history and theory of european integration

JEAN MONNET European Module

History and Theory of European Integration

Marina V. Larionova


Lecture 8

The Ever Enlarging European Union

(1993-1999)


Contents:

• The Eftan enlargements and its implications.

• From Maastricht to Amsterdam, from the TEU to the Amsterdam treaty, issues and outcomes.


Recommended Readings

• Dinan Desmond (1999) Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to European Integration. Second edition. The European Union Series. Palgrave. Chapter 7, chapter 13, chapter 16;

• Dinan Desmond (1999) Treaty Change in the European Union: the Amsterdam Experience. Developments in the European Union, Cram L., Dinan D. and Neill Nugent (eds), Macmillan press Ltd., 1999;

• L.Tsoukalis. The Economic and Monetary Union: The Primacy of High Politics (1996). The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, Nelsen B.F. and Alexander C – G. Stubb (eds.),

Palgrave, 1998.


European Economic Area

“a new form of structured partnership with common

decision making and administrative institutions”? Jacques Delors, speech to the EP, January 17, 1989


EFTA members • Austria

• Finland

• Iceland

• Liechtenstein

• Norway

• Sweden

• Switzerland

EEA – a means to enter the single market


Negotiating the Treaty • A joint EC-EFTA steering group - January 1989• Launch of negotiations – mid 1990

Acquis communautaire on internal market • The fundamental objectives:

– free movement of goods– free movement of persons– freedom to provide services– free movement of capital

• Contentious issues – Fishing grounds– Alpine transit– EFTA countries contribution to the EC cohesion funds– Decision shaping versus decision – making– EC-EFTA Court


The institutions:

• EEA Council of Ministers

• EEA Joint Committee

• EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee

• EEA Consultative Committee

• EFTA Court cooperation with the EU Court of Justice

May 2, 1992 –signing the Treaty – a step towards the EU membership


Accession applications

• July, 1989 – Austria

• June 1991 – Sweden

• March 1992 - Finland

• May 1992 – Switzerland

• November 1992 – Norway


Negotiating the Accession


June 1992 Lisbon Council

• Widening and deepening

• Completion of the TEU ratification process

• Neutral countries political commitment to CFSP


December 1992 Edinburgh Council

Decision to start negotiations after TEU ratification


June 1993 Copenhagen Council

• Target negotiations completion deadline of January 1995

• End of negotiations - March 1, 1994

• EP vote – May 1994


Contentious issues • Derogation periods from the acquis communautaire

• Social policy / structural funds

• Energy and environment

• Agriculture and fisheries

• Decision making

Re weighting the QMV systemNumber of commissioners

Number of representatives in the EU Parliament


Ioannina Compromise

• Blocking minority – 23 to 25

• Qualified majority – 65

“If members of the Council representing a total of 23 to 25 votes indicate their intention to oppose the adoption by the council of a decision by a qualified majority, the Council will do all within its power to reach, within a reasonable time a satisfactory solution that can be adopted by at least 65 votes”


The Fifteen62 votes with the blocking minority of 29.9%

France 10 Austria 4

Italy 10 Sweden 4

The UK 10 Denmark 3

Germany 10 Finland 3

Spain 8 Ireland 3

Greece 5 Luxembourg 2

Belgium 5

The Netherlands 5

Portugal 5 Total 87


1994 Accession referendum results

• Austria – 66, 6 per cent in favor

• Finland – 56, 9 per cent in favor

• Sweden – 52 percent in favor

• Norway – 47. 5 in favor


Lessons from the third enlargement negotiations

• Enhancing tendency for variable geometry • Acute need for institutional reform

“IGC is indispensable to carry out reforms that will allow us to admit new members without risk to them or us”

Carlos Westendorp

• Danger of revoking existing agreements on claims that enlargement threatens national interests of the old member states


IGC to be convened as mandated by the TEU

Principles • Thorough preparation• Transparency• Public opinion involvement


Reflection group

Composition • Member states representatives• Commission representative (Macelino Oreja)• Two EP representatives following the Corfu Council June 1994

decision

“The incursion of supranationalism into an avowedly intergovernmental process reflects the blending of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism throughout the EU system. It also casts doubt on the liberal intergovernmental view of treaty change, which dismisses the importance of supranational actors in shaping large interstate bargains.”

