1

HISTORY OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION

HI – USTJ 2017
 Which Europe?
2

 in post-war Europe the idea of Pan-Europa

(Coudenhove-Kalergi 1922/23) was heatedly
discussed
 even the British were in favour of European Unity
 Churchill: United States of Europe (Zurich 1946)
 Congress of Europe (The Hague 1948)
 Unionists vs. Federalists
 Result: Council of Europe (1949)
3
4
5
 European integration is closely obliged to the names
Jean Monnet & Robert Schuman
6

Jean Monnet (1888 - 1979)

 responsible for the French economic modernisation
(Monnet Plan)
 author of the Schuman Plan and by this ‘architect’ of
European Unity
 assuming that integration does not follow grand logics

but functional necessities

 peace and prosperity only in a federal Europe
 Robert Schuman (1886 - 1963)
7

 French Foreign Minister from 1948 - 1952

 presented the Schuman Plan and announced the
Schuman Declaration on May 9, 1950
 formed by this the first supranational European
institution
 Monnet: peace and prosperity only in a
federal Europe
8

 close economic cooperation in specific sectors is the key to

overcome national separation and to achieve European
federation
 elite approach: leading politicians, not huge assemblies would
determine the way
 only a great crisis would provide the necessary push for
European integration
 destruction in post-war Europe emerging of Cold War (east
west conflict)
 threat of internal communist subversion in Western Europe
 none of these crises challenged sufficiently the nation-state
 Marshall Plan (European Recovery Plan -
ERP)
9
 announced by General George Marshall, US Secretary of
State, Harvard 1947
 social situation in Europe
 containment of USSR influence
 US-fear for economic recession in the US
 leading position in Europe (isolation led the US into two wars)
 economic health to avoid communist subversion
 Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) was
to diverse to push European integration (1948)
 US-engagement and cooperation for security reasons
 NATO strongly dependent on US
 German Economic Recovery and the Ruhr
Area
10
 the western parts participated in the Marshall Plan and gained
rapid economic success
 US and UK acknowledged the important role of the Ruhr Area
for economic recovery of the entire continent and loosened
restrictions
 political/military threat to France (Germanophobia)
 economic threat (Monnet’s modernisation plan for France relied
on the assumption, that coal from the Ruhr would fuel French
economy)
 US requested France to change their policy towards Germany
 the above mentioned Franco-German tensions proved to be the
catalytic crisis according to Monnet’s strategy
 Motives of European
11
Integration
• Overcoming of nationalism
• Solving the German problem
• Building new structures of security
• Reconstruction at an accelerated tempo
• self-assertion of Europe and the
attempt to win influence in the
international policy
 The Schuman Plan
12

 Monnet’s idea was to subordinate parts of the energy and

heavy industries sector to a joint and legislative authority
 common regulations should create a common market for related
goods
 politically, the supranational approach promised control over
all important military industries
 economically, France could benefit from the transnational,
common market and the availability of energy, and improve its
economic modernisation
 no alternative intergouvernemental approach was that
auspicious
13
14
15

 main element of Monnet’s idea was the European Coal

and Steel Community (ECSC), controlling the war-
making potentials of heavy industries and establishing
a common market for related goods
 addressed possible members: F, G, Benelux, Italy
 Britain was at that time reluctant to involve itself in
European integration and left it to the continent
 intergouvernemental negotiations began in August
1950 and ended April 1951; the ratification by
national parliaments took another year
 ECSC began operating finally in August 1952
16
17
 EDC – European Defense Community
18

 parallel to the ECSC negotiations Europe was

confronted with the US demand for a German
rearmament (context: Korea War 1950)
 due to French hostility towards this idea Adenauer
stressed that, if shared sovereignty is good enough for
industry, it can also be a frame for rearmament
 in October 1950 French Prime Minister Pleven
announced the plan to rearm Germany within a
supranational approach comparable to the coal and
steel sector: European Defense Community
 Paris Accords 1954
19

 Protocol on the Accession of the Federal Republic of Germany

to the North Atlantic Treaty (Paris, October 23, 1954)

