European Public Policy – Lectures
Lecture 1 – Europe’s Ideas, Ideals and Identities
A geographical identity
o The geographical, political, and ethnic birders of Europe are detectable. To
the south, west, and north they are marked by coastlines, but there is no clear
border to the east.
o Is Russia part of Europe? Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia? Israel?
A cultural entity
o If the external limits of Europe are contested, so is its internal identity (how
Europeans define themselves relative to others).
o Nations offer Europeans the most obvious reminder of their differences, with
language, culture, history, and symbols preventing a broader sense of
European identity
o Europe is divided
At least 40 different states
160 different nationalities
Natives of the EU speaking more than 40 different languages, of which
23 are currently recognized as official
Political unity (a polity) – being tied through citizenship
o Whilst cultural allegiance is often linked to nations, most Europeans owe their
legal allegiance to states through citizenship and the corresponding rights and
duties.
o Although the EU had promoted an EU citizenship (giving EU citizens the right
to live in different EU states and to vote un local and European Parliament
elections, for example), this is not the same as providing Europeans with the
same right and legal status as those who are citizens of a member state.
o European citizenship does not (yet?) replace national citizenship.
The Three P’s
o Peace (the reason for integration)
o Prosperity (the new ideal of integration)
o Power (realizing that we’re not entirely there yet)
Conclusions
o There is not one European identity, but there are Europeans, there are
European identifications (from football, music to hymns, currencies, and flags)
o Europe is a geographical entity, and it is a cultural sphere. Above all, it is
some kind of political system (but what kind of?)
o European ideal: peace, prosperity and…
o Power?
o Recent developments: from rules and regulations to events
,Lecture 2 – But how? Understanding European Integration
For a start: Basic concepts
1. State
o Government
o Population
o Legitimacy (monopoly on violence)
o Territory
o Sovereignty
2. International Organizations
o Voluntary cooperation
o Communal management (decisions are made based on the shared views of
their members)
o Shared interests
o Minimal autonomy (institutions can only do what the member states allow)
3. Federal state/Federation
o The US and Germany
o Federal government but also government and governor on state level
4. Free market/liberal market/free movement of…
o Goods
o Services
o Persons
o Capital
*Understanding integration is about understanding how to implement a liberal
market in the European continent.
Functionalism and Neofunctionalism
o Functional spillover/political spillover: integrate one sector and others will
follow
Pulling coal and steel policy results in pressure to extend authority to
neighboring policy areas
E.g. coals and steel exchange, wages, etc.
Intergovernmentalism
o Nation states are self-centered
o Governments have interests, engage in power games, trigger, and provoke
conflicts
o Competitive
o The state is central
o Realism
o About strong agency of actors (governments of states)
Liberal intergovernmentalism
Andrew Moravscik
, o Controversially argued that renewed EU integration (in the 1990s) was not
functionalism, but revised intergovernmentalism power and preferences of
member stated
o To put in other words: in a global, liberal, capitalist world, it is beneficial for the
states of Europe to integrate, not out of some spillover (invisible hand), or
idealism, but self-interest
o In practice: states bargain in Brussels for national self-interest, this results in
European integration
Lecture 3 – History of European Integration I
World War 1914-1918
o The (first) end of European Supremacy in Global Affairs
o The continent and the position of Europe in the world was destroyed
World War 1939-1945
o The ultimate end of European Supremacy in Global Affairs
o Europe was now in the hands of the 2 big powers
Coal and Steel and Great Ambitions
o 1951: European Community of Steel and Coal
Benelux
Italy
BRD/West-Germany
France
o It was more than solely about coal and steel
o Early postwar European initiatives to establish defense and political
communities failed
European Defense Community (1952/1954)
European Political Community (1953/1954)
1956
o Suez Crisis
o Hungarian Uprising and Soviet Invasion
European Economic Community
o New focus on economic cooperation (creation of a single market)
o Six ECSC members sign treaty of Rome to create the European Economic
Community
o Overall aim: economic integration
Core
o To achieve free movement of people, capital, and services (within 12 years)
o Elimination of customs duties between member states (free movement of
goods)
o Common external customs tariff
