European Union Historical Overview Leading Figures of European

European Union Historical Overview

Leading Figures of European Integration n Jean Monnet concluded during the Second World War that economic integration was the only means by which the conflict in Europe could be avoided. Even during the World War II (June 1940), Monnet offered Britain a union between two nations. This union would include common citizenship, a joint government, and a single war strategy. In 1943, Monnet argued that there would be no peace in Europe if states establish themselves on the basis of national sovereignty based on power politics and economic protectionism. Instead, Monnet argued that a kind of European federation, a single economic entity should be created.

Leading Figures of European Integration n n Altiero Spinelli, a federalist and important figure in the creation of the European Economic Community drafted a manifesto in 1940 and 1941 for a free and united Europe. Winston Churchill called for a United States of Europe in his speech in Zurich in September 1946. Churchill emphasized that partnership between France and Germany should be created in order to achieve a united Europe. For him, the first step was the creation of a Council of Europe.

Unionist vs federalists in the Congress of Europe (1948) n n n Churchill advocated a limited form of European integration. His ‘United Europe Movement’ was known as the unionist position and different from the federalist position of Spinelli. Differences between unionists and federalists came to the fore at the Congress of Europe that was held in Hague in 1948. 600 influential Europeans from 16 countries participated to the congress. Both unioinists and fedearlists agreed on the creation of Europen unity and the establishment of an international organization with a parliamentary body. For the unionists, that body would be a merely consultative assembly; for the federalists it would be an assembly charged with drafting a constitution for the United States of Europe.

The Council of Europe (1949) n n n After the Hague conference, the Council of Europe was created in order to achieve a closer union between its members. The Council of Europe was not created in a way that federalists wanted. It was just a platform for exchanging ideas and information on social, legal and cultural matters. Only in one important area, human rights, the Council of Europe has been influential. Its Court of Human rights is crucial for the protection of civil liberties throughout Europe. The Council of Europe was located in Strasbourg to symbolize European reconciliation.

Elitist and Pragmatist Jean Monnet n n Not satisfied with the Council of Europe, Jean Monnet promoted achieving European federation. For him, economic cooperation would be taken not by 600 delegates at the Congress of Europe but by powerful politicians. Monnet did not get involved in federalists and unionist movement. Instead, he devoted his time to drafting French modernization plan. He beleived that Europe could not be united unless France recovered economically and politically. French modernization plan was an indispensable component of Monnet’s European strategy.

Large Support for a European Integration n n The suggestion of Monnet found many supporters both in Europe and the United States. The legacy of two devastating wars, the subsequent economic depressions were influential in the rise of support for such an initiative. Both the leftist and the rightist groups in Europe supported a possible integration of Europe.

Onset of the Cold War n n n Coalition between the US, Britain and the Soviet Union ended after the Second World War mainly due to Soviet expansion: Communist coup d’etat in Prague in 1948. Communist parties were popular in Europe especially in France and Italy. In 1946 and 1947, the French Communist Party shared power with Christian Democrats and the Socialists, the Italian Communist Party also seemed strong enough to win an election. In 1947, French president ousted the Communists from government and due to the US financial support to Christian Democrats during Italian elections, the Italian Communist Party remained in opposition. The electoral support for Communist parties in Western Europe began to diminish after the February communist coup in Czechoslovakia and during the Berlin blockade of 1948 -1949.

Soviet threat n n n As the cold war intensified, Europeans saw integration as a means of defending themselves against the Soviet Union. Western Europe’s economic weakness required close collaboration with the US. The US became the strong supporter of an European Integration. The onset of the cold war provide a powerful incentive for the US to play a leading part in European affairs. Immeadiate danger was Soviet army and local communist parties in the West.

Marshall Plan and US Interests n n Without growth in Western Europe, the US exports would decline and the US economy would fall into recession. The most important reason for the US to help western Europe was the onset of the cold war. Red Army located in the Eastern Europe and local communist parties in the Western Europe posed a great challenge for the US interests. Marshall Plan was the most important initiative to encourage European integration. The aim of the plan was to contribute to post-war European economic recovery.

Marshall Plan, 1947 n n n On June 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall launched the idea of a Programme for European Recovery. Marshall stipulated cooperation among Europeans in order to receive American aid. This turned out to be a catalyst to bring Western Europe together. It contributed to the economic recovery of Europe, as the Marshall Plan restored the social and economic infrastructure of Europe. In 1948, Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) was created in Paris to distribute American aid.