 At the end of August 1954, the French National Assembly

failed to ratify the European Defense Community Treaty. But
this only represented a brief setback for the project of
integrating a West German defense contribution into European
structures, since the French voted instead for the formation of a
Western European Union (WEU) with an arms control system
that included the Federal Republic..
 Paris Accords 1954
20

 They also opened the door for West Germany to join the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On October 23,
1954, the following protocol was signed in Paris. For the
Federal Republic, the Bonn-Paris Conventions meant an end to
the occupation regime and the acquisition of expanded
sovereignty vis-à-vis the Germany Treaty of May 1952.
Within the framework of its accession to the WEU and NATO,
the government of the Federal Republic accepted restrictions
on rearmament, including the renunciation of nuclear,
biological, and chemical weapons
 The Way to Rome 1957
21

 The failure of the European Defence Community (EDC) and the

European Political Community, brought the process of European
integration to a standstill in 1954. At that moment Johan
Willem Beyen (Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs) took
the initiative to revive an idea, based on the Ouchy Convention
of 1932, he had already put forward in December 1952 and
February 1953 for the European Political Community (EPC).
 The Way to Rome 1957
22

 Beyen proposed that the member states of the European Coal

and Steel Community would develop a common market without
customs duties or import quotas instead of a sector-based
integration which had been the option taken by the ECSC.
Beyen sent a memorandum to his BeNeLux colleagues Paul-
Henri Spaak (Belgium) and Joseph Bech (Luxembourg) on 4
April 1955 in which he proposed his idea of a customs union.
 The Benelux-Memorandum 1955
23

 The BeNeLux-memorandum proposed the establishment of an

Economic Community based on a general common market and
a sectoral approach for transport and energy, especially
nuclear energy (the last was in the line of the approach taken
with the ECSC). The common market was to be achieved by a
gradual reduction of trade restriction and custom tariffs.
Besides the economic domain the memorandum proposed an
integration also at the social and financial domain. In addition
they proposed the creation of a joint (supranational)
independent authority.
 Messina 1955
24

 The six ECSC countries turned after the failure of

the EDC their attention to the idea of a customs
union, which was elaborated at Messina. The final
resolution of the conference, largely reflecting the
point of view of the three Benelux countries, formed
the basis for further work to relaunch European
integration. s.
 Rome Treaties, March 25, 1957:
25
 European Atomic Energy Community (Euroatom);
research and development for civil and safe use of
nuclear power
 European Economic Community (EEC); creation of a
common market [free movement of goods, persons,
services and capital; customs union, common trade
policy … ]
 inclusion of a common agricultural policy approach
was a concession made to guarantee ratification in the
French national assembly
 the institutional arrangement of the Community was
negotiated in Brussels
26

 This common market is founded on the famous "four

freedoms", namely the free movement of persons,
services, goods and capital. It creates a single
economic area establishing free competition between
undertakings. It lays the basis for approximating the
conditions governing trade in products and services
over and above those already covered by the other
treaties (ECSC and Euratom).
 Customs Union
27

 The EEC Treaty abolishes quotas and customs duties between the
Member States. It establishes a common external tariff, a sort of
external frontier for Member States' products, replacing the
preceding tariffs of the different states. This customs union is
accompanied by a common trade policy. This policy, managed at
Community level and no longer at state level, totally dissociates the
customs union from a mere free-trade association.
The effects of dismantling customs barriers and eliminating
quantitative restrictions to trade during the transitional period were
very positive, allowing intra-Community trade and trade between
the EEC and third countries to develop rapidly.
 common policies
28

 Certain policies are formally enshrined in the

Treaty, such as the common agricultural policy
(Articles 38 to 47), common trade policy (Articles
110 to 116) and transport policy (Articles 74 to
84).
29
30
31
32
33
 Treaty developments
34

alternative approach of EC non-members: European

Free Trade Association (EFTA/1960)
 Merger Treaty (April 1965, in force July 1967)

 Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single

Commission of the European Communities
 European Political Cooperation (EPC, 1970):
intergouvernemental cooperation of foreign policy ministers
+ Helsinki process: Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe
- weak position in the aftermath of SU’s occupation of
Afghanistan
35
36

 establishment of the European Council (non-treaty

body) for continuous meeting under alternating
presidency of MS (Summit, Paris 1974)
 members: heads of states and governments; foreign
ministers, president of the European Commission,
one further member of the Commission
 codified by the Maastricht Treaty (TEU, Art. 4)
37

decision for direct elections of the European Parliament (intended for

1976, first election in 1979)
 better legitimacy for EP members
 several proposals for institutional and policy reform
 Altiero Spinelli: Draft Treaty Establishing the European Union (passed
the EP with vast majority in 1984)
 European Monetary System 1978
 Single European Act (1986/87)
 based on a White Paper by Jacques Delors (political Union by
economic integration)
 Single Market as vehicle for further and faster integration
 compulsory consultation between Council and EP
 cooperation procedure for decisions related to market harmonization
 majority voting in the Council for most internal market policies
 Introduction of new policies: environment, development, research,
cohesion
 Enlargement & Economy
38

 monetary crisis (1971, cancellation of US

commitment to exchange USD into gold)
 oil price crises 1973 and 1979/80
 economic recession, increasing unemployment,
inflation
 British budgetary question
 Europessimism
 Eurosclerosis
39

 Southern Enlargement 1981 (Greece)

 Southern Enlargement 1986 (Spain, Portugal)
 all enlargements implemented without formally
agreed political or economic criteria
40
 Charles de Gaulle
41

 sceptical about supranationalism, but good

performer of economic integration
 reluctant to law from Brussels, but main advocate of
CAP as Community policy
 kept Britain out, but initiated - together with Konrad
Adenauer - Franco-German reapprochement and
the axis Paris-Bonn (Elysée Treaty 1963)
 Valéry Giscard d’Estaing & Helmut Schmidt
42

 established a privileged partnership between F & G

by close and intense communication in order to avoid
political frictions
 both preferred the intergouvernmental approach and
mistrusted Commission’s proposals
 their close friendship alienated other national leaders
 Giscard and especially Schmidt advocated the
European Monetary System (and reanimated the
Community’s development)
 Margaret Thatcher
43  perceived EC as complementary but subordinated to NATO
 enforced in 1979 renegotiation of British budgetary
contribution ( I want my money back)
 “Thatcher’s tactics were to grind her enemies down by endlessly
repeating her main arguments and keeping everyone up late
after dinner. Infuriated, the Danish prime minister hurled insults;
bored, the German chancellor feigned sleep; disdainful, the
French president ignored her; embarrassed, the Irish prime
minister wished it weren’t happening.” (Dinan, 82)
 the dispute was settled with a compromise in 1983
 obstructed further integrative steps for a couple of years
 forced the Community to rethink the distributive monster called
CAP
 Francois Mitterrand & Helmut Kohl
44

 deeper economic integration - Single Market

 closer political cooperation – Union treaty
 The Single European Act 1987
45

 the first profound and wide-ranging constitutional reform of

the EU since the 1950s. The SEA introduced measures aimed at
achieving an internal market (for instance, harmonisation) plus
institutional changes related to these (such as a generalisation
of qualified majority voting and a cooperation procedure
involving the European Parliament). It also provided legal form
for European Political Cooperation (EPC). The SEA was signed
in February 1986 and came into force on 1 July 1987
 SEA 1987
46

 In the institutional field, it ratifies the European

Council, that is to say, the periodical meeting of Head
of State and Government, as the organism where
major political negotiations take place among the
member States and great strategic decisions are
taken. The competences of the European Parliament
were lightly reinforced.
 SEA 1987
47

 The main compromise agreed was to adopt measures guided

to the progressive establishment of a common market over a
period that would conclude on 31 December1992.This would
mean an area without obstacles to free movement of goods,
people, services and capitals. This ambitious goal, summed up
in 282 detailed measures, was broadly reached in the
foreseen term. The common market became a reality.
 SEA 1987
48

 Different procedures were passed to coordinate the

monetary policy of the member States, paving the
way toward the objective of economic and monetary
union.
 The Single Act included diverse initiatives to promote
integration in the spheres of social rights (health and
the workers' security), research and technology,
and environment.
 SEA 1987
49

