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Brief%20history%20of%20post-WWII%20European%20integration

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Title: Brief%20history%20of%20post-WWII%20European%20integration

1
Brief history of post-WWII European integration

Prof. Marquis
Lecture of 31 March 214
University of Verona

2
Outline

Today some history
1950s gtgt Treaty establishing the EEC
1960s gtgt The rise of intergovernmentalism
1970s gtgt Economic crisis and policy
stagnation
1980s gtgt La rilancia
1990s gtgt Toward European Union
2000s gtgt The rise and fall of a
constitution
t
Tomorrow finish history, then the EU
institutions
The institutions of the EU as defined by the
Treaty of Lisbon

3
Ragazzi non provare a scrivere tutto Andro
troppo veloce!Avrete comunque gli slide, quindi
Tranquillo!
4
1950s Treaty establishing the EEC
5
60 years ago...The story of European union
began with an important initial success followed
by aspectacular failure
6
Before the Treaty of Rome

Monnet (1888-79) and Schuman launched Europe
with the Treaty establishing the Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC Treaty)
t
Singed 18 April 1951. Effective 24 July 1952
Also called the Treaty of Paris
Expired in 2002
t
ECSC established new institutions
High Authority
European Court of Justice (ECJ)
T
But what was the purpose of this Treaty?

Coal and steel gtgt tanks, artillery, aerial
bombers
t
ECSC was a way to retain some control of West
German coal and steel
t
In view of the expectation that W Germany would
in a few years regain its sovereignty (which it
did in 1955)
t
But Monnet saw it as cooperation in one sector
that would expand to cooperation in all sectors
LEurope des petits pas
And driven by a vision of a federal Europe
Because states in a federation do not war against
each other

8
But then, the first crisis of European
integrationThe European Defence Community
9

Oct. 1950 French P.M. Pleven proposed the
establishment of a European Defence Community
(EDC)
t
With the Soviets next door, and with the Korean
war breaking out, security was a top priority
t
So Integrate the armed forces of all NATO
members, including those of West Germany, and
place them all under the command of a European
Minister of Defence
t
The EDC almost became a reality...

EDC Treaty signed by the Six govts. in May 1952
t
Thanks to P.M. Spaak, EDC was not limited to
military integration
t
Also provided for political union in an attached
Treaty establishing a European Political
Community (EPC)
t
i. economic integration (customs union)
t
ii. federal decision-making institutions,
including a Parliament with strong powers
t
iii. commitment to human rights protection

French rebellion Treaty ratified in D and
BNLX... But the Assemblée Nationale rejected the
text on 30.08.54. Why?
t
French army was in Indochina (1946-54) so a
European Army implied a largely German Army
t
And the Right (the Gaullists) opposed the
transfer of French sovereignty to supranational
institutions
t
Già nel 1954 a clash between supranationalism
and the Souverainistes
t
A recurring theme in EU history

But in June 1955, the Six were in Messina to
negotiate a new Treaty
t
Impetus from BNLX, esp. Wim Beyen, Dutch MFA
He proposed a customs union (BNLX since 44)
t
But the failure of EDC/EPC had a profound effect
For the Europeans, best strategy was to limit
the scope of the project to the economic sphere
t
But the ultimate goal was to move beyond economic
integration
Ernst Haas (IR scholar), Jean Monnet concept of
spillover (Neofunctionalism)

13
Beyen Plan and Messina Conference lead to the
EEC
14

At Messina, Spaak was appointed to study the
possible avenues of integration
t
Spaak Report (21.04.56 presented to the MS of
the ECSC)
Identified a need to create a common market
among the Six
t
Furnished the basis for further negotiations
among the FMs, and an intergovernmental
conference (IGC) was launched

The FMs accepted the Spaak Report in Venice in
May 1956
Then Spaak and committees started drafting
t
... and in Rome, on 25.03.57, the Six signed two
Treaties of Rome
t
The Treaty establishing a European Economic
Community (EEC Treaty) and
The Euratom Treaty
Of special interest to France, dealing with
Trade in supplies of fissile materials like
uranium and plutonium
Safety and operations of nuclear power plants

