Historical overview of European integration
What’s the European Union?
The EU is a supranational, international organisation.
1. An international organisation is established by means of a treaty, allowing member
states to cooperate and coordinate together.
a. Through the treaty, a number of organs within the international organisation
are established to promote cooperation and achieve a number of common
goals.
2. In a supranational organisation, member states transfer (part of) their sovereignty to
the international organisation.
a. This allows the organisation to bind member states against their will by means
of the majority rule.
3. In an intergovernmental organisation, member states don’t transfer (parts of) their
sovereignty to the international organisation.
a. This implies that a decision is binding only if all member states agree.
The EU isn’t exclusively supranational or intergovernmental, as it has features of both.
1. This mixture makes the functioning of the EU complicated, especially in decision-
making, as some policy areas are supranational in nature and others are
intergovernmental.
Post-WWII period
In the late 40s, Europe faced 2 challenges:
1. The economy had to be rebuilt.
2. Initiatives towards world peace had to be taken.
These challenges led to the establishment of important European organisations:
1. Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC, 1948).
a. It was established to coordinate Europe’s economic recovery, in particular to
distribute the aid granted by the Marshall Plan.
i. The US granted financial assistance to Europe, under the condition that
this aid was coordinated in the framework of an international
organisation (made up of 17 Western European countries).
b. Eventually, the OEEC was reformed into the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1961, currently made up of 38
countries.
2. Council of Europe (1949).
a. The idea of launching the Council of Europe came from Winston Churchill,
who argued that if Europe wanted to prevent future wars on the continent,
greater unity and cooperation among European states was essential and it had
to be based on an alliance between the two major rivals during WWII: France
and Germany.
, i. This cooperation was based on two fundamental principles: respect for
the rule of law, democracy and human rights, and full sovereignty of
member states.
b. It has nothing to do with other EU institutions: as it’s a separate, bigger (46
states) and older organisation.
i. Only European states can join, except Russia (expelled in 2022),
Belarus (due to its lack of respect for human rights and democracy),
and Kosovo (due to a problem of international recognition).
3. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO, 1949).
a. It’s a military alliance, established as a collective self-defence
(intergovernmental) organisation.
i. After WWII, many European countries were worried about the growing
tensions caused by the Cold War, so they wanted to establish a military
alliance among Western European states with the support of the US.
ii. As a result, the Treaty of Brussels signatories (Benelux, France and
UK) were joined by other countries (US, Canada, Portugal, Italy and
Scandinavian countries) to form NATO through the Washington
Treaty.
b. In theory, NATO is purely intergovernmental, based on the notion of collective
self-defence.
i. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states that an attack against one or
more member states is considered an attack against them all, and
they’re entitled to use force to repel the attack.
c. NATO currently has 31 member states.
In each of these 3 organisations, member states maintained their sovereignty: these were the
early intergovernmental organisations.
The 1950s
1. European Coal and Steel Community (OEEC, 1951).
a. In 1950, Robert Schuman, France’s Foreign Minister, proposed the infamous
Schuman plan.
i. Schuman wanted to promote sectoral integration by cooperating and
integrating in one specific sector (coal and steel, the building blocks of
economies and war), resulting in the establishment of a supranational
institution.
ii. This would not only facilitate the modernisation of production and an
increase in the supply of coal and steel, it would also make war
between France and Germany “not merely unthinkable, but materially
impossible”.
b. Benelux, Western Germany, France and Italy started negotiations in 1950,
ending with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1951.
i. These 6 countries (“the Six”) are regarded as the founding fathers of
the EU, who would later establish the EEC and Euratom.
