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Summary Politics of the EU
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Summary of all Politics of the EU lectures as well as key ideas needed for the exam. Using this to study, my final grade was a 9!
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Lecture 1: A HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATIONWHAT IS THE EU? – APPROACHES AND ASSUMPTIONS
• IO = institutions have little to no autonomy, and the EU’s most important decisions are made through negotiating
and bargaining among govts, best understood through IR theory
• Regional integration association = comparable to other regional blocs (e.g. AU, ASEAN), best understood
through IR theory
• Unique/ sui generis = emerged out of unique circumstances, has unique qualities and goals and may never be
replicated elsewhere; may even not have emerged in Europe if integration had started at another time
• Political system in its own right = EU is a European superstate and its structure and operating principles can be
compared to conventional states; best understood through comparative politics approaches (esp.
(con)federalism)
• Hybrid = mix of some or all of the above
EARLY IDEAS OF INTEGRATION
• Coudenhove-Kalergi: PanEuropa (1923) → union of the peoples of Europe
o Would split the world into 5 power fields: Americas, USSR, eastern Asia, PanEuropa (+colonies),
British empire
o 4 stage process to achieving union: 1) conference of reps from 26 states, 2) agreement on treaties for
dispute settlement within Europe, 3) development of customs union, 4) drafting of a federal European
constitution
o Failed to generate mass following, but inspired/ impressed contemporary figures: Pompidou, Briand &
Churchill
• Briand: called for a European federation and spoke of creating common market and the EU
• Churchill: “United states of Europe” in 1946 speech
o Didn’t actually want the UK to be part of a shared sovereignty project, but wanted to focus on repairing
econs of Germany and other ww2 affected countries
CHALLENGES OF POSTWAR EUROPE
• Rebuilding destroyed economies
o Marshall Plan, Organization for European Econ. Cooperation (1960 on: OECD)
• Ensure security
o Founding NATO (1949); Schuman Plan (1950) → bring Germany into western community and allow
rearmament only under supranational supervision
• Limit danger of nationalism as a cause for war
o European Movement: ambition to create a federation (1948) with European convention on human rights
The Schuman Plan
• Announced on May 9, 1950 (now Europe day), by Robert Schuman
• Origin: French mistrust of Germany’s strength
o Franco-German relation was crucial for European future
o Pressure from the US on France to solve the situation and somehow arrange future relations with
Germany
o Schuman and Monnet proposed a ‘Franco-German production of steel and coal as a whole under a
common High Authority’
o Approach combining political, social and econ objectives
• Cooperation in steel and coal production would ensure control over weapons production and fragment german
industries
o Coal and steel laying a foundation for European cooperation → essential for maintenance of peace
The ECSC
• Creation of the ECSC by Treaty of Paris in 1951
o Signed by Italy, France, Benelux, Germany and France (membership open to all European states, but
only 4 aside from Germany and France accepted)
, o Would make Franco-German war unthinkable as well as materially impossible (due to interdependence)
• High authority (predecessor to the Commission)
o Membership: 9 members (2 from large states, 1 from smaller) with 6 year terms
o Function: remove barriers to free movement of coal and steel and represent joint interests of members
• Special council of ministers (pred. to Council)
o Members: relevant govt ministers from members & presidency held by each member in rotation for 3
month term
o Function: make decisions on High Authority proposals
• Common assembly (pred. to Parliament)
o Members: 78 members chosen by national legislatures and divided among members based on
population size
o Advisory function
• Court of justice
o Members: 7 members, 6 judges and a trade union rep
o Function: conflict settlement between states and ruling on legality of High Authority decisions
o Limited, but notable (was the first supranational institution which states gave notable sovereignty)
• Single coal and steel market was not created, but showed that econ integration was feasible
50s INTEGRATION OPTIMISM
• European Defence Community (EDC) proposed by Adenauer in 1949, rejected by French national assembly in
1954
• Pleven Plan (1950): common defence, supranational European army and a European defence minister
o French proposal, again to avoid formation of Germany’s own army
o Big difference in what France wanted, and German and US interests
▪ Germany and US: wanted Germany to raise large armoured units which if needed would make
up a German army
▪ France: wanted Germany to integrate small infantry units into a European army
o This kind of limited plan was politically and militarily unlikely, so Us immediately rejected and
negotiation continued
▪ Strong proponents of German rearmament led to eventual rejected by French national assembly
• West European Union (1954): intergovernmental cooperation at UK initiative
o In NATO’s shadow
o Ended in 2011
o Formerly the Brussels Treaty Org.