 To achieve the objective of a greater economic and

social cohesion among the diverse countries and
regions of the Community, reform and financial
support to the denominated Structural Funds,
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee
Fund (EAGGF), European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF) was
settled.
 Establishing a Union
50

 SEA 1987 – little concern about loss of power or sovereignty;

ratification was rather no problem [exception Denmark:
Parliament – No; Referendum - Yes]
 main goal: completion of Single Market in 1992
 Delors: Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
 Commission sponsored report: enormous costs of non-completion
 accompanying social measures were required
 need for economic, social and political coherence
 reducing the democracy deficit & improving transparency and
subsidiarity
 Intergouvernmental Conference (IGC)
 Political Union (EU)
 Monetary Union (EMU)
51
 The treaties – basis for democratic cooperation
built on law
52

1952 1958
The European Steel and Coal Community The treaties of Rome:
The European Economic Community
The European Atomic Energy Community
(EURATOM)

2009 1987
Treaty of Lisbon The European Single Act:
the Single Market

1993
2003 1999 Treaty of European Union
Treaty of Nice Treaty of Amsterdam – Maastricht
 Changing contexts …
 second Gulf War 1990
53  Yugoslavian wars from 1991 onwards
 EC = economic global player without (global) political weight

 German Re-Unification
 how to integrate the under-developed parts of eastern Germany
 how to integrate a reunified Germany and counterbalance its
possible political weight
 for Germany: how to assure Germany’s position as a reliable partner
in European integration

 IGC started under presidency of Luxembourg

 presidency proposal introduced combination of supranational and
intergouvernmental areas (three pillars)
 final negotiations on December 9, 1991
 treaty signed on February 7, 1992
 Positions
France:
54
 reluctant to include CAP-Reform talks into Union negotiations

 in favour of Delors‘ plan for EMU (3 stages of monetary integration)

UK:
 endorsed the Single Market (intergouvernmental)

 rejected EMU (abrogation of sovereignty; Thatcher) / political public

perceived the necessity of joining EMS
 no further social measures

Spain:
 further economic and political integration only if flanked with further
social and regional measures
Germany:
 not willing to sacrifice D-Mark & independence of German Central
Bank
 aiming for further policy coordination / further integration

 paid the bill for extension of cohesion policy

 Maastricht Treatie(s)
55

 Treaty of the European Community (TEC) / Treaty

of the European Union (TEU)
 main actors in Treaty formulation have been:
Member States (Council) and the Commission; the
Parliament stood only apart
 introduction of co-decision procedure and extension
of Qualified Majority Voting
 THE EUROPEAN UNION
First Pillar:
the European
Communities
EC
 Customs union and single
market
 Agricultural policy
 Structural policy
 Trade policy
New or amended provisions on
 EU citizenship
 Education and culture
 Trans-European networks
 Health
 Research and environment
 Social policy
 Asylum policy
 External borders
 Immigration policy
EURATOM
ECSC
56
Second Pillar: Third Pillar:
Common foreign cooperation in justice
and security policy and home affairs
FOREIGN POLICY
 Cooperation, common
positiions and measures
 Cooperation between
 Peacekeeping
judicial authorities in civil
 Human Rights
and criminal law
 Democracy
 Police cooperation
 Aid to non-member
 Combating racism and
countries
xenophobia
 Fighting drugs and the
SECURITY POLICY arms trade
 Fighting terrorism
 Drawing on the WEU:  Criminal acts against
questions concerning the children, trafficking in
security of the EU human beings
 Disarmament
 Financial aspects of defence
 Long-term : Europe‘s
security framework
THE TREATIES
57
58
59
 Economic and Monetary Union
60

Stage 1: 1.07.1990 – 31.12.1993: all MS join EMS; liberalisation

of exchange provisions; abolishment of exchange controls
Stage 2: 1.91.1994 – 31.12.1998: establishment of European
Monetary Institute (EMI; from July 1998 European Central
Bank); introduction of Stability and Growth Pact (Amsterdam
1997)
Stage 3: 1.01.1999: single monetary policy (ECB), introduction of
Euro as real (book) money; introduction of notes and coins
January 2002

