European Communities Flashcards
- European Coal and Steel Community & The Treaty of Paris (1952)
1) When was it created? (Which treaty did create it?)
2) Which was its purpose?
3) Which were the institutions?
1) The European Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1951, is the first step in securing a lasting peace, and was established by the Treaty of Paris (1952-2002)
2) Based on the Schuman plan, six countries sign a treaty to run their coal and steel industries under a common management. In this way, no single country can make the weapons of war to turn against others, as in the past. The six are Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The European Coal and Steel Community comes into being in 1952.
- This eased distrust and tensions after WWII. The ECSC treaty expired in 2002.
3) a. A common High Authority (the forerunner of today’s European Commission):
- no national interests, supranational institution.
- independent collegiate executive with the task of achieving the objectives laid down by the treaty and acting in the ECSC’s general interest, it had power of decision.
- the modernisation and improvement of production;
- the supply of products under identical conditions;
- the development of a common export policy; and
- the improvement of working conditions in the coal and steel industries.
- the first president: Jeann Monnet (6 year mandate, the president appointed by the eight)
- HQ: Luxembourg
- 8 members (3*2+2)
b. Common Assembly
- HQ: Strasbourg;
- Motion of censure against the High Authority + some control over the work of HA
- supervisory & advisory power;
- 78 members (forerunner of today’s European Parliament)
- the first president: Paul-Henri Spaak
c. The Special Council of Ministers (the forerunner of today’s Council of the European Union)
- intergovernmental institution;
HQ: Brussels
- low influence in the coal and steel areas
- 6 representatives of their national governments
- the presidency was held by each ECSC country for 3 months
- role: harmonise the activities of the HA and its approval was required for important decisions taken by the HA
d. The Court of Justice (the forerunner of today’s Court of Justice of the European Union)
- 7 judges nominated for 6 years by common agreement between the governments of the ECSC countries.
- it ensured that the treaty was implemented and interpreted correctly;
The aim of the treaty, as stated in its Article 2, was to contribute, through the common market for coal and steel, to economic expansion, employment and better living standards. Thus, the institutions had to ensure an orderly supply of coal and steel to the common market by ensuring equal access to the sources of production, the establishment of the lowest prices and improved working conditions. All of this had to be accompanied by the growth in international trade and the modernisation of production.
In creating a common market, the treaty introduced the free movement of products without customs duties or taxes. It prohibited discriminatory measures or practices, subsidies, state aids or special charges imposed by states and restrictive practices.
The ECSC Treaty was the origin of the EU institutions as we know them today. Created in 1951, in the aftermath of World War II, the ECSC represented the first step towards European integration.
For more: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:xy0022
- The Schuman Delcaration
a) Context
b) Contents
c) Consequences
The Schuman Declaration was presented by French foreign minister Robert Schuman on 9 May 1950. It proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, whose members would pool coal and steel production.
a) In 1950, the nations of Europe were still struggling to overcome the devastation wrought by World War II, which had ended 5 years earlier.
- Determined to prevent another such terrible war, European governments concluded that pooling coal and steel production would – in the words of the Declaration – make war between historic rivals France and Germany “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible”.
- It was thought – correctly – that merging of economic interests would help raise standards of living and be the first step towards a more united Europe. Membership of the ECSC was open to other countries.
b)
“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.”
“Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.”
“The pooling of coal and steel production… will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims.”
- It proposes that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe.
- This production will be offered to the world as a whole without distinction or exception, with the aim of contributing to raising living standards and to promoting peaceful achievements. With increased resources, Europe will be able to pursue the achievement of one of its essential tasks, namely, the development of the African continent.
The task with which this common High Authority will be charged will be that of securing in the shortest possible time the modernization of production and the improvement of its quality
The movement of coal and steel between member countries will immediately be freed from all customs duty, and will not be affected by differential transport rates. Conditions will gradually be created which will spontaneously provide for the more rational distribution of production at the highest level of productivity.
