Ways of Considering ECEU Political History

1
Ways of Considering EC/EU Political History

• A Movement
• Driven and Shaped by European Nations
• Inspired and initiated by Key Personalities and
  their supporters and constituencies
• Landmark Actions and Achievements
• Examples Treaty of Rome, SEA, Maastricht
• Examples CAP, Internal Market, EURO, Enlargement
• Landmark Crises
• Examples Empty Chair, the Budget, Maastricht
  Referendum
• Building New/New Kind of Institutions
• Their Powers and Relationships with one another
• Their Role, as Community Actors, in shaping
  EC/EU

2
Ways of Considering EC/EU Political History
(contd)

• Political parties, popular reactions at home
• Multiple contexts
• Cold War/ end of Cold War politics and diplomacy
• Foreign policy of individual countries, both
  towards Europe and beyond Europe
• Dramatic internal political transformations
• Democratic regimes in Southern Europe (Greece,
  Spain, Portugal)
• Germany
• Eastern Europe
• New political issues within established EC/EU
  countries
• Immigration
• Challenges to welfare state policy
• National identity emergence of populist extreme
  right parties

3
Political History of European Integration

• Issues
• Nation-State Sovereignty and Its Abdication
• Enlargement
• Democratic Deficit
• Institutions
• Community Budget, own resources
• National Interests and Deal-Making
• Dynamics of Institutions
• The Three Pillars

4
The Story of Politics

• Pre-Treaty of Rome
• European Defense Community (1952-1954)
• First Stage of Cooperation (1958-68)
• The Issue of Sovereignty
• Charles de Gaulle, the Empty Chair, the
  Luxembourg Compromise (1965-66)
• Unanimity (the Veto) vs. Qualified Majority
• The Issue of Britain
• The First Major Deal CAP

5
The Story of Politics (contd-1)

• Politics Amidst Eurosclerosis (1973-84)
• Enlargements
• Britain, Ireland, Denmark (1973)
• Greece (1981)
• Democratic Deficit
• European Parliament Direct Election (1979)
• Crisis over the Budget (1979-84)
• Margaret Thatcher aggressive, abrasive approach
• Renegotiating the British contribution, the
  rebate

6
The Story of Politics (contd-2)

• Renewal (1985-1992)
• The Commissions of Jacques Delors
• 1985-88, 1989-92, 1993-94
• Breakthrough White Paper on Completing the
  Internal Market (1985)
• Lord Arthur Cockfield, Commissioner for Internal
  Market and Financial Institutions (DG3)
• 279 concrete measures
• Deadline of 31 December 1992
• Single European Act (1986)
• Amend Treaty of Rome
• Qualified Majority Voting (QMV)

7
The Story of Politics (contd-3)

• Renewal (1985-1992) contd
• Delors Committee/ Delors Report (1989)
• Committee of Central Bank governors
• Monetary Union
• Two Intergovernmental Conferences (IGCs) in
  1990-91 (parallel, at the same time)
• First IGC Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
• Second IGC Political Union
• Reform of Institutions
• Treaty of Maastricht (signed 1992)

8
The Story of Politics (contd-4)

• Context of Renewal
• Margaret Thatcher rallies to Single Market Europe
• Enlargement Spain and Portugal (1986)
• Fall of Berlin Wall (1989)
• Mitterrand and Kohl German re-unification
• Drama of Maastricht Referendums (1992-1993)

9
The Story of Politics (contd-5)

• Big Steps Towards Unified Europe
• Economic and Monetary Union
• 3 stages of 1990s
• European Central Bank (Frankfurt)
• EURO by March 2002
• Enlargement (1995)
• Scandinavia Sweden and Finland, not Norway
• Austria

10
The Story of Politics (contd-6)

• Big Steps (contd)
• IGCs and Treaties to Strengthen Maastricht
• Treaty of Amsterdam (IGC 1996-97, treaty signed
  1997, treaty ratified by 1999)
• Treaty of Nice (IGC 1999-2000, signed 2000)
• European citizenship
• Living within the Three Pillars
• Growing importance of Justice and Home Affairs

11
The Story of Politics (contd-7)

• History in the Making Today
• Massive Enlargement Copenhagen Summit (2002)
• European Convention (December 2001-)
• A Constitution for Europe?
• A European presidency?
• Intergovernmentals vs. Federalists
• National Interests and Deals
• France and Germany
• Big Countries, Small Countries
• Valery Giscard dEstaing (former president of
  France) is president/chair of the Convention
• Decision in hands of IGC

12
The Story of Institutions

• Key Original Institutions What are they?
• The Council (Council of Ministers) of the EU
• The Commission and its President
• The European Parliament
• The European Court of Justice
• Key Innovations
• The European Council (of Heads of State)
• Unofficial origins (in 1974) and status
• Presidency overlaps with that of the Council
• Intergovernmental Conference (IGC)
• European Central Bank
• European Court of Auditors

13
The Story of Institutions (contd-1)

• Institutions on a Lesser yet Important Scale
• Economic and Social Committee
• Committee of the Regions (innovation)

14
The Story of Institutions (contd-2)

• Actions
• High level
• Treaties and treaty amendments
• Prepared and negotiated by IGC
• Major initiative and direction
• European Council, summits
• Regular (legislation)
• Regulation, directive, decision
• Recommendation, opinion
• Testing, refinement, innovation of legislation
• Court of Justice

15
The Story of Institutions (contd-3)

• The Commission
• Membership and selection
• President Walter Hallstein, Jacques Delors
• Location Brussels (Belgium)
• Subunits DGs
• Role EC/EU as one
• Trade negotiations within GATT/ WTO
• Example Delegation of the European Commission to
  the United States

16
The Story of Institutions (contd-4)

• The Council
• Member States
• Rotating presidency (every 6 months)
• COREPER
• QMV and federalism

17
The Story of Institutions (contd-5)

• The Parliament
• Growing importance and role since 1979
• Locus of democratic deficit concerns
• Organization by party rather than country
• Key powers
• Budget
• Approval of the Commission
• Co-decision (theory and reality)
• Commission and Parliament
• Terms of Office coincide
• EU image to the public two extremes

18
The Three Pillars

• First Pillar the European Community
• Economics at the core
• Extensive federalism (eg, QMV for Internal
  Market)
• Second Pillar Common Foreign and Security
  Policy
• Pure intergovernmental
• Third Pillar Justice and Home Affairs
• Key growth area (immigration, drugs, terrorism)
• Intergovernmental but spreading federalism

19
The Continuing Debate

• Supranationalism the Federalism Ideal
• Progressive transference of sovereignty from
  national to Community level
• Key supranational developments
• QMV
• Economic and Monetary Union
• Issue control of national economic policy,
  especially in recession economy
• Focus today the interest rate, rules on budget
  deficits and national debt
• Court decisions on internal market matters
• Institutional embodiments
• Commission
• Parliament
• Court of Justice

20
The Continuing Debate (contd)

• Intergovernmentalism Europe of Nations Ideal
• Focus of Member State independence
• Key domains
• Foreign policy, security and defense
• Criminal law and related legal home affairs
• National budget (fiscal policy)
• Welfare state institutions and policies
• Institutional embodiments
• The two Councils (Ministers, Heads of State)
• IGC concept
• Subsidiarity a Theoretical Compromise