Desmond Dinan


Points of departure for negotiations

• EC report OpennessLegitimacySimplification of proceduresEffectiveness of operationsBringing the EU closer to its citizens

• EP report Revision of the TEU architecture / abolishing the three pillar structureExtension of the co-decision and assent procedures

• Council report• Court of Justice report• Court of Auditors report• Lamers-Schauble paper on flexibility


Mandate and Procedure • the IGC preparation

• forming the agenda

• identifying areas for reform

• identifying areas of likely agreement

• commenting on divergence of positions

• June 1995 Messina meeting of Foreign Ministers

• Regular meetings

• December 1995 Madrid Council report• Improving EU efficiency and accountability

• Improving the ability to act internationally

• Making EU relevant to the citizens


Factors of pressure • The Balkans crisis

• The Prospect of Eastern Enlargement

• Economic recession and divergence of the member states policiesEMU criteria to be met by a small groupNeed for flexible Treaty provisions to integrate further on a new basisChristian Democratic Union / Christian Social Union Group

Reflections on European Policy – “The existing hard core of countries oriented to grater integration and

closer cooperation must be further strengthened”

– Coherence and consistency combined with elasticity and flexibility

– Test of commitment to European integration for Britain

Italian – German relations strained furtherMajor’s Europe a la carte versus the two tier concept


Key issues

• Flexibility

• Institutional reform

• CFSP reform

• Free movement of people


March 29, 1996, launch of IGC in Turin


Participants • Commission without a right of veto

• EP to be briefed and consulted

• Member states – key actorsGermany - Helmut KohlFrance - Chirac + JospinThe UK - Major to be replace by Blair after May 1997 elections

• Three PresidenciesItalian - focused on domestic reformIrish – preparing the first draft based on “successive approximations” Dutch – shadowed by the TEU experience


Enhanced cooperation: Flexibility

• To be developed within the EU institutional framework as outlined in Kohl-Chirac letter in December 1996

• To be applied to the EU as a whole for member states wishing to cooperate more closely

• To proceed subject to a Council decision with the right of

member - states to block the use of flexibility principle


Common Foreign and Security Policy

• CFSP unit for analysis and planning

• High Representative authority designation to the Council Secretary General

• Introduction of constructive abstentionism

• Agreement to the possibility of integration of the WEU into the EU “should the EC so decide”

• Inclusion of the peacekeeping, humanitarian, rescue and related operations into the Treaty


Institutional and decision making reform • Re weighting of votes in the Council and introduction of the double majority principle

• Extension of the QMV within the first pillar to research and development policies

• Extension of the QMV into visa and asylum policy areas blocked by Kohl

• The Commission size and number of commissioners per country Compromise

– Delay till the next enlargement

– Limit the number of commissioners to one per member state

– Re weight the votes in the Council to compensate for loss of influence in the Commission

• EP Consultation Co-decision – right of veto by absolute majority of the total membership Assent 700 members


Area of freedom, security and justice establishment

Free Movement of People brought into the EU framework

Immigration and asylum policy transferred to the first pillar

• Schengen acquis a protocol to the Treatyto be communitized within five yearsprovision for a European Council unanimous decision to

remove internal border controls and establish common procedures for external controls by May 2004

Irish and British opt out


Subsidiarity

Edinburgh Council subsidiarity protocol incorporated into the Treaty

“…decisions must be taken as closely as possible to the citizens. Greater unity can be achieved without excessive centralization. It is for each member state to decide how its powers should be exercised domestically. The Community can only act where member states have given it power to do so in the treaties. Action at the Community level should happen only when proper and necessary…Subsidiarity or nearness is essential if the Community is to develop with the support of its citizens.”


Transparency clause

“right of access for all citizens of the Union and any natural or legal person residing or having a registered office in a member state” to the EP, Commission and Council of Ministers documents.


Treaty of Amsterdam signed on October, 2, 1997

Provision for an IGC to be convened at least a year before the EU exceeds 20 members for comprehensive review of institutional and decision making provisions.

Came into force on May 1999 after a smooth ratification


Main failures • Institutional reform • Safeguards on the Flexibility principle clause

• Closeness to the citizens – challenge of comprehension Four parts

– Amendments – Simplifications – 13 protocols– 50 declarations

“…it is impossible to replace the EU’s founding Treaties with a new, streamlined set of objectives, guiding principles and institutions – however intellectually alluring the prospect would be.”