The essential principles and undertakings defined above will be the subject of a treaty signed between the States and submitted for the ratification of their parliaments.
c) ECSC, Treaty of Paris (1952 - 2002)
Full text: https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/history-eu/1945-59/schuman-declaration-may-1950_en
- The Treaty of Rome
a) Context
b) Provisions
c) Institutional settings
- 1958 - present
- signed by the Six
- official name: The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community
- current name: TFEU - Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
The aim of the EEC and the common market was to: - transform the conditions of trade and production on the territory of its 6 members and
- serve as a step towards the closer political unification of Europe.
a) Context
- Building on the success of the Coal and Steel Treaty, the 6 founding countries expand their cooperation to other economic sectors
- They formalise this by signing two treaties, creating the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). These bodies come into being on 1 January 1958.
b) The EEC (1959 - 2009)
- create customs union and prepare the common market based on the free movement of:
goods
people
services
capital;
- the CAP (1962);
- common policies in the area of trade and transport;
- intergovernmental influence;
c) Institutions:
i. Commission instead of the HA
(legislative proposals, executive powers, president appointed by the Council)
ii. A separate Council of Ministers (1 minister / MS, 6 moths of presidency, QMV, unanimity vote)
iii. Common Parliamentary Assembly -shared with ECSC;
- European Parliament since 1962 - advisory role + 1970 budget powers;
iv. Court of Justice - share dwith ECSC
v. an informal European Council (1961)
EURATOM: European Atomic Energy Community (signed in parallel with the TFEU in 1958)
- founded by Jean Monnet
- purpose: promote peaceful nuclear development, the use of the nuclear power on a common market
- promoting research and disseminating technical information
- setting uniform safety standards to protect the public and industry workers
- to facilitate research
- to ensure civil nuclear materials are not diverted to other uses, particularly military
Institutions: \+ Common Assembly and Court of \+Justice (shared with ECSC and EEC) \+ Commission \+ Council of Ministers
The value of Euratom can be seen clearly in the context of enlargement. Nuclear power is an important energy source for many Eastern European countries, but safety standards in their nuclear power plants and the level of protection of the public and workers are not always sufficient. Euratom has provided the context for EU support.
More info: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:xy0023
- The Merger Treaty - Treaty of Brussels
a) context,
b) provisions,
c) institutional setting
- The Six, - entered into force on 1st July 1967
- The streamline of the European institutions. To create a coherent set of institutions of the 3 communities.
- created the European Communties;
a) Background:
- Before the Merger Treaty, the 3 European Communities already shared some common institutions by virtue of the 1957 Convention on certain institutions common to the European Communities: the Parliamentary Assembly (later to become the European Parliament), the Court of Justice and the Economic and Social Committee.
b) Provisions:
- anticipated future enlargement
- The first pillar - the supranational one;
- The European Communities would become the first pillar of the European Union (Maastricht, 1993)
- fostered the development of common policies: i.e. A single administrative budget for the EC (the expenditure of all EC institutions), A single administration for the EC (all the officials belong to a single administration), establishing the seats of the executive bodies of the EC in Brussels.
c) institutional settings:
- Official name; Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities
- The Commission of the European Communities replaced as a single body: The High Authority of the ECSC, The Commission of the EEC and the Commission of Euratom.
- The Council of the EC replaced as a single body The Special Council of Ministers of the ECSC, The Council of the ECC and the Council of Euratom.
!!! However, the new single executive bodies would continue to act in accordance with the treaties governing each of the 3 communities.
- The Merger Treaty was a major stepping stone toward the modern EU.
- The treaty was repealed — except for the Protocol of 8 April 1965 on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities — by the Amsterdam Treaty signed on 2 October 1997 which entered into force on 1 May 1999.
More info:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3A4301863
- The First Enlargement of the Communities
- when? 1973
Denmark, Ireland, UK, Gibraltar and Greenland also joined the EC as part of the United Kingdom and Denmark respectively.
1) UK
The United Kingdom, which had refused to join as a founding member, changed its policy following the Suez crisis (Oct 29, 1956 – Nov 7, 1956)* and applied to be a member of the Communities. Other EEC members were also inclined to British membership on those grounds. French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed British membership.
Suez Crisis - The Suez Crisis was an event in the Middle East in 1956. It began with Egypt taking control of the Suez Canal which was followed by a military attack from Israel, France, and Great Britain. The Suez Canal is an important man-made waterway in Egypt. It connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
Once de Gaulle had left office, the door to enlargement was once again opened. The EEC economy had also slowed down, and British membership was seen as a way to revitalise the community. French President George Pompidou & British PM Edward Heath
Ever since negotiations were held for its accession to the European Community, the United Kingdom had been asking for a reduction of its financial contribution.
- A compromise was ultimately reached on the role of the pound and on the level and evolution of the British contribution.
- 1974, Harold Wilson’s Labour Government requested a renegotiation of the Accession Treaty signed by the Conservative Edward Heath. To the principle of financial solidarity in the Community, it opposed the principle of a juste retour of each country’s contribution, in the shape of expenditure incurred on its territory. That accountant’s approach was extremely questionable, because it did not take account of the other economic and political advantages of belonging to the Community.
