EU Integration Theories

Question 1

Realism

Answer 1

Main ideas :
States only cooperate with each other based on their national interest

Nature - Descriptive

Historical Period - Pre WWII

Question 2

Federalism

Answer 2

Spinelli

Main ideas :

• Federation → Constitution → Peace
• Big bang federation (states giving up their sovereignty very quickly after the war)
• Peace is the goal → Function follows form (First you have the legal framework, the form, and that brings enough unity to bring the functions about)

Nature - Normative (how it should be)

No period because normative (except Monet)

Question 3

Functionalism

Answer 3

Mitrany

Main ideas :

• International Functional Agencies will force the states to cooperate
• No politics involved
• For that states must give up the control of certain tasks to the agencies, so much that at some point they will not have control anymore and will be too interdependent for war
• Form follows function → Because every agency has its own task, function, the form will come out of it later
• Jean Monet’s functionalism → Between functionalism and federalism

Nature - Normative theory for prevention of war (except for Monnet)

Period - No Period (except Monet)

Question 4

Neo-functionalism

Answer 4

Haas and Lindbergh

Main ideas :

• Spill-over → Integration in one area will lead and force integration in another area
• Functional spill-over → Integration in one field of the economy leads to another
• Geographical spill-over → Enlargement
• Political and cultivated spill-over → Interests groups of national states push towards european institutions (political) and european institutions pulling towards integration (cultivated)

Nature - Descriptive

Historical Period :

• EEC
• The Hague Summit (idea)
• TEU

Question 5

Inter-governmentalism

Answer 5

Moravsic and Hoffmann

Main ideas :

• To criticise neo-functionalism
• Similar to realism → States cooperate with each other based on their national interest
• Global context → (history, social, political, economical…) influences nationals interests and therefore integration
• Moravsic → Liberal inter-governmentalism → Economic national interest
• High politics (defence, sovereignty) will not integrate as well as low politics and therefore prevent spill-over

Nature - Descriptive

Historical Period :

• EDC and EPC
• 1963 and 65 crisis
• The Hague Summit (fail)
• SEA
• TEU
• Failure of the Constitutional Treaty

Question 6

Multi-level governance

Answer 6

Hoogue and Marks

Main ideas :

• Different layers (day to day) - National, EU, Citizens, Governance
• Very diplomatic → Mix of theories

Nature - Descriptive

Historical Period :

• SEA
• Failure of Constitutional Treaty
• After TEU, application to current events