Desmond Dinan


Annex: Structure of the Treaty

The Amsterdam Treaty consists of

• three parts

• an annex

• thirteen protocols

The Intergovernmental Conference also adopted

• fifty-one declarations, annexed to the Final Act

It also noted a further

• eight declarations by various Member States, annexed to the Final Act.


The first part covers the substantive amendments and comprises five articles:

• Article 1 contains the amendments made to the Treaty on European Union;

• Article 2contains the amendments to the Treaty establishing the European Community;

• Article 3contains the amendments to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community;

• Article 4 contains the amendments to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community;

• Article 5 contains the amendments to the Act annexed to the Council Decision of 20 September 1976 on the election of representatives to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.


The second part The second part of the Treaty - Articles 6 to 11

• deals with the simplification of the treaties establishing the three European Communities and their annexes and protocols, with a view to deleting lapsed clauses and adapting the text of certain provisions accordingly (Articles 6, 7 and 8).

• provides for the repeal of the Convention of 25 March 1957 on certain institutions common to the European Communities and the merger Treaty of 8 April 1965 (Article 9).

• clarifies that this simplification exercise does not alter the legal effects of the texts or the acts in force adopted on the basis of them (Article 10).

• specifies that the Court of Justice is competent to interpret the provisions of this part of the Treaty (Article 11).


The third part

The third part - Articles 12 to 15 - contains the general and final provisions of the Treaty;

• Article 12 relates to the renumbering of the provisions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community;

• Article 13 specifies that the Treaty is concluded for an unlimited period;

• Article 14 deals with ratification and entry into force;

• Article 15 lists the different language versions.


Annex

The annex to the Treaty contains the tables of equivalence for the renumbering of provisions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community.


13 protocols: 1. Protocol on Article 17 (ex Article J.7) of the EU Treaty, dealing with the

Western European Union and the progressive framing of a common defence policy;

2. Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union;

3. Protocol on the application of certain aspects of Article 14 (ex Article 7a) of the Treaty establishing the European Community to the United Kingdom and to Ireland;

4. Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in relation to the new Title of the Treaty establishing the European Community on "visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to free movement of persons";

5. Protocol on the position of Denmark in relation to the new Title of the Treaty establishing the European Community on "visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to free movement of persons" and to certain aspect of the common foreign and security policy;


Protocols:

6. Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union;

7. Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

8. Protocol on external relations of the Member States with regard to the crossing of external borders;

9. Protocol on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States; 10. Protocol on protection and welfare of animals;11. Protocol on the institutions with the prospect of enlargement; 12. Protocol on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain

bodies and departments of the European Communities and of Europol; 13. Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union.


Lecture 9: Theorizing the new Europe

Changing Context of European Integration, the old and new paradigms and theoretical synthesis.

• Multi level governance

• New institutionalism

• Policy networks

• Actor based models


Readings for the lecture • Rosamond Ben. (2000) Theories of European Integration. The European

Union Series. Palgrave; chapter 5

• Pierson P. The Path to European Integration: A Historical Institutional Analysis (1996). The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, Nelsen B.F. and Alexander C – G. Stubb (eds.), Palgrave, 1998;

• Marks G., Hooge L., Blank K. European Integration from the 1980s: State-Centric v. Multi-Level Governance (1996). The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, Nelsen B.F. and Alexander C – G. Stubb (eds.), Palgrave, 1998;

• Nugent N. Decision-Making in “Developments in the European Union”, edited by Cram L., Dinan D. and Nugent N., Macmillan Press Ltd, 1999.


Lecture 10: Theorizing the new Europe

New (liberal) intergovenmentalism.

Two level games, influence of domestic policies.


Readings for the lecture

• Rosamond Ben. (2000) Theories of European Integration. The European Union Series. Palgrave; chapter 6;

• Moravcsik A. Negotiating the Single European Act: National Interest and Conventional Statecraft in the European Community (1991). The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, Nelsen B.F. and Alexander C – G. Stubb (eds.), Palgrave, 1998;

• Hix S. The Study of the European Community: The Challenge to Comparative Politics (1994). The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, Nelsen B.F. and Alexander C – G. Stubb (eds.), Palgrave, 1998;

• Schimmelfennig F. Liberal Intergovernmentalism (2004) in European Integration Theory. Wiener A. and Diez Th. (eds). Oxford.


Thank you!

history and theory of european integration

Documents

european union series

edinburgh council decision

lisbon council

closer union

monetary union

amsterdam treaty

common decision

launch of negotiations