- Denmark, Ireland, Norway economically linked to the UK
Scandinavian mentality: more sympathetic to the intergovernmental model of international cooperation than to the supranational approach of the EEC
2) Norway - rejected
- Norwegian government lost a national referendum on membership and hence did not accede with the others on 1 January 1973.
- During the period of negotiations for entry, Norwegian fishing turned out to be the most sensitive issue to be resolved. Fishing was really an essential economic sector for Norway, which has more than 2000 km of coastline and exports a significant part of its fish production. Norway’s accession to the EEC would have increased Community waters by several thousand square kilometres, at a time when the Six had just agreed on equal access for the all the partners to national territorial waters.
3) Denmark
- the country’s entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) was approved in spite of the negative result from the referendum in Norway one week earlier.
- major exporter of butter hoped to benefit from its membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), all the more so because its principal markets, Britain and Germany, were members of the EEC or were preparing to join.
- In reality, agriculture ensured that there would be massive foreign investment in the country, which gave the opportunity to eliminate the balance of payments deficit and to finance industry.
4) Ireland
- in Ireland, opposition to accession was relatively weak, given the economic advantages that the country hoped to draw from its membership of the European Communities
- The Mediterranean Enlargement
1981 - Greece joined the EC.
- Association Agreement (1962) provided for a customs union between Greece and the Community
- Suspension of the AA due to the military dictatorship 1967-1974.
- pre-accession period proposed by the Commission
- GDP was 50 % below the Community average
- Greece hoped through accession to benefit from guaranteed agricultural prices, Community structural funds, growth in tourism, inflow of hard currency.
- Greek agricultural products (olive oil, wine, and fruit and vegetables) threatened to compete with products in Italy or France, which were already in surplus under the common agricultural policy (CAP).
- a seven-year transitional period (5 year first granted) - the country had to be able to integrate into the Customs Union and bring its agricultural prices into line with those of the Community.
- Andreas Papandreou - PM (1981); obtain an increase in Community aid, which, nevertheless, would barely be used to modernise the structures of the Greek economy.
1985 - Greenland voted to leave the Community
1986 - Spain, Portugal followed
*Both countries had been under dictatorships until just over a decade prior to the accession,
Spain - military dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and Portugal under the corporatist dictatorship of the Estado Nuvo (1974).
- Mario Soares (Portugal) - PM, sustained Portugal’s cause to ascending to the Community
- Portugal: free-trade agreement with the EEC since 1973
- Italy and France expressed reservations about Spain accession because of the agricultural produce that they feared would flood the European Common Market
- free movement of unemployed Spanish and Portuguese workers concerned the Member states.
1987 - Morocco and Turkey applied for the membership
17/28 Feb 1986 - the Europe of the Twelve adopted the Single European Act (SEA). In so doing, the Community — which continued working towards increased economic integration with the creation of a single market on 1 January 1993 and the establishment of a European area without internal borders — gradually discarded its purely economic character and moved towards a more closely-knit Community equipped with greater powers in the political and social spheres. The objective towards which the Community was tending therefore became a European Union (EU), as provided for in the treaty signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992.
- The history of Norway’s relations with the European Community
Norway followed closely behind the United Kingdom from the very moment that it submitted its application for accession to the EEC.
Having a Protestant tradition, Nordic public opinion was distrustful of the interventionism and centralism of the European institutions, which it saw as being potentially harmful to the Scandinavian democratic and social pattern.
Denmark and Norway have been very loyal to their national independence and to Scandinavian solidarity.
More sympathetic to the intergovernmental model of international cooperation than to the supranational approach of the EEC
In compliance with their respective constitutions, Denmark and Norway had to submit the decision on membership of the European Communities to popular referenda, since entry automatically involved the surrender of certain areas of sovereignty to Community institutions.
Denmark and Norway, who kept the EEC as their focal point, were in no hurry to move the negotiations forward [for Nordek] until such a time as they had definite knowledge of the fate of their applications for membership of the European Communities.
1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
1949 - Council of Europe
1952 - Nordic Council (Iceland, Sweden, Denmark)
1960 - EFTA
1971 - accession negotiations buried the draft treaty for a Nordic economic union (Nordek), which was aimed at facilitating the process of economic integration and the use of resources that were available on the Nordic market.