The Outbreak of the Korean War n n n The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950: the issue of rearmament of Germany. French fear of Germany: France had suffered from German militarism and expansionism. The fear of defeat and occupation, destruction was not forgotten. France was also angry for not being invited to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences where the US, the UK and Soviet Union decided the fate of the world. France insisted that Germany would de demilitarized, decentralized, and deindustrialized, but the US and Britain revised their harsh policies towards Germany and argued that Germany should be remilitarized.

German Problem n n The problem of restrictions on the German industrial production (Germany wanted to increase its steel production from 11 million tons to 14 million tons). Jean Monnet managed to persuade Robert Schuman for the creation of common interests between France and Germany: establishment of coal and steel community, creating a higher authority whose decisions will bind. This would enable the fusion of France and Germany as far as the production and the marketing of coal and steel to the world markets is concerned. Coal and steel would be removed from national control and placed under a supranational authority.

Franco-German Reconciliation n Jean Monnet as part of his plan of modernizing and recovering French economy focused on coal and steel, the two key industrial sectors. France wanted to control coal rich Saar region, which France then occupied and also prevent the economic recovery of Ruhr region which was occupied by the UK. Ruhr was a symbol of German-military-industrial complex , and its recovery would threaten French economic revival. France insisted the establishment of the International Ruhr Authority as a means of controlling industrial production there. However, Ruhr region was crucial for the economic recovery of Europe as a whole, thus the US supported German recovery, so restrictions on German steel production should be abolished. As a result, Monnet suggested for a Franco-German reconciliation and European integration.

The founding fathers of the European Union n French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman; German Prime Minister Konrad Adenauer; and Italian Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi are regarded as the founding fathers of the European Union. Peace and reconciliation were the main aims. Making war impossible was their ideal.

Declaration by Robert Schuman (May, 1950) n n Schuman states that unification of Europe requires the elimination of French-German hostility. War between France and Germany will be unthinkable. Cooperation in coal and steel would lead to economic development as a first step for the creation of federation of Europe. Schuman expressed that coal and steel production would be taken from national control and placed under a supranational authority. A supranational High Authority will be created for the management of the coal and steel community.

European Coal and Steel Community (1951 -2002) n n n European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was created in 1951 by Paris Treaty. France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg were the six original members of the ECSC. United Kingdom did not participate to ECSC due to: - its special relations with the US and Commonwealth Countries - imperial destiny - question of sovereignty

Initiatives for European Defence Community n n There was an Anglo-American pressure on France for German remilitarization. French hostility towards this idea made Adaneur to doubt French’s commitment to Franco-German reconciliation and European integration. Jean Monnet supported the idea of European defence and pushed the French Prime Minister Pleven for giving support to the European defence initiative. Negotiations to form the European Defence Community (EDC) started in February 1951. After complex and hard bargaining, 6 countries signed the EDC Treaty in 1952 with the Paris Treaty. However, the French Parliament rejected to ratify the EDC Treaty in August 1954: - hostility toward sharing sovereignty over national defence policy - opposition to German rearmament - death of Stalin - France was increasingly busy with colonial conflict in Indochina.

British Initiative for Western European Union With the collapse of the EDC, Britain’s prime minister Anthony Eden proposed that Germany join with Britain, France, Italy, and Benelux countries in the Western European Union (WEU). WEU would facilitate German entry into the NATO. France reluctantly accepted the intiative and Germany joined NATO in May 1955. The failure of the EDC showed the limits of the Europen political integration and 6 countries focused on economic integration instead.

Messina Conference (1 -2 June 1955) n n n At the Messina Conference, it was proposed to establish a customs union Britain was in favor of a free trade area not for customs union. The principal of common external tariff led to the withdrawal of the UK. The UK even considered withdrawing from NATO. Belgian’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak drafted a Treaty for the establishment of the Common Market. France insisted for the inclusion of the overseas territories of member states in the Treaty. France also insisted for the use of nuclear energy for military purposes. The aim was to tie Germany into the whole complex of military, political and economic Western institutions

Focus on Nuclear Cooperation n n During its war with Israel, in 1956 the president of Egypt, Nasar nationalised the Suez canal which was owned by a French and British company. When Nasar closed the canal, Western countries could not get energy from Middle East. Thus, Europe became more focused on alternative energy resources like nuclear energy. This was crucial for the establishment of EURATOM for the peaceful use of atomic energy.

Treaty of Rome n n n Six member states of the ECSC established European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957 by Treaty of Rome. European integration from the beginning was not just about coal and steel, atomic energy or a common market, but for a ‘ever closer union’, a political union, even a federal union. There was also a strong commitment to increase the European influence in world affairs, a belief that was emphasized at the Messina conference.