Preamble (EEC) The founders of the Community
resolve to preserve and strengthen peace and
liberty
So integration as a means of avoiding renewed
conflict
t
Called for
an improvement of living and working conditions
in the EEC and
a progressive abolition of trade barriers
t
And established numerous principles and
mechanisms

creation of a common market
adoption of common policies (CAP, transport)
elimination of internal customs duties and
quantitative restrictions
free movement of goods, services, workers
capital
assurance of undistorted competition
establishment of a common commercial policy
promotion of coordination of policies regarding
employment, the environment, the competitiveness
of industry, and RD
eradication of discrimination on the basis of
nationality
i.e., for those coming from the Six

Legislation in relation to economic integration
the EEC Treaty (like the ECSC) provided for
supranationalist legislative procedures
t
Commission proposes legislation for the Council
to consider
t
Votes of the MS were weighted so that those of
FR, D and IT counted for more than those of BNLX.
This was the original definition of Qualified
Majority Voting (QMV)
t
QMV implies a partial surrender of sovereignty
t
But in non-economic areas, MS retained their
veto
t
Es. Taxation or migration of labor, etc.

EEC Treaty entered into force on 01.01.58
t
In those days, the MS would not have imagined
putting that Treaty to a popular vote
t
The Treaty was concluded for an unlimited period
of time
t
But has been modified many times
t
Today we call it the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union (the TFEU)
Or in Italian the TFUE
last amended 2009

20
1960s The rise of intergovernmentalism
21

President De Gaulle (1959-69) held Monnet (who,
as first President of the High Authority,
represented supranationalism) in contempt
Favored increased funds for the CAP, but opposed
any strengthening of the Communitys institutions
July 1965 when the Council met no France!
(the empty chair crisis)
A crisis about who really had sovereign powers
France no longer accepted decisions of the
Council on the basis of QMV
De Gaulle saw the Community as an international
organization acting as an agent for its
principals
Each principal should have the right to veto any
Community initiatives

Compromise finally reached in LUX, 29 Jan 1966.
According to the Luxembourg Accord
t
When very important interests of a MS were at
stake, the MS would ignore the QMV rule and seek
to reach a solution acceptable to all of the MS
t
De facto, this become a rule of unanimous voting
This is the essence of intergovernmentalism
t
LUX Accord gtgt slow positive integration in the
1970s and early 1980s

23
1970sEconomic crisis and policy stagnation
24

In the 1970s, the problem was Eurosclerosis
(stagnation)
t
Following the EECs establishment of a customs
union in 1968, it was difficult for the Community
to advance any farther (3 problems)
t
1. The essential problem was gridlock
(bloccaggio) in the Councils decision-making
t
The gridlock resulted from a compromise made in
1966, leading to a de facto veto for the MS

2. Another factor slowing down legislation
Council tended to refer decisions to the HSG.
But HSG only met twice a year not very efficient
t
3. In the 1970s, a number of events shifted
attention toward domestic problems
t
OPEC raised oil prices, exacerbated a more
general energy crisis
Productivity was sluggish, and labor costs were
increasing
Some European producers were at a competitive
disadvantage compared to their rivals in the US
and Japan
So MS resorted increasingly to NTBst
t
In general, lack of vision for the EEC

26
1980s il Rilancio.Completing the internal
market(Objectif 1992)
27

1970s and early 1980s, European producers
(different ones) were distressed
t
NTBs and fragmented markets made it difficult for
them to profit from economies of scale
So business groups in Europe tried to stimulate
more liberalized trade in goods and services
t
Ad es. the CEOs of Philips and Volvo set up the
Roundtable of European Industrialists in 1983
t
Dekker produced a proposal for the creation of a
common market

Then an official report by Lord Cockfield
(Commissioner for the Internal Market, 1985-89 )
in June of 1985
t
The Cockfield Report set out a detailed plan for
the completion of the common market by 1992
t
The plan included proposals for 282 new pieces of
legislation to harmonize national laws and to
reduce or eliminate NTBs
t
All of this was to be accomplished within 6 or 7
years