1 Jan 1973 - Norwegian government lost a national referendum on membership and hence did not accede with the others.
3 May 1973 - a free trade agreement between Norway and the European Communities in May 1973, by which the customs duty on a range of industrial products was progressively lifted.
- During the period of negotiations for entry, Norwegian fishing turned out to be the most sensitive issue to be resolved. Fishing was really an essential economic sector for Norway, which has more than 2000 km of coastline and exports a significant part of its fish production. Norway’s accession to the EEC would have increased Community waters by several thousand square kilometres, at a time when the Six had just agreed on equal access for the all the partners to national territorial waters.
Norwegian agriculture, which was based high in the mountains and was not really competitive, was largely subsidised by the Government and by local authorities. This direct financial aid was contrary to the principles of the common agricultural policy (CAP). The Norwegian Government wanted to maintain agricultural activity in the polar and sub-polar regions despite very difficult natural conditions.
The vote exposed the deep divisions in the country: the isolated fishermen and farmers of the Far north and west were wary of any foreign influence and consequently opposed the European Economic Community (EEC), whereas the city dwellers of the South and inhabitants of Oslo were more open to the world and therefore more in favour of European unification.
Moreover, the end of the 1960s had seen a significant rural exodus, which caused considerable unease amongst the inhabitants of the northern regions of the country. So European integration became the symbol of unbridled centralisation and distance from the decision-making centres, all of which alarmed those very inhabitants of the peripheral regions.
- The Single European Act:
a) context,
b) provisions,
c) reforms
a) Context
1985 - Luxembourg summit - formal agreement on the text, with some national objections
1986 - Signing of the Treaty, in Luxembourg
1986 - Denmark rejects the Treaty on matters of sovereignty, but a referendum is called to overcome the rejection and passes
Italy and Greece asked for more powers for the EP
Last ratification: Ireland (1987), after a referendum
Premises:
- Trade among the EC member states was below the expected levels
- There remained numerous incompatibilities in the way member states implemented economic provisions
- The need to set up a competitive common market
- More legitimacy on the part of the European Parliament, through changes in decision-making
- Less use of unanimity in the Council of Ministers
- A better institutional framework amid enlargement
b)
- The Single Market: 4 freedoms of movement; right to live, study, work, shop, retire; open borders
- The Cooperation Procedure for the - Single Market: more power for EP, which regulates together with the Council but can be overruled by the latter
- More QMV instead of unanimity, in the Council
- A less lengthy decision-making process
- Parliament can veto accession of new member states
- Embryonic versions of the CFSP and JHA
- A stronger European Commission
c) Institutional:
- legal basis for the European Council (1975) - created INITIALLY outside the Treaties establishing the EC
- European Parliament appeared for the first time in an act (European Parliamentary Assembly) -increased the European Parliament’s role in the Community’s legislative process by establishing a new cooperation procedure;
- enabled Parliament to reject the Council’s decision, if an absolute majority of its Members was secured at second reading, and to make limited amendment to the Commission’s proposals
- extended the possibility of the Council of Ministers to use QMV;
- Court of First Instance of the EC (CFI) - to relieve the overburdened Court of Justice and establish a second level of jurisdiction;
- enhanced the European Parliament’s powers of co-decision with regard to accession treaties and association agreements (it can veto accession of new member states)
- formalised the Commission’s participation in European Political Cooperation (EPC).
European Social Area:
- trade unions recognised by SEA
- The Commission: responsible for the reform of the Communities’ structural funds: ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), ESF (European Social Fund), EAGGF (European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.
- social policies adopted by the Council through OMV, at the proposal from the Commission following the consultation of Economic Social Committee.
European Political Cooperation:
- the Single Act introduced the concept of ‘European security’ and created a permanent Political Secretariat in Brussels.
- The Schengen Agreement: a) history,
b) members,
c) prospects
The Schengen Agreement signed on June 14, 1985 (Luxembourg), is a treaty that led most of the European countries towards the abolishment of their national borders, to build a Europe without borders known as the “Schengen Area”.
a) - Old concept, first traced in the Middle Ages. Whereas, in modern times, this idea has discoursed ever since WWII. However, concrete actions were taken in the 80s, as Europe was stuck inside a debate of 2 opposing parts: pro and against.
- France and Germany are the two pioneering countries to take the initial step regarding free movement concept, steps that were even more concrete, as they commonly agreed to move this over-debated concept into the next level. These two countries on 17 June 1984 were the first ones to bring out the above-mentioned topic within the framework of the European Council in Fontainebleau, where they all approved to define required conditions for the free movement of citizens.
