Politics of the European Union and academic skills
LECTURE ONE
Why sould we care about the EU?
- Increase employment opportunities after graduation
- Understand the politics of technocracy
- Pursue an intellectual fascination with a polity-inthe-making
Course objectives:
Objective 1 Provide
a systematic overview of the history of European integration, the
functioning of EU institutions, and decisionmaking modes in different
policy areas.
Objective 2 Provide a basic introduction to key concepts and theories in European
integration and how they can be applied.
Objective 3 Familiarize students with concrete policy debates in response to recent
crises in EU politics.
Objective 4 Help students further develop the skills to analyze and evaluate multiple
academic texts in a coherent, integrated, and thematic way.
Objective 5 Help students further develop the skills to present their findings both
orally (by giving a presentation) and in writing (through a review essay).
Assessment method
● Final exam (in person)
● 100% multiple choice questions
Schedule:
● First attempt: Friday 25 May 2023 from 09:00-12:30h.
● Retake: Friday 23 June 2023 from 09:00- 12:30h .
○ Exam questions are based on lectures delivered online and the assigned
readings
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
War and peace in (Western) Europe
-> 70 years of lasting peace, but then countries who are members from the beginning of the
European Union whom do not have experienced war
The first half of the 20th century
❖ Political and ideological divisions in Europe
❖ Sharp and fluid inter-state relations
➢ Treaty of Versailles (1919)
➢ League of Nations (1919)
➢ First time possible regime restraint
,The impact of World War II on Europe
➔ Economic devastation (massive war debts, infrastructural damage)
➔ Political weakness (newly established political systems, loss of empires)
➔ The Continent was quickly divided in two, with Western Europe facing a new menace
to the East (creation of eastern block and rise of S-U)
➔ There was a consciousness that the Versailles approach (after WW1) had not
resolved ‘the German problem’
These factors combined to produce a situation wherein there was a willingness on the part of
many decision-makers to explore new forms
WW2 changed the political climate
Factors that changed:
- Emphasis on combating nationalism
e.g. Creation of the Council of Europe (1949)
- The new political map of Europe
New borders, division into West and East through the Iron Curtain, US
support for liberal democratic systems
- The new international power balance
Start of Cold War: Europe in-between the US and USSR
- The German problem: how to prevent another war
Adopt a conciliatory approach (so they didn’t want to go to war ever again)
Differences between the Western European states
Although they had much in common postWorld War II, there were major differences between
West European states
The 6 founding members of the EU: Benelux, West Germany, France, Italy
★ UK was at every meeting but decided not to join at the end. They did want to be
involved in some ways, but loosely intergovernmental not more
=> No state participated in the integration process for idealistic reasons: hard-headed
national calculations always prevailed
In Milward’s phrase, integration helped ‘rescue’ the European nation-state
Notable institutional developments
No general agreement on what was to be done. Hence multiple organisations:
A. The Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), established in April
1948 → transformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) in 1961
B. The Council of Europe (CoE), created in May 1949
C. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), created in 1949
D. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), created by the 1951 Treaty of
Paris => FOUNDATION OF EU AS WE KNOW TODAY!!
E. European Defence Cooperation (EDC) (not ratified) and the Western European
Union (WEU), created in 1954
,YOU NEED TO KNOW THE DATE AS IN DECADES AND AS IN MC
The ECSC / Treaty of Paris / 1951
- Idea put forth in the Schuman Declaration (1950)
- Envisaged duration: 50 years
Ambition to create a free trade area
Why coal and steel?
➢ At the time were some of the basic materials of any industrialised society
➢ Moreover, coal and steel were key materials to make arms and wage war in Europe
➢ Lay the foundations of a common market
Other initiatives:
1. The European Defence Community (1950)
a. Goal to establish an European Army under the political institutions of a united
Europe
b. Similar institutional structure as the ECSC → supranational organisation
c. Rejected by the French National Assembly in 1954
2. Western European Union (1955): 6 + UK
a. loosely structured, essentially consultative, primarily defence-orientated
organisation
The EEC & Euratom / 1957
After the failure of the EDC, refocus on economic integration
Guided by ideas of free-market, liberal, noninterventionist capitalism
BUT with some protectionist elements: agriculture (because of the French) + some elements
of social policy
Messina Declaration (1955) → Treaties of Rome (1957)
, The European Economic Community (EEC)
The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) Discover the world at Leiden University
The EEC provisions
Goal: gradual establishment of a common market
- Free trade area: Remove all tariffs and quantitative restrictions on internal trade
- Customs union: Create a Common External Tarif and develop a common external
trade policy – the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) \
Common rules: Prohibit practices that would distort or prevent competition between Member
States
Common/Single Market: Promote free movement of goods but also free movement of
persons, services, and capital
... references to a fut
The Euratom provisions
Limited to the atomic energy field. Focus on:
the promotion of research
the dissemination of information
health and safety standards
creation of a nuclear common market
But provisions watered down by differences between states
Many exceptions to allow the protection of national interests in a sensitive field
LECTURE ONE
Why sould we care about the EU?
