2023.04.06.

European integration and the EU through a liberal lens

by Beta Mirena, Borbala Luczi, Emma Horvath

Introduction: the presentation’s main points we will touch upon:

1. The history of European integration and liberalism

2. The liberal values, ideas, mechanisms of the EU
3. The theory of neo-functionalism and the spillover effect in connection to the EU
4. The actual application of these liberal values and ideas of the EU (Eastern Enlargement)
5. The EU’s security policy and soft power
6. How does the theory of Liberal intergovernmentalism explain procedures and cooperation
in the EU?
7. Current political problems which might concern the EU’s future
8. Conclusion

European integration

 Roots in the Age of Enlightenment (Rousseau) – Organization of European nations

 First prominent events: Concert of Europe 1815, Revolutions of 1848 (liberal ideas)
 World Wars change the discussion – more focused on the prevention of war
 1951 – ECSC (the foundation)

Liberalism

 Also rooted in the Age of Enlightenment (realization of importance of the now key
liberal values, ideas– freedom, equality, human rights, free trade, governmental
accountability etc.)
 European types of liberalism:
o Classical: focused on the economy, free trade, free marker, state just safety net
o Social: focused on the well-being of the citizen, state intervention in
cultural/economic/political life, equal opportunity for everyone
o Conservative: view of the economy is classical but cultural, social values are
conservative (family, religion-Christianity)

EU liberal aims and values

 The EU’s foundation is based on liberal ideas and values such as the
promotion of peace, representative democracy, justice, equality
 Started out with the idea of liberal economic cooperation (free market, free
trade) now social cohesion
 Important documents: EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Lisbon treaty…
(protection of human rights)
 Rule of law: every action taken it is founded on treaties approved voluntarily
and democratically by all EU member countries

1
 2023.04.06.

Neo-functionalism and the spillover effect

 Ernst Haas – first European integration theory: all integration is the result of past
integration (spillover effect)
 From Schuman plan to ECSC then this snowballs to taxation, wages, trade…
 Ideal future: snowball to the point that national political systems and economies
would become so entangled:
 that functions were transferred to these organization, and then could the loyalties of
Europeans as they became focused upon these new institutions
 E.g.: Eurozone – spillover effect
o In 1985, the European Economic Community created the Internal Market
Programme, in which tariff barriers between member states were removed.
o This led to much more trade between the member states, e.g., today the United
Kingdom’s biggest trading partner is the EU.
o With the freedom of movement of goods, national laws that discriminated
against imports from other EEC countries were removed, and the freedom of
movement was expanded to include people, services and capital.
o By the end of the 1980s a number of nation states around Germany formed an
Optimal Currency Area and aligned their monetary policies with the
Deutschmark and the Bundesbank.
o The new internal market was vulnerable to the inflation and deflation of the
various members’ national currencies, which resulted in the demand for a
common currency.
o The creation of the Economic and Monetary Union between 1992 and 2002
and the establishment of the euro - logical steps to encourage prosperity

Eastern enlargement – The EU’s application of liberal ideas and values

 Best example for liberalism’s actual application

 According the Copenhagen criteria (1993) - any European state that subscribes to the
liberal values of the EU may apply to become a member state
 EU invoked this membership norm to overcome the reluctance of member states that
feared the costs of enlargement
 The EU would have been a hypocrite if doesn’t accept their terms of joining

The security policy of the EU

 Europe's liberalism in world affairs is its emphasis on human rights protection and
human security, democracy, institutions
 Filled with moral and strategic dilemmas, complex implementation, unintended
consequences
 Difficult to have an equilibrium between strategic interests and altruistic motives,
legitimacy
 Uses Wilsonian method – proactive and preventive diplomacy to ensure the conflict
won’t come close to its territory
 Uses soft power: co-opt rather than coerce – through the example of the successful
members

1
 2023.04.06.

o E.g.: peaceful diplomatic strategies like offering economic aid, or appealing to

shared values. It contrasts with hard power policies, which coerce cooperation
through threat of military intervention, war, economic sanctions and other
strong-arm tactics.

