History of the European integration | European History

 History of the European integration

History of the Integration

•                  Integration theories, stages of integration around the world
•                  Specific features of the European integration process before the Second World War
•                  Impacts of the Second World War on the history of the cooperation
•                  Predecessors, impacts of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) on the foundation of the European Economic Community

Causes of international integration

1. Need for profitable production
2. Growth of the size of production units
3. Cooperation between industrial sectors
4. Intensification of research and development
5. Creation of an extensive market to achieve higher number of products
6. More workplaces
7. Cheaper products
8. Political objectives:

• Joint force against the superpowers
• Stronger military power

Integration between nations

The most important characteristics of the organized international integrations:

•          sovereign states or national economies
•          voluntary
•          complex, economic and political concentrations

                   

It is necessary to emphasize the voluntary nature because integration actually leads to the dissolution of a national economy, or to a certain extent, to the losing of identity.

Stages of international integration

• Bilateral trade agreement
• Regional consultative organization (e.g. Asian-Pacific Economic Co-operation, APEC)

 

1. Preferential trading area (or Preferential trade agreement, PTA)
2. Free-trade area (FTA)
3. Customs union
4. Single market
5. Economic union
6. Economic and monetary union
7. Complete economic integration
8. Political union

Integration theories, stages of integration around the world

Main theoretical approaches:

 Federalism 1.

„… it is more a discussion of why sovereign states should form a federation rather than an explanation of why they might do so” (Bergmann-Niemann, 2013)
„… nation states have lost their property rights since they cannot guarantee the political and economic safety of their citizens” (Spinelli, 1972)
„… a way of bringing together previously separate, autonomous territorial units to constitute a new form of union with a central authority, in which the units retain some powers”
 
 Federalism 2.

Neo-functionalism

Integration is understood as a process
Integration processes evolve over time and take on their own dynamic
Regional integration is characterized by multiple, diverse and changing actors, especially supranational ones, who also build coalitions across governments/bureaucracies
Decisions are taken by rational and self-interested actors, who have the capacity to learn from their experiences in co-operative decision-making and also change their preferences
Incremental decision-making is given primacy over grand designs where seemingly marginal adjustments are often driven by the unintended consequences of previous decisions
 
 Intergovernmentalism

Hypothesis: „the development of European integration is determined by states’ interests and the outcomes of EU bargaining”
„Integration only takes place if there is a permanent excess of gains and losses for nation-states.” – „It is thus viewed as strengthening the nation-state since it takes place according to its ‘rules’.”
for intergovernmentalists governments are the paramount actors, the role of supranational institutions is downplayed
„further integration is possible, when (the most powerful) member states see their interest best served through such undertaking” (Moravcsik (1993,1998)
 
 Governance approach

to analyze and explain the process of policy formulation and implementation in the European Union (EU)
two common features:
first, the main analytical focus lies on investigating the impact of the EU’s political system on the decision-making and policy-implementation processes on the European and domestic level (Euro-polity: independent variable)
second, the governance approach takes on an agency-oriented perspective that shifts away from a state-centric view of international and European politics to a perspective that also takes into account the role of non-state actors in policy formulation and implementation processes
the relationship between state and non-state actors is characterized as non-hierarchical and mutually dependent
decision-making competences and power are not exclusively held by the governments of EU member states, but also shared by supranational institutions (such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice) and diffused over different levels (supranational, national and regional/local level)

 Policy Network Analysis

shares the governance approach’s basic assumption about the non-hierarchical and polycentric nature of the EU’s political system
policy networks can be best defined as „an arena for the mediation of the interests of governments and interest groups” (Peterson, 1995)
„the term ‘network’ refers to a loosely bound and non-hierarchical formation of actors which serves as a platform for the exchange of information and decision-making in a particular policy area”
„The idea of Europe cannot be fully understood without keeping in mind the historical evolution of our continent prior to World War II and the recent integration process that has been realized in the European Union.”

 

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Specific nature of the European integration process
before the Second World War