2. European Defence Community (EDC, 1952).
, a. The Six continued integration by proposing the establishment of a European
army, by integrating the ECSC’s armed forces and placing them under a
supranational authority.
i. With the US committing resources for the Cold War, Western Europe
appeared vulnerable, so German rearmament was necessary.
ii. However, there were doubts about German rearmament coming so soon
after WWII: the solution was given by Jean Monnet and René Pleven,
the French PM, through the Pleven plan, leading to the EDC treaty in
1954.
b. However, the treaty wasn’t ratified by the French Assembly and the EDC
never came into existence.
i. France wasn’t willing to give up sovereignty (especially in defence
matters) and was still suspicious of rearming Germany, but was also
troubled that the UK wasn’t involved in this European army (due to its
supranational characteristic).
ii. Therefore, the Assembly failed to ratify the treaty.
c. Since the EDC failed, the European Political Community (EPC), planned by
Henri Spaak to complement the EDC, never came into existence either.
3. Western European Union (WEU, 1954).
a. Since the EDC failed but German rearmament was necessary, France and the
UK had to be convinced in some way to cooperate in defence matters.
i. In 1954, the Brussels Treaty was modified to include Western
Germany, allowing the creation of the WEU, involving the Six and the
UK.
ii. Through the WEU (an intergovernmental organisation based on
collective self-defence), Germany was rearmed and joined NATO in
1955.
b. Today, the WEU no longer exists because many of its tasks and institutions
were gradually transferred to the EU.
4. European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community (EEC and
Euratom, 1957).
a. After the failure of the EDC, the Six wanted to relaunch the integration process
through a customs union and economic integration.
b. They eventually agreed to the establishment of two new supranational
communities, the EEC and Euratom, in 1957 with the signing of the Treaties of
Rome.
i. They established a customs union but also adopted a common market
and common commercial, competition, agricultural and transport
policies, based on the same principles of the ECSC (with some
adjustments).
c. The Treaties of Rome also created a number of important institutions:
i. High Authority (the European Commission).
ii. Council of Ministers (the Council of the EU).
iii. Parliamentary Assembly (the European Parliament).
iv. Court of Justice (the Court of Justice of the EU).
, The 1980s and 1990s
1. Single European Act (SEA, 1986).
a. In 1972, the Six expressed the intention to convert their relationship into a
European Union before the end of the decade.
i. In 1983, the Stuttgart European Council proclaimed a Solemn
Declaration on European Union, agreeing to a review of the
Communities’ activities within 5 years, and the possibility of a new
Treaty on European Union.
b. Member states therefore wanted to speed up the European integration progress
to improve economic growth, but some provisions of the Treaties of Rome
needed to be changed.
i. They wanted to achieve a common market by the end of 1992, so
changes were needed to promote the free movement of goods, services,
people and capital.
ii. The EP also had to be given more powers in decision-making, by
means of a qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council, to achieve
the common market.
c. Eventually, the Single European Act was signed in 1986, considered to be the
first real revision of the Rome Treaties.
2. Treaty of Maastricht (1992).
a. With the end of the Cold War, the collapse of Communist regimes and the fall
of the Berlin wall, there was a strong need for further European integration.
i. The question of German reunification was problematic, because some
countries thought it would create a big powerful state in Central
Europe.
ii. France was in favour of it, under the condition that Germany would be
integrated in a strong legal entity.
iii. Moreover, member states also argued in favour of further economic
integration and extending foreign policy to Eastern Europe (after the
fall of the USSR).
b. Therefore, the Treaty of Maastricht was signed in 1992 to expand European
integration, reform the EC and decision-making, and to bring monetary
integration.
i. The EEC (renamed the European Community), ECSC and Euratom
were brought together into a new entity: the European Union.
c. The EU was structured based on 3 pillars:
i. Pillar I: European Community (composed of the EEC, ECSC and
Euratom).
ii. Pillar II: Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
iii. Pillar III: Justice and Home Affairs (JHA).
d. There was a need of a pillar structure, because each one has different features.
i. Pillar I is predominantly supranational, while Pillar II and III are purely
intergovernmental.
3. Treaty of Amsterdam (1997).
a. In Article 1 of the Maastricht Treaty, member states proclaimed that the
establishment of the EU marked a new stage in creating an “ever closer union