French Insistence for the Creation of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) n n Germany would benefit a lot from the abondenment of intra-EC industrial tariffs. The area that France could benefit most from the European economic integration was the agriculture sector. Three quarters of French farms were too small to be profitable and nearly one fifth of the French population live on agriculture. To make the agriculture sector profitable and competitive, French president Charles de Gaulle insisted for the establishment of Common Agricultural Policy. CAP would provide an EC-wide outlet for French agricultural products, guarantee high prices, and subsidize the export of agricultural goods.

Adaneur and de Gaulle n n Both Adaneur and de Gaulle beleived that their countries’ future and the future of Europe depended on close Franco-German relations. De Gaulle assured Adaneur of France commitment to the Rome Treaty and won German support for the CAP. When Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev threatened Germany and Western powers for the revision of the status of Berlin, de Gaulle offered full support to Germany. In return for French support, Adaneur supported French position on CAP and on British membership application.

De Gaulle’s vision of European integration n n For de Gaulle, European integration should be limited to the technical aspects of the Rome Treaty. These could only be achieved within a broader framework of intergovernmental cooperation on political and security affairs. Such cooperation was essential for the emergence of an economically strong, politically assertive, and militarily independent Europe to challenge the US. In 1963, France and Germany signed the Treaty of Friendship and Reconciliation (Elysee Treaty) at the Elysee Palace. Both sides committed to consult each other on all questions of foreign policy to reach an analogous position.

German insistence for commitment to NATO obligations n n There was a ratification debate in Germany over the Elysee Treaty. Both Adaneur’s Christian Democrats and Social Democrats insisted for the adding an article to the Treaty that would assert Germany’s commitment to existing NATO obligations. Upon these debates, Adaneur resigned in May 1963. The new chancellor Ludwig Erhard (1963 -66) was an Atlanticist and Franco-German relations deteriorated for a while until the 1970 s.

European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and British Position n n EFTA was created in 1960 involving Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland. But EFTA was not as successful as the European Community. In 1961, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan emphasized that: - The Treaty of Rome deals with trade, not defence and foreign policy. ‘We can lead better within than outside’. ‘Our commonwealth and European interests do not conflict with each other, they must be complementary’. With changing world conditions, we are faced with the possibility of changes anyway. - ‘European Economic Community provided the opportunity of mass market which made European industrialists more competitive and efficient. This presents a great challenge for British economy’.

Macmillan’s Speech n The issue of sovereignty: ‘Every treaty limits a nation’s freedom of action to some extent. Our freedom of action is affected by our obligations in NATO, WEU, OEEC. . . I do not see any signs of the member states of the Community losing their national identity. Europe is too old, too diverse in tradition, language and history to go for a federation. Creating a federation is not supported by leading figures in Europe. There is nothing in the Treaty of Rome which commits the members of the EEC to any kind of federation. Unless, we are inside, we cannot have a say in the future structure of Europe’.

Macmillan’s Speech n ‘If we remain outside, the realities of power would compel our American friends to attach increasing weight to the views and interests of the six member states of the EEC. To lose influence both in Europe and Washington would seriously undermine our international position’

The British Labor Party n n Labor Party was against British membership to the EEC. Labor Party was concerned that the power of national governments over commercial, industrial, financial, agricultural, fiscal and social policies will progressively wither away. Another concern for the Labor Party was that the aim of the Rome Treaty was not just economic integration but also political integration.

Conditions of the British Labor Party for the EEC membership n n n - Strong measures for the trade and other interests of its partners in the commonwealth - freedom to pursue its own foreign policy - fulfillment of the government’s commitments to its associates in the EFTA - the right to plan its own economy - guarantees to protect the British agriculture

Ireland n n Ireland was a founder member of the OEEC and the Council of Europe. But given its neutrality, it remained outside the European developments. There was a strong emphasis on protectionism and a belief that sovereignty was everything. However, between 1948 and 1960, 75% of its exports was with Britain, thus Irish policy on membership with the EEC was linked to Britain. Ireland was excluded from EFTA by the British who believed that the Irish economy was not developed enough.

Irish Prime Minister Sean Lemass’s Speech (1961) n Lemass emphasized that Ireland enjoys a special position in the British market, if Britain becomes a member of the EEC, we will lose our priviliged position, thus Ireland has to apply for membership to the EEC as well.