- Increase employment opportunities after graduation
- Understand the politics of technocracy
- Pursue an intellectual fascination with a polity-inthe-making
Course objectives:
Objective 1 Provide
a systematic overview of the history of European integration, the
functioning of EU institutions, and decisionmaking modes in different
policy areas.
Objective 2 Provide a basic introduction to key concepts and theories in European
integration and how they can be applied.
Objective 3 Familiarize students with concrete policy debates in response to recent
crises in EU politics.
Objective 4 Help students further develop the skills to analyze and evaluate multiple
academic texts in a coherent, integrated, and thematic way.
Objective 5 Help students further develop the skills to present their findings both
orally (by giving a presentation) and in writing (through a review essay).
Assessment method
● Final exam (in person)
● 100% multiple choice questions
Schedule:
● First attempt: Friday 25 May 2023 from 09:00-12:30h.
● Retake: Friday 23 June 2023 from 09:00- 12:30h .
○ Exam questions are based on lectures delivered online and the assigned
readings
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
War and peace in (Western) Europe
-> 70 years of lasting peace, but then countries who are members from the beginning of the
European Union whom do not have experienced war
The first half of the 20th century
❖ Political and ideological divisions in Europe
❖ Sharp and fluid inter-state relations
➢ Treaty of Versailles (1919)
➢ League of Nations (1919)
➢ First time possible regime restraint
,The impact of World War II on Europe
➔ Economic devastation (massive war debts, infrastructural damage)
➔ Political weakness (newly established political systems, loss of empires)
➔ The Continent was quickly divided in two, with Western Europe facing a new menace
to the East (creation of eastern block and rise of S-U)
➔ There was a consciousness that the Versailles approach (after WW1) had not
resolved ‘the German problem’
These factors combined to produce a situation wherein there was a willingness on the part of
many decision-makers to explore new forms
WW2 changed the political climate
Factors that changed:
- Emphasis on combating nationalism
e.g. Creation of the Council of Europe (1949)
- The new political map of Europe
New borders, division into West and East through the Iron Curtain, US
support for liberal democratic systems
- The new international power balance
Start of Cold War: Europe in-between the US and USSR
- The German problem: how to prevent another war
Adopt a conciliatory approach (so they didn’t want to go to war ever again)
Differences between the Western European states
Although they had much in common postWorld War II, there were major differences between
West European states
The 6 founding members of the EU: Benelux, West Germany, France, Italy
★ UK was at every meeting but decided not to join at the end. They did want to be
involved in some ways, but loosely intergovernmental not more
=> No state participated in the integration process for idealistic reasons: hard-headed
national calculations always prevailed
In Milward’s phrase, integration helped ‘rescue’ the European nation-state
Notable institutional developments
No general agreement on what was to be done. Hence multiple organisations:
A. The Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), established in April
1948 → transformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) in 1961
B. The Council of Europe (CoE), created in May 1949
C. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), created in 1949
D. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), created by the 1951 Treaty of
Paris => FOUNDATION OF EU AS WE KNOW TODAY!!
E. European Defence Cooperation (EDC) (not ratified) and the Western European
Union (WEU), created in 1954
,YOU NEED TO KNOW THE DATE AS IN DECADES AND AS IN MC
The ECSC / Treaty of Paris / 1951
- Idea put forth in the Schuman Declaration (1950)
- Envisaged duration: 50 years
Ambition to create a free trade area
Why coal and steel?
➢ At the time were some of the basic materials of any industrialised society
➢ Moreover, coal and steel were key materials to make arms and wage war in Europe
➢ Lay the foundations of a common market
Other initiatives:
1. The European Defence Community (1950)
a. Goal to establish an European Army under the political institutions of a united
Europe
b. Similar institutional structure as the ECSC → supranational organisation
c. Rejected by the French National Assembly in 1954
2. Western European Union (1955): 6 + UK
a. loosely structured, essentially consultative, primarily defence-orientated
organisation
The EEC & Euratom / 1957
After the failure of the EDC, refocus on economic integration
Guided by ideas of free-market, liberal, noninterventionist capitalism
BUT with some protectionist elements: agriculture (because of the French) + some elements
of social policy
Messina Declaration (1955) → Treaties of Rome (1957)
, The European Economic Community (EEC)
The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) Discover the world at Leiden University
The EEC provisions
Goal: gradual establishment of a common market
- Free trade area: Remove all tariffs and quantitative restrictions on internal trade
- Customs union: Create a Common External Tarif and develop a common external
trade policy – the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) \
Common rules: Prohibit practices that would distort or prevent competition between Member
States
Common/Single Market: Promote free movement of goods but also free movement of
persons, services, and capital
... references to a fut
The Euratom provisions
Limited to the atomic energy field. Focus on:
the promotion of research
the dissemination of information
health and safety standards
creation of a nuclear common market
But provisions watered down by differences between states
Many exceptions to allow the protection of national interests in a sensitive field