o French accepted it, partially because the UK was also taking part
• European Political Community, proposed in 1953
o Was to consist of executive council, council of ministers, court of justice, parliament
o Idea died with the end of EC
• In the 50s, defence cooperation with supranational elements and political cooperation were rejected and not
restarted for some time
THE TREATY OF ROME 1957
• Context
o Failed political and military integration
o Monnet was appointed president of ECSC High Authority
• Actually consists of 2 treaties:
o EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community)
o EEC (European Economic Committee)
▪ Goal of creating a single market within 12 years (free mvmt of people, capital and services)
▪ Elimination of customs and establishment of common external tariffs
▪ Common agricultural, trade, transport and competition policies (advanced in terms of
supranational powers)
▪ Creation of European Social Fund and European Investment Bank
EEC: FOUNDATION OF THE EU
, • Commission
o 9 members, with 6 year terms
o Role: policy initiation and overseeing implementation
• Council of ministers
o Govt ministers sharing 17 votes (decisions unanimous/ simple majority/ qualified majority)
o Role: decision-making on commission proposals
• Parliamentary assembly (1962: renamed European Parliament)
o 142 appointed members (from 1979: direct election)
o Role: could question and censure the Commission, but little legislative authority; interpreting treaties
and ensuring that institutions and members fulfilled their treaty obligations
Early days
• 1960s context: soviet threat, Cuban missile crisis (1962), escalation of Vietnam war
• Substantial increase in intra-EEC trade (50% between 1958-60), but only limited progress on removing barriers
to free movement of workers
• Increased cooperation among the 6 members on international trade negotiations
• Need to expand membership ( to increase the impact of having a common market)
• De Gaulle’s double veto of UK membership
o Idea of UK membership first came up in 1961, when it realised benefits of joining
o UK membership was endorsed by the US, making France suspicious (difference in views for Europe)
o US and UK were simultaneously involved in security negotiations, ending with decision for UK to use
US missiles to deliver their nuclear warheads & integrate UK nuclear force into NATO
▪ France saw this as UK relinquishing power and responsibility to the US (again, differing views)
= excuse to block membership
o UK reapplied in 1967, but again, de Gaulle said UK entry would fragment the community, which it
would not survive
Butter mountains
• Agreement on Common Agricultural Policy in 1962 created a single market and assuring process for farmers
• Need to ensure security (esp. in terms of food → shadow of the wars)
• Unintended consequence: overproduction because farmers were incentivized to produce more than needed
o Huge amount of meat and dairy
o Thatcher: interested in this → GB was not doing well in terms of food security, and she wanted this for
the UK
Empty chair crisis (1965) and Luxembourg Compromise (1966)
• French role was crucial: was happy that countries could acquire own pools of money (which would benefit
France, since those resources would fund common agri. Policies)
• But were also unhappy with some proposals which would transfer more power to the Parliament and
Commission (feared moves to supranationalism)
• Crisis led to France not appearing at meetings (hence empty chair)
• Ended with the Luxembourg compromise: when important national issues were at stake, countries retained veto
power
o Also listed the powers of the Commission and Parliament, to address French concerns
Changing community 1973-84
• New countries joined in 1973: UK, DK, IE (de Gaulle no longer in power → opened UK’s door to membership)
• European Monetary System est. in 1978
• First direct parliament elections in 1979
o First time citizens are invited to be involved in the EEC
• Greece joins EEC in 1981 (not econ ready to join, but provided political benefits)
• Spain and Portugal joined in 1986
SINGLE EUROPEAN ACT (SEA) 1986
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