Sweden n n Having a legacy of neutrality, Sweden followed a policy of non-participation in alliances in peacetime, aiming at neutrality in the event of war during Cold War. In 1961, Sweden emphasized its neutrality reservations and particular clauses in the Treaty of Rome which would prevent its freedom of action and neutrality, particularly in the field of foreign policy. Austria and Switzerland refrained from integration with the EEC by declaring the same reasons with Sweden.

First Enlargement of the EEC n n Ireland applied for EEC membership on 30 July 1961, Britain applied on 31 July 1961. Denmark applied on 10 August 1961 and Norway applied on 30 April 1962. In 1963, French President de Gaulle announced that Britain was not ready to accept the conditions of the EEC membership. De Gaulle rejected UK due to: - special relation of the UK with the US. - the Nassau defense agreement between the US and the UK (1962) : the British would use US missiles for the delivery of British nuclear weapons. This agreement was seen as confirmation that the UK and the US have strategic relations.

Second Application of Britain to the EEC n n n Under the Labor Party Britain applied to the EEC on 11 May 1967. Some reasons of British application: British economy was growing less than EEC member states. There was a sterling crisis in July 1967. The Pound was devalued in November 1967. EEC shifted towards intergovernmentalism after the Empty Chair Crisis. Politically, Britain was losing its role as an international actor: Soviet Union mediated for bringing peace between two Commonwealth States, India and Pakistan in 1965. This second application was also rejected by de Gaulle.

Departure of de Gaulle in France n n n Student revolts and workers’ strikes in France 1968 weakened the power of de Gaulle. When the reform program he put for referandum failed to achieve majority, he resigned in 1969. More modest Georges Pompidou replaced de Gaulle as President. Pompidou was in favor of the enlargement of the EEC and British membership to the EEC. France was aware that with the accession of the new members, the European markets would be enlarged. This would benefit French economy which wanted to increase its growth rates and competiteveness.

French Support for British Membership n n n At the end of 1960 s, French economy was not in a good condition: high inflation balance of trade was deteriorating De Gaulle’s generous wage settlement with the trade unions and his loose monetary policy to stimulate growth Pompidou devalued the value of the franc in 1969. While France declined economically, German economy was doing good. Under the new chancellor Willy Brandt, Germany was also politically assertive. Brandt launched an ambitious initiative toward Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union which was called Ostpolitik. The combination of Germany's rising economic power and rising political confidence made British entry to the EEC more appealing for Pompidou. Britain and France together could counterbalance Germany.

The Empty Chair Crisis, June 1965 - January 1966 n n n The Empty Chair Crisis grew out of the development of the common agricultural policy (CAP). Concerning the arrangements to finance expenditure resulting from CAP in place of national contributions, it had been agreed that a decision for this issue would be taken by 30 June 1965. The European Commission suggested that CAP would be fully financed by the EEC as of 1 July 1968. European Commission also suggested that European Parliament should have budgetary powers and the European Council should adopt the budget by qualified majority rather than unanimity. Furious about the Commission’s proposal that CAP will be financed by its own resources, France withdrew from the working of the European Council. This policy of France is known as ‘empty chair’ crisis. De Gaulle was not only angry with the financement of CAP, but also the strengthening of the power of the EEC institutions, particularly the Commission.

Resolution of The Empty Chair Crisis, 1966 n n Belgian Foreign Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak insisted for the resolution of the conflict. Luxembourg compromise: It was agreed that in the case of decisions which may be taken by a majority vote on a proposal from the European Commission puts the interests of member states at stake, discussions must be continued until unanimity is reached: the rise of intergovernmentalism.

The Hague Conference, 1969 n n n In the Hague Conference, it was decided that the main priorities of the EEC are ‘completing, deepening, and widening’. Completing meant that single market program should be completed. For deepening, Davignon Report was prepared for possible political unification. Werner Report was prepared for the economic and monetary union. For widening, the obstacles for the accession of the new members were removed. This opened the way for the first enlargement of the EEC with Britain, Ireland Denmark in 1973. Norway could not become a member as the Norwegian people rejected the referendum on membership by 54%. Fishing and agriculture sectors were more protected in Norway than EEC.

Paris Conference, 1972 n Emphasizing the necessity of establishing economic and monetary union; ensuring stability and growth; ending disparities between regions. n It was agreed that a Regional Development Fund should be created before December 1973. n The aspirations of Paris Conference waned after the first oil and energy crisis of 1973 -1974: n After the Yom Kippur War between Israel and its neighbours in October 1973, an oil and energy crisis erupted in 1973 -1974. This crisis led to economic recession in Europe.