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THE EUROPEAN UNION.
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Traces roots of the EU.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Traces roots of the EU. The formation in 1952 of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Growth in scope of activities and in geography. Current position as a single economic regulatory authority, a single currency (the Euro), a legislative parliament and court of appeals. Setbacks and successes.
Paper Introduction:
EVOLUTION IN EUROPE, 1952-2002
From European Coal and Steel Community to European Union
In 2002, what is now the European Union can trace its roots back 50 years, to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which came into being in 1952, pursuant to the Treaty of Rome in 1951 (Dinan, 1999, pp. 1-2). In its original form, the ECSC was decidedly modest in its scope. As the name implies, its role was then confined to steel and coal, on which tariff barriers between member countries were eliminated. As the name does not imply, it was also limited in geographical scope to much less than "Europe." The original membership comprised only (then-West) Germany, France, Italy, along with the three smaller "Benelux" countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
From that modest beginning, what is now the EU has grown progressively in
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The 197 s and early 198 s saw setbacks, however, due to prolongedeconomic stagnation, even as the nascent EU continued to grow in scope andgeographical extent (Dinan, 1999, p. 6-9. Ineffect, German agreed to abandon the Deutsche Mark -- a proud symbol ofGerman strength and maturity, and long Europe's strongest currency -- inturn for EU recognition of German reunification. Its royal families made marriages as well as wars; itsintellectuals drew inspiration from one another regardless of borders.Proposals for a European federation were made periodically from at leastthe 19th century on, but failed to gain ground against the prevalentnationalism. When given in brief summary, the evolution of the ECSC into the EUlooks like a steady process. In 1948, a grand-scale effort was made to form a Council of Europe. As the name doesnot imply, it was also limited in geographical scope to much less than"Europe." The original membership comprised only (then-West) Germany,France, Italy, along with the three smaller "Benelux" countries, theNetherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Left outwas a fourth major European regional economy, Britain. From the Middle Ages on, Europe has been a self-conscious culturalentity. While the EU in a formal sense is less than a decade old, its rootsthus extend back almost to the beginning of the post-World War II era. 1). In the wake of World War II, however, the need to prevent afurther bout of internecine European warfare was urgent. The late 196 s and early 197 s were one of the relative highpoints, culminating with the admission of Britain. Nevertheless,the European Union came formally into being, superseding the EC. Ginsberg, Roy H. Nevertheless, in this book (as in everydayconversation) the name EU is used when referring generally to eventsbefore 1993 and to policies that, legally, belong to the EC (Dinan,1999, p. The measure passed easily in Ireland, but only by a very narrowmargin in France. "1992," which had loomed dramaticallyin advance of the event, turned out to be somewhat deflated. Nevertheless, substantialenlargement took place. In 1952, however, they were still the primary indicesof industrial strength and development. A furtherround of admissions took place in 1995, bringing in Sweden, Finland, andAustria (Dinan, 1999, Table .2, p. References Barber, Lionel (2 1). Britain and the United States,however, saw West Germany as a vital component of a Western counterweightto the Soviet Union. 1-2). This body was convened,only to prove ineffective. EVOLUTION IN EUROPE, 1952-2 2 From European Coal and Steel Community to European Union In 2 2, what is now the European Union can trace its roots back 5 years, to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which came intobeing in 1952, pursuant to the Treaty of Rome in 1951 (Dinan, 1999, pp. In its current form, it has not only a singleeconomic regulatory authority, and now a single currency, the Euro, butalso a legislative parliament and a final court of appeals. From that modest beginning, what is now the EU has grownprogressively in both scope and geographical extent. Greece was admitted in 1981, and Spain andPortugal in 1986 (Dinan, 1999, Table .2, p. In fact, however, it has had numerous ups anddowns. Its name was accordingly changed to European EconomicCommunity (EEC), though it was often referred to simply as the CommonMarket. Europe, 412(November), pp. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer saw this as favorable toGerman interests as well, and lent his support to the Monnet proposal.Thus the Treaty of Rome was convened in 1951, and the framework for theECSC established, coming into force the next year (Dinan, 1999, pp. Several European currencies were forced intodevaluation. 15 ). 18-21). This scope will furtherincrease with the pending applications for membership of the Baltic states,Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia,Malta, Cyprus, and Turkey (Redmond and Rosenthal, 1998, p. (1998). These admissions posed anew set of challenges. France's initial postwar goalhad been to keep Germany on a short leash. In the longer term, however, the turmoil strengthened theargument for European monetary coordination. 57). With the politicalbarriers on both sides thus reduced, British membership became acceptableboth to Britain and France. Admission of Spain would increasethe EU's agricultural work force by a quarter, and its farmland by yearly athird. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. 5). Dinan, Desmond (1999). 5). Withtheir economic interests linked, their diplomatic interests would soonfollow. 198). 