1April 18, 2023

The ‘widening and deepening’ of the European Union, 1951-2006

Dr Maurice FitzGeraldLecturer in European and International Studies

Department of Politics, International Relations and European Studies (PIRES)Loughborough University

email m.fitzgerald@lboro.ac.uktel 01509 223659web http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~eumf2/index.htm

2April 18, 2023

aims of this presentation• to examine some of the fundamental processes involved in the

history of European integration across the second half of the 20th century, especially in terms of the EU’s ‘widening and deepening’– ‘widening’ essentially means increasing the EU’s membership through the

process of enlargement, i.e. accepting the entry of new Member States– ‘deepening’ basically means developing and strengthening the EU’s

competences and policies, e.g. through the signing of new treaties• to argue that this process is both dynamic and ongoing, and that

the United Kingdom, with its European partners, has more to gain than to lose from a development which, despite some serious setbacks, looks set to continue across the 21st century

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some theoretical approaches• federalism• neofunctionalism• intergovernmentalism• system governance• network governance

• neo-institutionalism• social constructivism• integration through law• discursive approaches• gender perspectives

Antje Wiener & Thomas Diez (eds.), European integration theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p.240

Andrew Moravcsik, The choice for Europe: social purpose and state power from Messina to Maastricht (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998)

liberal intergovernmentalism

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Who is included? Who is excluded?What do we mean by ‘Europe’?

Timothy Garton Ash, “Montenegro is back on the map, and it need not become Ruritania”, Guardian, 1 June 2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1787175,00.html [15 August 2006]

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what is ‘Europeanization’?

“the reorientation and reshaping of aspects of politics and governance in the domestic arena in

ways that reflect the policies, practices and preferences of European level actors”

for further information, see Ian Bache & Andrew Jordan (eds.), The Europeanization of British Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2006)

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does the EU have a government ... or is it a system of governance?

Commission http://europa.eu.int/comm/

Parliament http://www.europarl.eu.int/

Council http://ue.eu.int

Court http://curia.eu.int/

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is the EU a state?

Gateway to the European Union

http://europa.eu

anthem

flag

currency

day

motto

constitution

year

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basic enlargement history1951 ‘Six’ Belgium, France, West Germany (FRG),

Luxembourg, Italy, and the Netherlands1973 ‘Nine’ Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom1981 ‘Ten’ Greece1986 ‘Twelve’ Portugal, and Spain1990 East Germany (GDR)1995 ‘Fifteen’ Austria, Finland, and Sweden 2004 ‘Twenty-five’ Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,

Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic

} southern

} northern

} EFTAN

CEEC {(incl. Club Med)

… and Norway?

… and Norway? } forgottenGreenland withdraws!

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treaty basis for enlargementTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe – Article I-58 1. The Union shall be open to all European States which respect the

values [of the European Union, namely “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between men and women prevail”] … and are committed to promoting them together.

2. Any European State which wishes to become a member of the Union shall address its application to the Council. The European Parliament and national parliaments shall be notified of this application. The Council shall act unanimously after consulting the Commission and after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament, which shall act by a majority of its component members. The conditions and arrangement for admission shall be the subject of an agreement between the Member States and the candidate State. That agreement shall be subject to ratification by each contracting State, in accordance with its respective constitutional requirements.

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fundamental policy developments1951 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)1957 European Economic Community (EEC)

European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)1965 merger treaty forms the European Communities (EC)1968 completion of the Common Market1986 Single European Act (SEA)1993 Treaty of European Union (TEU, also known as

Maastricht)1997 Treaty of Amsterdam2000 Treaty of Nice2004 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (ratification pending)

} Treaty of Paris

} Treaties of Rome

<‘eurosclerosis’ } from Single Market (1992) to

single currency (2002)

e.g. CAP… & CFP

QMV

… more QMV… and even more QMV

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a new constitution?constitutional treaty ratificationAustria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain have all completed this processthe French and Dutch electorates have, through consultative referenda, rejected itthe UK – originally slated to be the last EU25 state to hold a referendum – has put it on hold, as have the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden; meanwhile, Finland appears to be continuing with ratification and may complete it by the end of 2006as acceding counties, Bulgaria and Romania – as well as Croatia, FYROM and Turkey as candidate countries – are expected to assume the constitution as part of their membership Countries which assume it upon entry

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the next waves of enlargement?

acceding countries Bulgaria applied in December 1995 Romania applied in June 1995

candidate countries Turkey applied in April 1987 Croatia applied in February 2003 FYROM applied in March 2004

potential candidate countries Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina

Montenegro Serbia

United Nations Mission in Kosovo

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the future development of the eurozone?

twelve EU member states are part of the eurozone

three other European countries formally use the euro, while afurther three countries use it without a formal arrangement

thirteen EU member states are not in the eurozoneeight of them are ERMII members, and thus are linked to the euro,but only two of them have formal euro opt-outs

what of the Growth and Stability Pact?

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what are the EU’s current concerns?

CommissionIraq | Growth and Jobs | Sustainable Development | Middle East | Development | EU Budget | Avian influenza | Enlargement | CAP/Doha | Humanitarian aid | Climate change | Fight against terrorism | Energy

Finnish presidency “The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates every six months … Finland … passes it on to Germany at the beginning of 2007. Portugal will hold the Presidency during the latter half of 2007 and Slovenia will take over the position in 2008. Finland held its previous EU Presidency during the latter half of 1999 … Finland will next hold the Presidency of the EU in spring 2020.

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• Treaty of Nice implementation: having entered into force in 2003, its full realisation is now well under way, but it will not be completed until the end of the decade

• EU25: with the composition and structures of the European Council, Council of Ministers, Commission, Parliament, and the Courts, as well as changes in working practices, the CEEC enlargement is forcing the EU to reinvent and reform itself or else it will become unworkable; meanwhile, the CEECs have been tasked with addressing a whole host of problems – politically, economically, judicially, and socially

• CAP: following the agreement on the budgetary perspective for 2007-2013, plans for the reform of CAP will doubtlessly re-emerge before the end of the decade, not least within the realm of WTO negotiations, but also in terms of viability, future contributions, etc.

• internal market: the EU population has grown from 380 to 455 million consumers, the land mass has become ¼ as big again in size, but the European Economic Area extends to include Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, while this area also has strong links with Switzerland through its membership of the European Free Trade Association

• security considerations: protecting peace and security near to the EU’s new borders and near neighbourhood, with drugs, prostitution and terrorism – as well as that ongoing preoccupation of access to energy resources like gas and oil – are at the forefront of government and media attention

other reasons for concern?

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conclusions• ‘widening and deepening’ are relatively

constant, certainly entwined, elements in a dynamic and ongoing European integration process

• evolving out of the ECSC, it has grown in terms of membership … from the original Six EC9 EC10 EC12 EU15 EU25… and also, of course, in competence

• what does the 21st century hold for the EU, Europe, and the wider world?