EU’s liberal intergovernmentalism

 Focus on explaining European integration

 Principal drivers of integration are states, they make decisions based on self-interest
and economic gains
 The rational decisions become negotiations, then bargaining and the result depends on
power relations between member states
 States represent the preferences of domestic social groups - application of
representative democracy, so it’s liberal
 To establish commitments and policies, institutions (for behavior influencing) states
pool their sovereignty
 E.g.: The agricultural sector in France
o The agricultural sector is an important interest group in France, with a high
potential for influence at the governmental level.
o They managed to influence the national preference of France regarding the
sector at the EU level, favoring the creation of the Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP). This would enable French agricultural surpluses to be exported
in a liberalized market.
o The transfer to a supranational institution is exemplified by the French
government pushing for a highly centralized CAP, in order to ensure
compliance by other members.

Current political problems which might concern the EU’s future

 Hungary and Poland on illiberal path, even though they had great prospects
o 1990’s shock therapy didn’t go as well as it should, reforms mostly dealing with
the economy (conservative society stayed)
o Now violating the EU’s main liberal values and treaties (democracy, freedom of
speech, free press, equality etc.)
o Populism gaining momentum – how to resolve it?

 Brexit
o Other than seeing Brexit as a something regretful and painful, maybe it’s an
opportunity for political integration
o UK was – in a way – a road block in political integration
o However, public trust needs building in EU’s community!
o The conflict between globalists and populists needs resolving
o Maybe acceptance of each other’s point of view is the answer?

1
 2023.04.06.

Conclusion

 The EU is founded on the cooperation since the 19th century (European integration)
 And on classical liberal ideas (freedom, equality, security, rule of law etc.),
 Member ship requires the support of these liberal mechanisms, ideas and values
(separation of powers, democracy, human rights)
 Cooperation in European integration and in the EU as well can be both analyzed
by :
o Neo-functionalism (spillover effect-all integration is the result of past
integration) or
o By liberal intergovernmentalism (negotiations, bargaining and the results
depend on power relations between members)

 The EU’s security policy is questionable and uncertain

 There’s an ever-present dilemma of the liberal security policy (is soft-power enough?
is it too idealistic?)
 The future of the EU hangs in the balance due to ideology enforcement (populism or
globalization?)
 What would be the answer to all to the future’s political uncertainty? Probably
cooperation without pushing each other’s agendas.

1
 2023.04.06.

Bibliography:

Brexit and the liberal elephant trap. (2020, February 6). EUROPP.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2020/02/06/brexit-and-the-liberal-elephant-trap/

Classical radicalism. (2023). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Classical_radicalism&oldid=1144636307

Haine, J.-Y. (2009). The European Crisis of Liberal Internationalism. International Journal,
64(2), 453–479.

Hosli, M., D., & Lantmeeters, M. Wen Pan (2019), Liberal Intergovernmentalism and the
Establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, UNU Institute on Comparative Regional
Integration Studies
https://cris.unu.edu/sites/cris.unu.edu/files/W-2019-1.pdf

Ikenberry, G. J. (2015). The Future of Multilateralism: Governing the World in a Post-

Hegemonic Era. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 16(3), 399–413.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1468109915000158

Kundnani, H. (2017). What is the Liberal International Order? German Marshall Fund of the
United States. https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep18909

Leonard, M. (2022, May 5). Europe’s soft-power problem – European Council on Foreign
Relations. ECFR. https://ecfr.eu/article/europes-soft-power-problem/

Liberal-perspectives-on-European-integration.pdf. (2014).
https://d66.nl/vanmierlostichting/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/05/Liberal-perspectives-
on-European-integration.pdf

Milestones in European Construction | Strasbourg Europe. (n.d.).

https://www.strasbourg-europe.eu/milestones-in-european-construction/

Mulder, N. (2021, June 24). The revolt against liberalism: What’s driving Poland and
Hungary’s nativist turn? The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/24/revolt-against-liberalism-eastern-europe-
poland-hungary-nativist-politics

Schimmelfennig, F. (2013). Liberal Theory and European Integration (pp. 253–269).

https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137303769_14

Smith, R. Y., Michael H. (2018). The EU and the Global Order: Contingent Liberalism.
Carnegie Europe.
https://carnegieeurope.eu/2018/03/06/eu-and-global-order-contingent-liberalism-pub-75970

Załęczna, M. (2014). Restitution in the context of institutional lock-in. Journal for

1
 2023.04.06.

Perspectives of Economic Political and Social Integration, 20(1–2), 153–175.

https://doi.org/10.2478/v10241-012-0030