But the 282 proposals faced the obstacle of
unanimous voting in the Council
t
So in late 1985 and early 1986, the MS began to
negotiate the first significant revision of the
(30 year-old) EEC Treaty
t
The Single European Act (SEA / Ehlermann) was
signed in February of 1986, and entered into
force on 01.07.87
t
SEA increased the scope for QMV (except tax,
labor..)
In effect, abolished the de facto vetos of the MS
(thus overturning the formally illegal Luxembourg
Accord )
... e poi ...

SEA institutional reforms
t
1. The European Council
Recognized for the first time, but nothing said
about its functions
t
2. The Assembly formally became the Parliament
t
3. (de facto) The Commission became more more
important as a driver of the legislation
necessary to complete the common market
t
So after 20 years, the Community returned to an
ethos of supranationalism and integration

31
In the new favorable environment, why not go
further with the political dimension?1990s
Toward European Union
32

European Council met in Maastricht in Dec 1991
and agreed a Treaty on European Union (TEU)
t
Signed in Feb 1992, took effect on 01.11.93
t
But the Union did not replace the Community!
t
Union co-existed with the Community and shared
the same institutional structure
t
But it operated through different decision-making
procedures
t
4 notes about significance of the TEU...

1. Created a 3-pillar (3 pilastri) structure
I. the three Communities (the EC, the ECSC, and
Euratom)
II. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
III. Justice and Home Affairs
Police and judicial cooperation on crime,
Visas, asylum, border controls, etc. (the
Schengen Acquis)
Today, JHA commonly called Freedom, Security
Justice
PILLAR STRUCTURE ABOLISHED in 2009

2. The TEU launched the Economic and Monetary
Union (EMU)
t
In 2002, Euro became the single currency for 12
of 15 MS (today 18 of 28)
t
Politically, EMU was extremely delicate
t
Giving up a national currency and monetary
control (above all, the DM) was a significant
surrender of political sovereignty
t
Reflected by the opt-outs granted to the UK and
Denmark

3. Enhanced the role of the Parliament (EP)
Before Maastricht, EP was weak. Merely advised
and passed resolutions
t
Critics often spoke/speak of a democratic deficit
t
Majone responded with arguments of output
legitimacy
Another response is are we sure the committee
work of national parliaments is democratic?
t
Maastricht did not make the EP co-equal with
Council but it finally made the EP a legislator
t
Specifically, it established the co-decision
procedure (today called the Ordinary
Legislative Procedure)

Co-decision Commission proposes / approved by
both the Council and the EP
Council and the EP each had/have a veto
t
TEU introduced the co-decision procedure for
t
Measures relating to the internal market
Environmental protection
RD
Some aspects of public health
Consumer protection
Education and Culture
t
So at Maastricht the competences of the Community
grew to cover many more policy fields
This probably contributed to the 4th point, cioe
...

4. Maastricht also introduced a new veto player
the citizens of the MS
t
When the EU modifies its Treaties, each MS must
ratify the new agreement in accordance with its
constitutional requirements
t
In Denmark, when the people were asked, they said
Nay! (51, June 1992)
t
So this was the first referendum crisis (end of
the era of permissive consensus)
t
But the Danes eventually accepted the Treaty in a
second referendum (57, May 1993)

38
Treaty of Amsterdam (1997, effective 1999)
39

SEA and TEU Treaty revisions happened within just
5 years of each other. After the TEU the pace of
Treaty reform in fact accelerated
t
Already in 1996, diplomats began discussing new
reforms in the context of an Intergovernmental
Conference (IGC) in Torino
t
The basic goal was to make changes necessary to
accomodate the next (fifth) enlargement
i.e., the let the former Soviet States (Czech,
Hungary, Poland, Baltic States, etc.) into the
EU

