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Samenvatting - European Integration (13/20)
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Samenvatting - European Integration
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EUROPEAN INTEGRATIONHOOFDSTUK 1: Theories of European Integration
3 worlds of European Integration
- Integration of states (International Relations)
- Functioning of the European Union/ EU Governance (Comparative politics)
- Impact of the European Union on member states (Comparative Politics)
3 generations of EU studies
- ‘Bottom up’: theories from International Relations try to explain why sovereign states integrate.
- ‘Within’: theories from Comparative Politics try to understand the functioning and the output
(governance) of the European Union as a political system.
- ‘Top down’: Europeanization tries to explain how and to what extent the EU integration process has
got impact on the member states.
1. Integration versus functioning of the EU
History of European Integration
Questions:
- What is the degree of integration?
- Why do sovereign states integrate?
Theory:
- Theories from International Relations / European integration
Functioning of the EU/ EU as a political system/EU governance
Questions:
- How does EU decision-making work?
- Who determines policy contents?
Theory:
- Theories from comparative politics.
Most pressing challenges for the EU
- Brexit
- China
- Health policies – Covid-19 crisis
- Trade
- Climate – Green deal
- Migration
2. The intellectual Background: academic
David Mitrany – ‘A Working Peace System’ (1943)
- Legacy of the failed League of Nations: nationalism as the cause of war
- Eliminate nationalism by making states work together
- Establishment of a series of international functional (sectoral) agencies
- Expectation that states will discover the benefits of cooperation and that increasing cooperation will
refrain states from acting independently.
- Political elites and eventually citizens will be socialized in an international environment.
Depoliticization of the power transfer, bureaucratic process no aim to build regional or worldwide federations.
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,League of Nations was established, but did not succeed. There was a second world war. Need to build an
international organization and need to learn from the mistakes, do it differently.
Don’t need a political ground of states to put forward cooperation, we need a depoliticized bureaucratic
process that will organise international cooperation.
Altiero Spinelli and the European Union of Federalists
- Legacy of the Resistance Movements of WW II
- Ventotene Manifesto (1941): call for a European Federation.
- Explicit aim of a transfer of political authority: abolishment of the sovereign nation-states and creation
of a European federation, political project.
- European Congress (The Hague 1948) failed to establish the expected federation
Second inspiration for European integration. Came from this group, European Union of Federalists. Spinelli took
the other route, we need politicians to step up, show leadership. European integration should be a political
project, politicians who lead the way.
Jean Monnet - Functional Federalism
- Technocrat and planner
Context:
- Economic reconstruction of France.
- The need to control German economic reconstruction establishment of supranational institutions to
make states mutually dependent.
- Start with strategic sectors and add other sectors later: spill over ultimate aim is a political union by
starting with economic integration.
From the text of Jean Monnet:
- He thought that a fundamental rethinking of the nation-state was necessary
- Supranationalism, expansionist
- Economic, political cooperation which surpasses borders
- Common institutions were important
- Economic integration, common market
- European integration to stop mistrust between countries
- Countries should look further than the concept of national interest. Cooperation could create higher
living standards for everyone.
- Radical changes in the way people thought
- Supranational as in: Monnet wanted a higher federal power that controls previously nation-allocated
authorities, starting with steel & coal but not limited to that.
Monnet was not a politician, he was a civil servant, a planner who worked behind the scenes for governments.
- The time was the late 40’s, early 50’s. France had to be reconstructed, rebuilt. France will have to
become economically stronger, but also Germany had to do that. France would not be able to
reconstruct without Germany being reconstruct.
- Western Europe to be rebuilt, needs to be done in all the countries. One needs to have supranational
institutions that would make the countries, mutually independent from each other and the solution
for war cooperation. To have economic cooperation that would embed member states that they
would become mutually independent and it would be difficult to fight out differences of opinion,
preferences by military means. That was the whole idea.
Needs to be done very gradually, will take many years. You cannot just decide this, has to grow, step by step.
Start small and end big. Functional approach. If the sectors show to be beneficial, the politicians will recognize
this is a good idea and will add other sectors. Start with economic political. Start depoliticised and political
leaders will step in and aspire integration.
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,3 thinkers behind European integration (Monnet, Spinelli, Mitranny).