TEU: 3rd stage EMU under opt-out provision, introducing a multi-

or dualspeed Europe
 this and other amended opt-outs allowed British ratification
(August 1993) and Danish ratification in a second referendum
in May 1993
 Maastricht Treaty entered into effect in November 1993
 Amsterdam Treaty 1997
61

 Amsterdam did not introduce a new budgetary

system in order to prepare the EU for eastern
enlargement
 Amsterdam did not change the provisions for the
composition of the Commission
 Amsterdam did not reform the decision-making
procedures and did not constitute QMV as general
voting procedure in the Council
62
 The Nice Treaty (2003)
63

Changes in the Commission from 2005:

 every Member State provides one commissioner

 when the EU has 27 Member States, another

solution must be found

 Changes in the Council
64

 Modification of weighting of votes

 Extension of qualified majoritiy voting
 Changes in the Parliament
65

 Succsessive increase up to 723 seats

 The Need for a Constitution

66

 loss off legitimacy

 inefficiency due to Eastern Enlargement
 intransparency of existing treaties
 The Ratification Crisis
67

 French referendum: 54.7% against proposed

Constitution
 Dutch referendum: 62% against proposed
Constitution
 Other Member States delayed referendums for an
indefinite amount of time
68
69
70
71
 The Lisbon Treaty – One Single
Organization
72

 Three pillars and a roof become one single organization - the EU:
The three-pillars and a roof organization is replaced: there isjust one
organization with legal personality
 the EC is abolished
 - Throughout the Treaty of Rome (ToR) and the Maastricht Treaty the term
‘Community’ is replaced by ‘Union’

 New official name of the ToR: ‘Treaty on the Functioning of the

 European Union’
 - Before: ‘Treaty Establishing the European Community’
 Lisbon Treaty
73

 What happens to the three pillars?

 - simple way to think about it: third pillar (‘Justice and Home
Affairs’)
 is included into the first pillar (formerly the EC)
 􀃎 Most ‘third pillar’ policies are placed under the ‘first-
pillar’
 supranational institutions. (Is this more in the spirit of the
 ‘federalist’ or the ‘intergovernmentalist’ approach?)
 􀃎 not surprising: opt-outs for Britain and Poland
 Lisbon Treaty
74

 So for ‘Justice and Home Affairs’,

 - new laws in third pillar areas will be done by
majority voting (before only for first pillar policies)
 - the Commission will have the monopoly on the right
of initiative
 - the EU will have jurisdiction and its rulings will be
supreme to those of national courts
 - but: Second pillar issues remains subject to
intergoveramental procedures and practices
75

 EU’s founding Principles:

 - no substantial change in values
 - the Charter of Fundamental Rights (agreed by Nice
T.) becomes binding (UK and Poland opt-out)
 - entry criteria do not change but are mentioned for
the 1st time in the Treaty
 - exit procedures for entry and exit are introduced
 Competences:
76

 - key in each constitution: rules how the constitution

can be amended
 (e.g. 2/3 majority for the German basic law). Same
for the‘virtual constitution’
 - current procedure maintained as possibility with
slight changes
 - two major innovations in the Lisbon Treaty:
 􀃎 passerelle’ clause
 􀃎 flexibility clause
 The ‘passerelle’ clause
77

 - with the enlargement of the EU, unanimity in the CoM

becomesmore and more difficult to achieve
 - in the future more majority voting will be necessary.
 How to switch to QMV on particular issues without having
referenda?
 - the clause allows the European Council to switch from unanimity to
majority voting for a particular policy 􀃎 no referenda
 requires unanimity in the European Council, National and EU Parliaments
can veto the switch
 The ‘passerelle’ clause
78

 - example: EU laws on corporate taxation:

unanimity necessary in the CoM
 - old rules: new treaty necessary to switch to
unanimity
 - Lisbon: passerelle clause provides alternative
 - exception: defense and any area with military
implications
 The flexibility clause:
79

