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The ‘widening and deepening’ of the European Union, 1951-2005

Dr Maurice FitzGeraldLecturer in European and International Studies

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

email m.fitzgerald@lboro.ac.ukweb http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~eumf2/index.htm

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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 European Union’s ‘widening and deepening’

• 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 process which looks set to continue across the 21st century

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all the trappings of a state?

anthem

constitution

currency

day

flag Gateway to the European Union

http://www.europa.eu.int

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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

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what is ‘Europeanization’?Ian Bache & Andrew Jordan (eds.), The Europeanization of British Politics? (Basingstoke: Palgrave, forthcoming), definition:

“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”

further details available at http://www.shef.ac.uk/ebpp/meetings.htm [2 March 2005] and http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/%7Eeumf2/RSS2004-05.htm [2 March 2005]

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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, Slovakia, and Slovenia

} southern

} northern

} EFTAN

CEEC {(incl. ‘Club Med’)

… and Norway

… and Norway} ‘forgotten’

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treaty basis for enlargementTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe – Article I-58Conditions of eligibility and procedure for accession to the Union1. 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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examples of policy development1951 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)1992 Treaty of European Union (TEU, also known as

Maastricht)1997 Treaty of Amsterdam2001 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… even more QMV

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the UK and the EU … a partnership made in heaven?

Edward Heathsigning away UK sovereignty?

Margaret Thatchereurosceptic … or europhile?

Tony BlairEU-US bridge/pivot … or Trojan horse?

John Majorput Britain at the heart of Europe?

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will the real UK please step forward?

Time, 13 July 1962 Time, 14 May 1979

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reasons for concern?• administration: this enlargement is forcing the EU to reinvent and reform itself or else it will

become unworkable, while also forcing the CEECs to address a whole host of problems – politically, economically, judicially, and socially,

• internal market: the EU population has grown from 380 to 455 million consumers, the land mass has become ¼ as big again in size

• security considerations: protecting peace and security near to the EU’s new borders and near neighbourhood, with drugs, prostitution and terrorism at the forefront of government and media attention

• single currency: the eurozone of 12 countries, and its Growth and Stability Pact

the next waves of enlargementTurkey applied in April 1987 Romania applied in June 1995

Bulgaria applied in December 1995 Croatia applied in February 2003

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reform and the future?• Treaty of Nice ratification: entered into force in 2003, and

implementation is now well under way• EU25 … and further enlargement: new composition and structures of

the European Council, Council of Ministers, Commission, Parliament, and the Courts, as well as changes in working practices

• budgetary perspective 2007-2013: CAP is – not for the first time – up for debate, if not yet in the EU certainly within the context of the World Trade Organisation, Transatlantic relations, etc.

• constitutional treaty ratification: Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia have already completed this process; Spain recently had a referendum on the subject and favours it by 3:1, the French government has called a referendum for 29 May 2005, and the UK may well be the last EU25 state to hold one in the spring of 2006

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Luxembourg presidency

• Mid-term review of the Lisbon process• Examination of the Stability and Growth Pact• Financial perspectives for 2007-2013• Enlargement• Economic and social affairs and the internal market• Agriculture and fisheries / food safety• Sustainable development• External relations• Justice and Home Affairs

http://www.eu2005.lu/en/presidence/priorites_et_pgm/priorites/index.html

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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 both in terms of membership and competence from Six EC9 EC10 EC12 EU15 EU25

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

EU??