complete summary political structures and processes of the european union (PSPEU)
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Political structures and processes of the EU
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
A full summary of the course political structures and processes of the european union (PSPEU), given to the VUB 3rd year students in political science.
Includes lecture notes and additional information for thorough exam preparation.
political structures and processes of the european union
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Bachelor Politieke Wetenschappen En Sociologie
Political structures and processes of the EU
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PSPEU
Class - History of European integration
What history of European integration?
The history of European integration corresponds with European history in general of the
second half of the 20th C. and beyond.
The EU started as a community focused on managing coal and steel as material
resources for economic management.
There is an important storyline that deals with economic integration and the construction
of what we know as the EU’s single market today. But there is also a parallel story that
relates to security cooperation amongst EU capitals.
The key message of the lecture: much of how the EU works institutionally has its origins
in the very beginning, the succession of legal treaties (that codify how the EU
construction works exactly); the constant bargaining that unfolds between European
capitals (ultimately about high politics amongst European capitals).
Uniting the continent, step by step
Started off with 6 member states (Benelux countries, France, Germany, and Italy) who
spread an economic and political model, to 27 member states.
Signs of partial disintegration:
French ‘empty chair’ in 1965-66 (withdrew its ambassador from the EEC, triggering the
‘empty chair crisis’).
Brexit 2016 referendum, which led to the 2020 UK withdrawal from the EU.
‘Rule of law’ debate concerns about Polexit
The contestation of European integration has been there right from the beginning
and is still a political subject in all member states.
Class – a short history of European integration
,Some founding fathers
Konrad Adenauer, George Marshall, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Paul-Henri Spaak
(and many others, W. Churchill, etc.).
Post-WWII; defeat of Nazi Germany and the occupation of Germany by the US, UK, and its
allies in the west and the Soviet armies in the east. what comes after the complete
ravaging of the European continent, which was in many ways a continuation of the
conflict that started in 1914.
Schuman: Key to having a different system in place in Europe, was to bring France
and (West-) Germany closer together. In 1950 he launched a plan for supranational
cooperation in Western Europe. According to this plan, these countries had to transfer
their authorities in the field of coal and steel production to a supranational institution,
a European institution.;
Spaak: Spaak created together with Monnet the plan for Euratom. In 1956, in the
Spaak Report, he combined the idea of both a European Common Market and
Euratom. He also came up with the formation of a supranational European
Commission, which would be responsible for the implementation of the Common
Market.;
Marshall: When coming up with the Marshall plan, he was the US Secretary of State
and the key military leader of Washington during the second world war.;
Monnet: Responsible for the pooling of wheat provisions during WWI. He was sent out
to serve in the League of Nations for France, where he was given the function of
deputy secretary. Together with Spaak, he came up with the plan for Euratom,
arguing that nuclear power was the perfect policy area for a new European
Community.
Economic integration Security cooperation
1947 Marshall speech 1947 Dunkirk Treaty
1948 European recovery program 1948 Brussels Treaty (WEU)
1949 Washington Treaty -> NATO &
1950 Schuman Declaration 1950 ART 5
1951 Paris Treaty -> ECSC 1951 DC 6/1 ‘deterrence’
1957 Rome Treaties (TFEU) -> EEC & 1957 NCS established
Euratom MC 14/2 -> ‘massive retaliation’
1986 1967
1992 Single European Act 1968 Harmel Report
1997 Maastricht Treaty / TEU MC 14/3 -> ‘flexible response’
2001 Amsterdam Treaty 1991
2007 Nice Treaty 1999 Strategic Concept
Lisbon Treaty Strategic Concept
2010
Strategic Concept
, 1. Economic integration
The key point in Marshall’s speech (1947): the US should extend a helping hand and
restore economic conditions in Europe, on the condition that they don’t engage in conflict
with each other anymore.
This set the stage for the Marshall plan as the European Recovery Program 1948.
Schuman’s declaration in 1950 set the stage for the creation of the later European Coal
and Steel Cooperation. (Coal and steel are the keys to building industrial armies)
A year later, the Paris Treaty was signed which created the ECSC. In 1957 another set of
treaties was signed in Rome, creating the European Economic Community, as well as
Euratom.
The single European act was signed in 1986, followed by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992,
the Amsterdam treaty in 1997, the Nice Treaty in 2001, and finally, the Lisbon treaty in
2007, with the purpose of completing the single market.
2. Security cooperation
Starting in 1947 in Dunkirk, when there was much concern in France and the UK about
what would happen if the US retreated home. They decided to renew their bilateral
security commitment.
A year later, in 1948, it was expanded by some smaller countries who had security
concerns as well, with the Brussels treaty, creating the European Union.
Spaak was particularly vocal about his concerns with the security of Europe.
These two treaties were followed by the Washington treaty in 1949, in which the US
guaranteed European security, setting the stage for NATO.
3. Uniting the continent
The EU started off as a project with 6 member states, enlarging step by step, to the 28
member states of today.
European Recovery Program 1948
George Kennan’s 1946 ‘Long Telegram’ from US embassy Moscow.
ERP as an effort to outbid Soviet competition.
The basis for what became the OECD.
The Long Telegram, sent by US diplomat Kennan from Moscow, reported that Russia had
plans of taking over the European continent and that the US needed to intervene.
Kennan states that the US needed to stay in Europe so that Russia couldn’t take over
everything.
This is how the Marshal plan started.
The Marshall Plan, a.k.a. the European Recovery Program was built upon the idea of
helping European countries rebuild themselves, on a western capitalist program. By
signing up for this proposal, the European countries swore to cooperate instead of
fighting each other.
The ERP became a success in economic terms, the US succeeded in rebuilding the
European countries and its economy restored itself quite rapidly.
The US kept its eye on Germany but treated West Germany as an ally.
Their strategy was to keep things in order economically would lead to political stability as
well. So, they avoided blaming Germany and did not ask for reparation payments, since
that did not bode well after WWI. The US assistance set the stage for reconciliation
between France and Germany.
European Coal and Steel Community Institutions 1951 (codified in 1951 Treaty of Paris)
High authority supranational powers
Council of Ministers harmonization role
Common Assembly advisory role
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