 - clause grants EU the power to give itself the power necessary

to attain treaty objectives, even if that power is not granted by
the amended treaties
 - existed already in the ToR: source of the ‘creeping
competency’(disliked be the intergovenrmentalists)
 - Maastricht Treaty limits flexibility to first pillar issues
 - Lisbon Treaty: flexibility applies to all areas except explicit
 exceptions: many second pillar issues, defense policy and the
Charta of fundamental rights
 Institutional Changes
80

 Commission, from 2014:

 - number of commissioners =2/3 of members. Rotation of seats among
countries (each member will be without a commissioner for 5 out of 15
years)
 - But note: European Council can change the number of Commissioners by
unanimous vote. So one Commissioner per country might persist after 2014

 the powers of the President of the Commission are reinforced

 - Parliament’ s oversight on the Commission reinforced

 Council of Ministers
81

 - Lisbon: QMV rules apply till 2014

 - after: ‘double majority’ yes-voters need to represent
more than 55% of members
at least 65% of the population
 blocking minority needs at least four members
 - 2014-2017 transition period: any member can
request that QMV is used probably no ‘true’ change
of the voting system till 2017
 The Lisbon Treaty – Institutional Changes
82

 - CoM meetings continue to be chaired by nation

with rotatingpresidency
 - exception: foreign affairs council chaired by the
(new!) ‘HighRepresentative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy’
 High Representative
83

 The ‘High Representative of the Union for FA and

Security Policy’:
- kind of a ‘Minister for EU Foreign Affairs’
- combines duties of the Commissioner for External
Affairs and the High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs + more rights and responsibilities
 - note: potential overlap with the other new post, the
President of the European Council (who also
represents the EU in external matters)
 The European Council
84

 - now a formal EU institution - subject to European Court

jurisdiction
 - new post: European Council President
chair EU Council meetings
ensure preparation and continuity of the EU Council’s
work
report to the European Parliament after each Council
meeting
full time position (no national office)
elected by EU council (QMV) for 30 Month (once
renewable)
 The European Parliament
85

 - new joint decision-making powers with the EU

Council on budget and 3rd pillar issues
 - number of seats capped at 750
 - increased role in treaty revisions and selection of
senior EU leaders
 EU Court
86

 - extention of jursdiction to include 3rd pillar issues

 - makes easier to set up specialized courts
 Other changes
87

 - role of national parliaments

 - citizens’ right of initiative
 - legislative process
 - Charter of Fundamental Rights
88
89
90
91
 Future development
92

 Any country seeking membership of the European Union (EU)

must conform to the conditions set out by Article 49 and the
principles laid down in Article 6(1) of the Treaty on European
Union. Relevant criteria were established by the Copenhagen
European Council in 1993 and strengthened by the Madrid
European Council in 1995.
 To join the EU, a new Member State must meet three criteria:
 political: stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the
rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of
minorities;
 economic: existence of a functioning market economy and the
capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces
within the Union;
 Future development
93

 acceptance of the Community acquis: ability to take

on the obligations of membership, including
adherence to the aims of political, economic and
monetary union.
 For the European Council to decide to open
negotiations, the political criterion must be satisfied.
 Any country that wishes to join the Union must meet
the accession criteria. The pre-accession strategy and
accession negotiations provide the necessary
framework and instruments.
94

Programm Costs in % of BIP p.a.

US Marshall-Plan
13,3 bill.(Milliarden) US$, ~2,00
1948-1951

German Unification~500 bill.

(Milliarden) €, 1991-1998 ~5,00
(until2019)

EU enlargement
69,5 bill.(Milliarden) €, ~0,05
1990-2006 (laufend)
 Literature
95

 Dinan, D. (20053): Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to

European Integration. Basingstoke.
 Eschke, N. and Malick, T. (eds.) (2006): The European
Constitution and its Ratification Crisis. Constitutional
Debates in the EU Member States. Bonn
 McCormick, John2011 European Politics, New York
 http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/europe/2000/nice_
su mmit/default.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7053054.stm
 http://euobserver.com/9/25001?rss_rk=1