EU law Flashcards
What were the 3 original communities that existed ?
1) the european coal and steel community (ECSC)
2) the european economic community (EEC)
3) the european atomic energy community (EURATOM)
what was the umbrella pillar that the treaty brought these communities under?
The European Community Treaty
What were the two further pillars?
1) the common foreign and security policy
2) provision on police and judicial cooperation on criminal matters
Why was the union set up?
To put an end to the wars
Talk about the economic development of the EC?
After the European Community was set up. It established the international monetary fund, the general agreements on tariffs and trade, the Marshall plan, the organisation for the European economic co-operation. These were designed to but the EC back on its financial path.
The Schuman Plan
They proposed the linking of the French and German coal and steel industries, which would be taken
out of the hands of the nation states and put under the control of a supernational body
The Schuman Plan
Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg, which form the Benelux nations, had already moved ahead with their customs union, and also saw the benefits to be gained from membership and this form of integration.
The Schuman Plan
Italy also considered it to be in its economic interest to join and considered it to be a resistance to further Communist gains in the state.
The treaty of paris 1951
6 nations went ahead to sign the treaty of paris 1951
The European Coal and Steel Community
The ECSC Treaty was a mix of both intergovernmental and supranational integration, as the institutions set up included both the High Authority, a supranational body, and the Council of Ministers from the member states – an essentially intergovernmental body.
The European Coal and Steel Community
The ECSC Treaty was a mix of both intergovernmental and supranational integration, as the institutions set up included both the High Authority, a supranational body, and the Council of Ministers from the member states – an essentially intergovernmental body.
The European Coal and Steel Community
it was assumed by some - the so-called neo-functionalists – that further integration would be inevitable. The ECSC treaty expired in 2002.
The proposed European defence Community and European Political Community
Monnet also put forward a proposal (the Pleven Plan) for a European Defence Community (EDC) in 1953. European Political Community (EPC) was also proposed in 1953, to provide overseeing political control and foreign policy for the EDC.
Jean Monnet
Jean Monnet resigned as the president of the high authority in order to promote further European integration. He worked with the Benelux nations. He believed that nations should integrate many more aspects of their economies.
what were the external catalysts?
There were also additional external catalysts for further integration, including the Algerian war of independence, the Soviet suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, and the Suez Canal invasion by France and the UK.
the institutions of the EEC
At first, all three Communities each had their own institutions but shared a Court of Justice (COJ) and the Parliamentary Assembly. The separate institutions were later merged under the Treaty, establishing a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities (the Merger Treaty) in 1965, which entered into force in 1967, and the provisions of which have been incorporated into the present Treaties. the EEC Treaty was the most important
Integration in the Communities and EU:
It was originally considered that because there was success in certain policies, this would automatically lead to a spill-over from one area to another, thus brining about increasing integration.
This is termed “functional integration’ or ‘neofunctionalism’. Others have described this as ‘creeping federalism’.
Integration in the communities and EU
sector-by-sector integration and the process of European union was regarded as an inevitable process.
Integration in the communities and EU
The fiscal policies must be integrated, and this economic integration would require that political integration would have to follow in order to provide stable and consistent policy control over the economic conditions applying in the Union.
Integration in the communities and EU
The original plans put forward by Monet for the ECSC may have been much more federal in nature and openly so, particularly as the Community was to be governed by a supranational High Authority only, but it was at the insistence of the member states that the original ECSC Treaty established a Council of Ministers, clearly intergovernmental, and a Parliamentary Assembly of member state representatives.
Integration in the communities and EU
Despite the failure of the EDC and EPC, the ECSC remained successful and was complemented in 1957 by the other two Communities.
integration in the communities and EU
the success in the area of the common customs tariff appeared to work as envisaged by the neofunctionalists/federalists and led to spill-over into other areas, and in particular to further
pressure for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
integration in the communities and EU
The agreed decision by the member states in June 2007 at the Brussels European Council Summit to abandon the Constitutional Treaty (CT) and to replace it by a Reform Treaty, which is argued to be far less supranational in nature, may be seen as providing a clear and deliberate halt to progress to a
federal Europe, although that too could change in time.
Developments following the European Treaties
The dismantling of customs duties was achieved by the original six member states, and the Common Market for the free movement of goods was largely achieved ahead of the target year of 1969, set down in the EEC Treaty.
Developments following the European Treaties
competition policy and the CAP- successful in terms of guaranteeing production, but the object of criticism ever since because its price-support mechanisms have generated overproduction–are both regarded as successes.
Developments following the European Treaties
the Communities did not expand until 1973, nor integrate any further until 1986, much of which was to do with the rejection by de Gaulle of the UK applications and the creation of a national
veto established under the Luxembourg Accords as a compromise to the stalemate the member states found themselves in when de Gaulle effectively blocked further integration.
Developments following the European Treaties
The member states held a summit in The Haque in 1969 to try to get the Communities moving again, which set as its goals the completion, widening, and deepening of the Communities. Although the completion of the Common Market, which should have been fully achieved by 1969, took considerably longer and actually had to wait until 1992, the widening and deepening of the Communities were processes always intended to be ongoing.
The widening of the communities
- 1973-first expansion of members: Denmark, Ireland, and the UK
- 1981 and 1986-second expansion: Greece, Portugal, and Spain
1990-due to the reunification of Germany, East Germany is assimilated
1995-expansion: Austria, Finland, and Sweden - 2004- expansion: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia, and Slovenia
2007-expansion: Bulgaria and Romania - 2013-expansion: Croatia
Second expansion
None of these three countries were economically in a strong position in relation to the existing member states, and in view of this all were regarded by some as unfit for membership Politically, however, their acceptance into the Communities was regarded as crucial to support the recently emerged democracies in all of these countries after varying periods of authoritarian of dictatorial right-wing rule, and further, to act as a counter-force to any possible violent reaction to the Left and
possible establishment of governments sympathetic to Moscow.
Second expansion
None of these three countries were economically in a strong position in relation to the existing member states, and in view of this all were regarded by some as unfit for membership Politically, however, their acceptance into the Communities was regarded as crucial to support the recently emerged democracies in all of these countries after varying periods of authoritarian of dictatorial right-wing rule, and further, to act as a counter-force to any possible violent reaction to the Left and
possible establishment of governments sympathetic to Moscow.
East Germany assimilated
A smaller automatic expansion took place in 1990, with the reunification of West and East Germany as the first concrete change to result from the fall of the Communist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.
Setting terms for future expansion
The German mini expansion awakened the Communities to the possibility of a number of the former Eastern European states seeking membership and prompted a longer-term evaluation of the conditions required of aspirant member states.
Setting terms for future expansion
The next and fourth enlargement took place sooner than expected as a result of the changes in Eastern Europe and the economic success facilitated by the Single European Act (SEA).
The European Economic Area
the economic benefits of the SEA enjoyed by the member states of the communities, other European states, most of which had cooperation or association agreements with the communities and were members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), started to make overtures to the Communities for greater cooperation and some for possible membership.
The European Economic Area
Additionally, prior to the collapse of Communism in Europe in the late 1980s, some of the EFTA member states were uncertain for various reasons, including their neutrality and post-Second World War constitutional position, whether full membership was politically feasible or possible.
The European Economic Area
a lesser form of integration was proposed by the European Commission, in which the participants could benefit from the advantages of the single market and the competition policy, but
not be involved in the other economic or political aspects of the Communities, including decision making.
The European Economic Area
the negotiations for this new form of cooperation were very drawn out and subject to considerable delays