Realism and Liberalism
- Self-interest
- Balance of power
- Anarchy
- International cooperation
- State sovereignty (national interest)
- Nation states (building blocks)
Realist states are the building blocks, anarchy, states wants to maximize their self-interest, sovereignty
use power politics, can end up in a conflict. Classical realist looks at the states as a black box. Would predict
that states would not be able to cooperate, end up in nationalism and war again.
3. IR theories of European Integration
Neofunctionalism (Ernst Haas - 1958, Leon Lindberg – 1963/1968)
- Critique on the dominant IR theory of Realism
Pluralist theory: states are no unified actors and are not the only international actors
- Pluralist: domestic interest groups and private actors influence national governments’ international
behaviour.
- Transnationalism /transgovernmentalism: domestic interest groups bypass national governments and
seek contact with each other.
Multinational corporations and the European Commission become important actors and allies.
3 types of spill-over:
Functional spill-over
Increasing sectoral integration due to interconnectedness. cooperation and integration in one sector would
cause integration in other related, connected sectors. Kind of a domino effect. At the end you will have the
single market.
Political spill-over
Private actors focus on the international level and lobby political actors to proceed with integration.
Cultivated spill-over
The European Commission fosters integration. national institutions that organise international trade, start to
argue for more integration.
Empirical problem: national veto’s (De Gaulle!)
Core arguments/concepts of the Neofunctionalism theory;
- Spill over effect
- To understand regional integration
- Federal authority
- Economical groups (belangengroepen)
Neofunctionalism is pluralist states are built up by societal groups. Will try to influence, lobby their national
interest. Companies, businesses can thrive through international trade. Convince their national government to
cooperate because it will be beneficial for them. This is happening in many states at the same time. These
interest groups, start seeing they have similar interests and start to cooperate transnationally. Each of them
lobbies their governments and push them to more cooperation.
States are willing to tear down economic boarders and start cooperating.
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, Intergovernmentalism (Stanley Hoffmann – 1964/1968)
- Building on IR theory of Realism
Governments of states are dominant in international relations and European integration:
- External pressures influence national governments’ international behaviour.
- National governments control integration, keeping an eye on national interests.
- Domestic interest groups play a role, but national governments keep control (governments enjoy the
sovereign power and the democratic legitimacy).
- When national interests coincide, functional integration is possible to the extent that it serves the
individual national interests.
- Political integration and integration in ‘high politics’ sectors (e.g. foreign policy) remain highly unlikely.
Why do they integrate?
- Because of what happens outside their states, not inside.
- Trade makes states wealthier, way to make Europe better.
- When it comes to power, security, defence… Integration will not happen. Will remain limited to
economic integration.
What Hoffman meant by logic of integration and logic of diversity?
Difference between neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism. Integration is what is going to happen
because there is an inherent procedure between national groups that will influence national governments,
institutions… become successful and other groups see it is beneficial. Logic of ever more integration.
Liberal Intergovernmentalism (Andrew Moravcsik – 1993)
More sophisticated version of intergovernmentalism:
- States are rational actors but not ‘black boxes’: national governments play a ‘two level game’; first a
domestic pluralist or liberal interest aggregation process and second the international representation
of the national interest by the national government.
- National governments negotiate in the Council of Ministers to determine the common policy and the
necessary institutional arrangements.
- Integration is shaped by national preferences, which are based on national economic interests and the
outcome reflect states’ bargaining power.
Concepts, ideas that define liberal intergovernmentalism;
- The supranational state serves the interest of the individual states.
- Very skeptic about neofunctional theories like spill-over effects etc.
- Cooperation among sovereign states is possible, but when it's in their own interest.
The big difference with the original theory of intergovernmentalism, is that liberal intergovernmentalism opens
the black box of states. We should look at states, need to look inside the states, what happen there.
Liberal intergovernmentalism, follows up on intergovernmentalism. Building blocks of European integration.
Want to know why states want to pull their sovereignty? Have to look at the economic interest, interest
groups… Why more integration? If they are able to inform the member state position, the member state will
defend the position in the next steps to European integration.
- European integration is possible but only if there is enough similarity between the big member states,
more bargaining power.
Supranational Governance (Sandholtz / Stone Sweet - 1998)
Puzzle: different levels of integration in different policy fields
- Increasing international transactions lead to a supranational society of actors who favour international
rules; they lobby their governments to set up these rules, which are then refined by supranational
institutions and courts and drift away from national governments’ control.
- Supranational governance stress more on supranational organisations, the court...
- Empirical critique: not applicable to high level politics (Treaty changes, foreign policies).
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