepening

From Boom to Economic Crisis

• Changes of the international and external environment:– The end of the Bretton Woods System

– The first oil shock in 1973/74 leads to the first global economic slowdown since the end of the War

– The period of détente starts

– 1973: Helsinki conference. CSCE as the first effort to reunify the continent

From Boom to Economic Crisis

• „Eurosclerosis“ and „Euroslump“: Dissatisfaction with the Brussels institutions:– Bureaucracy– Decision-making: Unanimity principle in the

Council makes significant progresses difficult to achieve

From Boom to Economic Crisis

• 1979: Creation of the European Monetary System (nucleus of the euro)

• 1979: First direct election to the European Parliament– Effort to bring Europe closer to the citizens