Lecture Notes
Politics and Government in the EU
Lecture 1 - History of the Integration Process
1952 ECSC 1995 Accession of Austria, Finland,
1958 EEC, Euratom Sweden
1966 Luxembourg compromise 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam
1968 Merger Treaty 2003 Treaty of Nice
1973 Accession of Denmark, Ireland, UK 2004 Accession of CY, CZ, EST, H, LT,
1981 Accession of Greece LV, M, PL, SLO, SK
1986 Accession of Portugal and Spain 2007 Accession of BG, RO
1987 Single European Act 2009 Treaty of Lisbon
1993 Treaty of Maastricht (TEU) 2013 Accession of Croatia
1952 → European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
After WWII to find a solution to the German Problem: contain Germany + avoid war
by containing war products (supranational community)
Benelux, France, Germany, Italy
Common market for coal and steel with free movement of workers (hard to define)
Treaty of Paris (1951) signed and came into effect in ‘52 → expired after 50 years
Institutions: Common Assembly // Council of Ministers // Court of Justice // High
Authority
Robert Schuman (1886-1963)
Responsible for ECSC, at cost of ignoring own ministry as Prime Minister of France
French politician after WWI, and as foreign minister under 10 different governments from
‘48-’52.
Jean Monnet came with the idea for the ECSC: propagated by Schuman (Schuman
Declaration 9th May 1950, aka ‘Europe Day’) to further integrate Europe and keep
peace
1958 → European Economic Community (EEC) & Euratom
EEC → Treaties of Rome (1957) proposed:
- progressive reduction of customs duties
- establishment of a customs union (common external prices)
- a single market for goods, labour, services, and capital across the EEC's
member states
- creation of a CAP, a Common Transport Policy and a European Social Fund
- established the European Commission
Euratom → specialist market for atomic energy in Europe, civil use
Core of integration process: Four Freedoms
free movement of persons/workers // free movement of goods // free movement of
capital // free movement of services
,1966 → Luxembourg Compromise
Solved the ‘empty chair crisis’ →
Charles de Gaulle was a true intergovernmentalist, but tolerated EEC for
France’s benefit. The Clash over supranationalism arose in 1965 when a
number of key policy areas were subject to QMV. De Gaulle saw QMV as an
abrogation of national sovereignty (and possible voting coalition against the
CAP) and withdrew French representation from the Council in protest.
→ QMV would stand, but the Council would not take a vote if a
member state insisted that its very important interests were at stake.
Unanimity became the norm anyhow.
Changed the look of European ability by showing how one member state can lock
down the whole decision-making process by simply not showing up.
1968 → Merger Treaty
Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the EC (merger of
ECSC, EEC, Euratom)
Main institutions in the EU:
- Commission
- The Council (of Ministers)
- European Council (national heads of state)
- European Court of Justice (ECJ)
- European Parliament (EP, used to be Common Assembly in ECSC) → delegates
from national parliaments
- Court of Auditors (on spending of institutions)
,1973 → Accession of Denmark, Ireland, UK
From 6 to 9 member states → UK wanted to enter in the 60s (twice blocked by de
Gaulle on suspicions of being opportunistic, un-European, an American Trojan
Horse)
After de Gaulle’s resignation they could join
UK: economic benefits of the EC (not so much security), especially after Suez Crisis
Denmark/Ireland: dependent on UK
1981 → Accession of Greece
1986 → Accession of Portugal and Spain
From 10 to 12 members. Dictatorships till late 70s → stabilize democracies/
economies
1987 → Single European Act (SEA)
Setting the EC an objective of establishing a single market by 1992, and codified
European Political Cooperation (EPC: forerunner of EU’s CFSP)
SEA intended to remove barriers and to increase
harmonisation/competitiveness among its countries → products legally
produced in one state can also be legally sold in another (open market)
Also: new policy fields (e.g. cohesion policy) and more QMV (less veto power),
more power to the EP (cooperation procedure)
1993 → Treaty of Maastricht (TEU)
After Cold War lots of people becoming part of the EU → European Union (with
three-pillar system) is born from EC, with plans to create the EMU.
1995 → Accession of Austria, Finland, Sweden
From 12 tot 15 members → after Cold War they could not stay neutral anymore (easy
to add due to the countries being rich and developed)
, 1999 → Treaty of Amsterdam
Created in 1997, ratified in ‘99 → member states agreed to devolve certain powers
from national governments to the EP across diverse areas (incl. immigration,
adopting civil and criminal laws, enacting CFSP, implementing institutional changes
for expansion)
+ EU with a ‘more human face’ to make it more attractive/accessible to EU
citizens
Complex Treaty!
2003 → Treaty of Nice
Not very spectacular, only changed modalities of QMV for enlargement, but
complicated rather than clarified it (difficult to reach compromise)
2004 → Accession of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia,
Macau, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia
From 15 to 25 members. Wider poverty gap since these enlargements, they joined in
fear of Russian influence and aspirations for better economic conditions / safety
2007 → Accession of Bulgaria and Romania
2009 → Treaty of Lisbon
Semi-constitution → Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
To complete the process started in Amsterdam
2013 → Accession of Croatia
28 members.