Following IGC of 1996, the MS signed Treaty of
Amsterdam on 2 Oct 1997, entered into force on 1
May 1999
t
The Treaty was supposed to introduce
institutional reforms to improve the ability of
the EU to cope with a larger membership
But these issues were too controversial and had
to be postponed
t
Called the Amsterdam leftovers

41
2000s The rise and fall of a Constitution
42

Another IGC in 2000 gtgt Treaty of Nice, Feb 2001
Mainly noteworthy for two things
t
1. Re-defined QMV in a way that gave
disproportionate power to Spain, Poland, France,
etc. -- at the expense of Germany.
Unsustainable.
t
2. Treaty stopped in June 2001 by Irish voters
(54 rejection)
t
Ireland had to hold a second referendum in
October 2002 accepted by 63

Then Laeken Summit, Dec. 2001. European Council
called for a convention to consider EUs future
development, e.g.
Simplification of the Treaties
Greater democracy, transparency and efficiency
in the Union
The Convention worked in 2002-03 and, in June
2003, produced a draft Treaty establishing a
Constitution for Europe
Submitted to the European Council in the summer
of 2003

IGC of 2004 adopted a draft Constitutional
Treaty not too different from the text prepared
by the Convention
Signed 29 October 2004 in the Campidoglio
Was supposed to enter into force on 1 November
2006
By mid-May of 2005 the CT had been ratified by 9
MS
But in May and June, rejected in France (55) and
Netherlands (62)
Dutch vote largely to protest against unpopular
politicians
But French vote was a deliberate rejection

So another referendum crisis, like Maastricht
and Nice
In June 2007, the European Council decided to
abandon the project of a Constitution
Launched another IGC, but removing the rhetoric
and symbols of a constitution
But the final text, signed in December 2007 in
Lisbon, did not deviate radically from the text
of 2004
(French, Dutch voters not given another chance to
vote)
t
But uh oh! The Irish voters had to approve it!

Did the Irish voters approve it?
The Irish voters did not approve it!
Rejected in June 2008 (53)
Second Irish referendum in October 2009, with a
strong yes (67)
So 8 years after the Laeken Declaration, the
Lisbon Treaty finally entered into force on 1
December 2009
Attention The EU is not governed by a single
Treaty of Lisbon

ToL amended the EC Treaty (now TFEU) and the TEU
So there are STILL TWO MAIN TREATIES
1. the TEU establishes the institutional
framework and foundational principles
2. the TFEU is a more detailed legal instrument
aimed, inter alia, to establish a common market
N.B. Both Treaties of equal rank
And other important instruments too, such as the
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Now binding primary law (but general
principles and ECHR already applied before)
Binds the EU institutions and MS when they
implement EU law or act within its scope

Main impact of the Treaty concerns institutional
reform (tomorrow)
Is the Lisbon Treaty sufficient for the EU?
A far-reaching Treaty revision seems unlikely for
now many MS and key figures and institutions
suffer from Treaty fatigue
But few people were fully content with the ToL
For example, many felt the EU was ill-equipped to
deal with macroeconomic problems
And a micro-Treaty entered into force in 2013
with the aim of addressing the sovereign debt
crisis (IRE, PRT, GRC) and achieving greater
financial stability

49
2013 Fiscal Compact

Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance
in the Economic and Monetary Union (the TSCG)
t
Entered into force, 01.01.13 for 16 MS, incl.
Italy
Applies mostly to Eurozone countries (plus DMK)
The point of the Treaty is greater fiscal
discipline to avoid repeats of the debt crisis

A MS of the Fiscal Compact is required to adopt a
domestic law establishing an almost-balanced
budget
This means mandatory limits (caps) on deficits,
under the monitoring of a fiscal advisory council
t
The technical part General budget deficit must
be less than 3 of GDP (PIL) and the
Structural deficit (SD i.e., ignoring the
cyclical shortfalls in revenue) must be less than
1 of GDP if the debt-to-GDP ratio is
significantly below 60 - or,
for countries deeper in debt, the SD must be
below 0.5 of GDP