37ff). By coincidence, 1973 also marked an important -- if rather contrary -- stage in the development of what would become the Euro, the EU commoncurrency. Boulder:Lynne Rienner, pp. Asone writer notes, The European Union (EU) did not come into existence untilNovember 1993, when it subsumed, but did not replace, the EuropeanCommunity (EC). On a second attempt it did pass, but by an equallynarrow margin (Dinan, 1999, p. With West Germany, France, and Italy, the Common Market included thethree largest industrial economies of continental Western Europe. Victorious in the war, Britain also still regarded itselfas a global power rather than a regional European power. The possibility of a currency union had been hinted at as earlyas the text of the Treaty of Rome. In the short term, the stages of the Werner plan werenegated. 197-215. 13). In its current form, it thus incorporates nearlyall of what historically was regarded as Western Europe, with theexceptions only of Norway, Switzerland, and mini-states such asLichtenstein and Monaco. (1998). In its original form, the ECSC was decidedly modest in its scope. In Denmark, it failed outright, the vote falling justshort of 5 percent. 2).We may likewise take the entire period from the inception of the ECSC in1952 (or the enabling Treaty of Rome in 1951) as constituting thehistorical development of the European Union. By then Britain hadbeen compelled to recognize that it was no longer a global power, while deGaulle passed from the political scene in 1968. The Spanish fishing industry also was a potential threat to otherEU member industries -- French patrol boats had even fired warning shots atSpanish fishing trawlers in the Bay of Biscay (Dinan, 1999, p. Britain, however, he saw as not quite European, and as muchtoo closely tied to the United States. Meanwhile, a major stage in the structural evolution -- thetransformation of the EC into the EU -- took place with the MaastrichtTreaty of 1992. In the decade following,the EU has gradually become more and more of an established fact, mostdramatically with the establishment of the Euro as sole legal currency,supplanting the time-honored marks, francs, lire, and so forth. It was attempting too much, too fast, andquickly faded into obscurity (Dinan, 1999, p. Theirprevailing wage levels were much lower than those of previous members,threatening downward pressure on wages. Monnet's solution was to bind France and Germany together so tightlyin economic terms that another war between them would be implausible. In the early postwar years, Britain stilltended to look outward to its Commonwealth, and across the Atlantic to theUnited States. Western Europe hadrecovered fully from wartime devastation, and looked forward to ever-growing prosperity and influence. It took place, however, by the narrowest of margins. The European Community: A Superpower in theMaking. Twomember states, Ireland and Denmark, were required by their constitutions toput the treaty to a popular referendum vote. Moreover, with the admission of Greece, its scopeextended beyond historical Western Europe. London: George Allen & Unwin. Thus, Britain did not join the EEC until 1973. This led in 1979 to theestablishment of the European Monetary System, or EMS, limiting the degreeto which European currencies would be allowed to "float" against oneanother (Barber, 2 1). The ExpandingEuropean Union: Past, Present, Future. Key groundwork was also laid for the establishment of the Euro. Greece, relatively small and remote, did not pose a serious problem.The Iberian countries -- primarily Spain -- were more difficult. One writer of the time could even referto what was then the European Community as "A Superpower in the Making"(Galtung, 1973). In 197 , Pierre Werner, the PrimeMinister of Luxembourg, put forward a three-stage proposal intended to leadto a European common currency. De Gaulle was first andforemost a French nationalist, not a Europeanist. Greece and the Iberian countries were muchpoorer, still emerging as industrial nations. The impact of enlargement on the role ofthe European Union in the world. The initial focus was on coal and steel. There were severalreasons for this exclusion. Moreover, Britain was viewed with great suspicion by French PresidentCharles de Gaulle (Dinan, 1999, pp. Effectivesteps began with a proposal by the French economic minister, Jean Monnet.Monnet wished to solve two specifically French problems: first, to build astronger basis for a postwar French economic recovery, and second, toestablish a new relationship with Germany. In scope ofactivities, it was successively expanded to the European Economic Communityor "Common Market," a general customs union, then simply the EuropeanCommunity, with ever-growing economic integration, and finally, in 1992,the European Union. Redmond, John; and Rosenthal, Glenda G., eds. The admission of these countrieswas greatly eased by the end of the Cold War, which allowed them to adjusttheir previous foreign policy of neutralism to accord with EU policy(Ginsberg, 1998, p. In 1973, however, the existing international "Bretton Woods" currencyexchange system collapsed under the pressure of global inflation and theweakness of the US dollar. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.----------------------- 9 These materials, thoughstill of great economic importance, today evoke an earlier period ofindustrial history. The seven previous members were all highlydeveloped industrial economies. 1 6). Thus, the Iberian admissions were delayed until 1986. France was not required byits laws to do so, but President Mitterrand chose to do so, hoping for astrong public endorsement of union. The problem of integrating Europe thus remained unsolved. By 2 2,the EU had become very much a reality to the people of Europe. In Redmond, John; and Rosenthal, GlendaG., eds., The Expanding European Union: Past, Present, Future. 5). Not coincidentally they were alsothe primary economic sinews of war, underlining the strategic dimension ofthe Monnet proposal. Nevertheless, heendorsed the EEC, as solving the German problem, and increasing thepotential strength of Europe as against both the Soviet Union and theUnited States. Ever Closer Union: An Introduction toEuropean Integration. As it has grown in scope of activity the European Union has alsogrown in geographical extent, successively incorporating Britain, Denmark,Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, and Sweden (Dinan,1999, Table .2, p. The Birth of the Euro. Asthe name implies, its role was then confined to steel and coal, on whichtariff barriers between member countries were eliminated. Galtung, Johan (1973). The integration of these industries swiftly provedsuccessful, and the scope of the ECSC was soon expanded to otherindustries.
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