Politics and Government in the EU
Lecture 1 - History of the Integration Process
1952 ECSC 1995 Accession of Austria, Finland,
1958 EEC, Euratom Sweden
1966 Luxembourg compromise 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam
1968 Merger Treaty 2003 Treaty of Nice
1973 Accession of Denmark, Ireland, UK 2004 Accession of CY, CZ, EST, H, LT,
1981 Accession of Greece LV, M, PL, SLO, SK
1986 Accession of Portugal and Spain 2007 Accession of BG, RO
1987 Single European Act 2009 Treaty of Lisbon
1993 Treaty of Maastricht (TEU) 2013 Accession of Croatia
1952 → European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
After WWII to find a solution to the German Problem: contain Germany + avoid war
by containing war products (supranational community)
Benelux, France, Germany, Italy
Common market for coal and steel with free movement of workers (hard to define)
Treaty of Paris (1951) signed and came into effect in ‘52 → expired after 50 years
Institutions: Common Assembly // Council of Ministers // Court of Justice // High
Authority
Robert Schuman (1886-1963)
Responsible for ECSC, at cost of ignoring own ministry as Prime Minister of France
French politician after WWI, and as foreign minister under 10 different governments from
‘48-’52.
Jean Monnet came with the idea for the ECSC: propagated by Schuman (Schuman
Declaration 9th May 1950, aka ‘Europe Day’) to further integrate Europe and keep
peace
1958 → European Economic Community (EEC) & Euratom
EEC → Treaties of Rome (1957) proposed:
- progressive reduction of customs duties
- establishment of a customs union (common external prices)
- a single market for goods, labour, services, and capital across the EEC's
member states
- creation of a CAP, a Common Transport Policy and a European Social Fund
- established the European Commission
Euratom → specialist market for atomic energy in Europe, civil use
Core of integration process: Four Freedoms
free movement of persons/workers // free movement of goods // free movement of
capital // free movement of services
,1966 → Luxembourg Compromise
Solved the ‘empty chair crisis’ →
Charles de Gaulle was a true intergovernmentalist, but tolerated EEC for
France’s benefit. The Clash over supranationalism arose in 1965 when a
number of key policy areas were subject to QMV. De Gaulle saw QMV as an
abrogation of national sovereignty (and possible voting coalition against the
CAP) and withdrew French representation from the Council in protest.
→ QMV would stand, but the Council would not take a vote if a
member state insisted that its very important interests were at stake.
Unanimity became the norm anyhow.
Changed the look of European ability by showing how one member state can lock
down the whole decision-making process by simply not showing up.
1968 → Merger Treaty
Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the EC (merger of
ECSC, EEC, Euratom)
Main institutions in the EU:
- Commission
- The Council (of Ministers)
- European Council (national heads of state)
- European Court of Justice (ECJ)
- European Parliament (EP, used to be Common Assembly in ECSC) → delegates
from national parliaments
- Court of Auditors (on spending of institutions)
,1973 → Accession of Denmark, Ireland, UK
From 6 to 9 member states → UK wanted to enter in the 60s (twice blocked by de
Gaulle on suspicions of being opportunistic, un-European, an American Trojan
Horse)
After de Gaulle’s resignation they could join
UK: economic benefits of the EC (not so much security), especially after Suez Crisis
Denmark/Ireland: dependent on UK
1981 → Accession of Greece
1986 → Accession of Portugal and Spain
From 10 to 12 members. Dictatorships till late 70s → stabilize democracies/
economies
1987 → Single European Act (SEA)
Setting the EC an objective of establishing a single market by 1992, and codified
European Political Cooperation (EPC: forerunner of EU’s CFSP)
SEA intended to remove barriers and to increase
harmonisation/competitiveness among its countries → products legally
produced in one state can also be legally sold in another (open market)
Also: new policy fields (e.g. cohesion policy) and more QMV (less veto power),
more power to the EP (cooperation procedure)
1993 → Treaty of Maastricht (TEU)
After Cold War lots of people becoming part of the EU → European Union (with
three-pillar system) is born from EC, with plans to create the EMU.
1995 → Accession of Austria, Finland, Sweden
From 12 tot 15 members → after Cold War they could not stay neutral anymore (easy
to add due to the countries being rich and developed)
, 1999 → Treaty of Amsterdam
Created in 1997, ratified in ‘99 → member states agreed to devolve certain powers
from national governments to the EP across diverse areas (incl. immigration,
adopting civil and criminal laws, enacting CFSP, implementing institutional changes
for expansion)
+ EU with a ‘more human face’ to make it more attractive/accessible to EU
citizens
Complex Treaty!
2003 → Treaty of Nice
Not very spectacular, only changed modalities of QMV for enlargement, but
complicated rather than clarified it (difficult to reach compromise)
2004 → Accession of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia,
Macau, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia
From 15 to 25 members. Wider poverty gap since these enlargements, they joined in
fear of Russian influence and aspirations for better economic conditions / safety
2007 → Accession of Bulgaria and Romania
2009 → Treaty of Lisbon
Semi-constitution → Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
To complete the process started in Amsterdam
2013 → Accession of Croatia
28 members.