Despite that Schengen Agreement – including treaties and rules were established, the real implementation of the Schengen Area finally started on 26 March 1995, where seven Schengen member countries: France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain decided to abolish their internal border checks.
b) The Agreement was signed by the five (5) following European countries:
* 1985: France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands, in Schengen, a small village in Southern Luxemburg on the river Moselle.
* 1990: Italy,
* 1991: Portugal and Spain
* 1992: Greece.
* 1995: Austria,
* 1996: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden were the new five countries to join.
* 2003: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
* 2004 Switzerland were the new fifteen countries (15) that joined
* 2008: Liechtenstein
Not in the Schengen:
* Cyprus: political and territorial problems (divisions);
- Romania & Bulgaria: approved by the EP, yet rejected by the Duch and Finnish Ministers in the Council of Ministers (the reasons issued: corruption, criminality, illegal entries of Turkish people through these territories)
c) Five years later, on 19 June 1990, a Convention was signed for the concrete implementation of the Schengen Agreement.
This convention covered issues on
* the abolition of internal border controls,
* the definition of procedures for issuing a uniform visa,
* operation of a single database for all members known as SIS – Schengen Information System
* the establishment of a cooperating structure between internal and immigration officers
- The Treaty of Maastricht (Treaty in EU - TEU): general provisions
Officially known as the Treaty on European Union, the Maastricht Treaty marked the beginning of ‘a new stage in the process of creating an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe’ by giving the previous communities a political dimension
Among its most prominent innovations, the treaty:
- lays the foundations for economic and monetary union, the single currency (the euro) and the criteria for its use;
- provides the legal basis for 6 new EU common policies;
- strengthens the powers of the European Parliament - codecision; and
- introduces the concept of European citizenship.
- application of the subsidiarity principle, whereby the EU will only act if this is more effective at the EU rather than national level.
The Treaty modifies the previous treaties of the EC
i. Paris 1952
ii. Rome 1958
iii. Single European Act, 1987
A new balance of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism
- subsidiarity (Community shall only take action where objectives can best be attained by action at Community rather than at national level. Article A provides that the Union shall take decisions as close as possible to the citizen)
- proportionality (the individual should not have his freedom of action limited beyond the degree necessary in the public interest)
Other provisions:
- The European citizenship (freedom of movement, diplomatic and consular protection, Ombudsman)
- Industrial policy
- Trans-European networks, transport policy
- Educational networks
- CAP still engulfs more than ½ of the Union’s budget
- Cohesion Policy (below 90% EU average)
- A social protocol (social protection, dialogue, employment, exclusion, work conditions)
Institutional Changes:
- More competences for the European Parliament (Co-decision)
- The names Council of the EU and Commission of the EU adopted
- Parliament confirms the European Commission
- The role of EU political parties recognized in the process of European integration
- Commission mandate increased from 4 to 5 years
- A Committee of the Regions is created
- All cooperation procedure decisions taken by QMV
- Co-decision procedure - the Community Method
- The pillar structure of the EU
- the European Communities,
- a common foreign and security policy
- Intergovernmental pillar
- Purpose: coordination of major foreign policy endeavours of member states, security, defence
- Decisions taken mostly by unanimity
- Types of actions:
- European Council - common strategies
- Council of Ministers - common positions and joint actions (General Affairs and External Relations Council)
European Commissioner for External Relations
- cooperation between EU governments on justice and home affairs.
- Intergovernmental pillar
- Purpose: police cooperation, judicial cooperation, border protection, asylum, combatting drug trafficking, fight against terrorism
- A European Arrest Warrant
- EU agencies: Europol (since 1998), Eurojust (since 2002)
* Names:
* *Justice and Home Affairs
* * Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (s. 2003)
* * Area of freedom, security and justice (s. 2009)
economic and monetary union:
Purpose: the creation of the common currency
Three steps:
- 1990-1993 - the free circulation of capitals
- 1994-1998 - convergence criteria and coordination (name adopted: euro); creation of the European Monetary Institute, then European Central Bank (1998)
- 1999-2002 - fixed exchange rates, the scriptural and then physica
l currency (11 then 12 countries joined, 3 opted-out
Convergence criteria (Maastricht criteria)
- Inflation rate not higher than 1.5% compared to the 3 best performing states
- Government deficit not higher than 3% of GDP annually
- Government debt max. 60% of GDP
- ERM II for two consecutive years, currency stability
- Interest rates not higher than 2% compared to the 3 countries with the lowest rates
- The EU accession wave of 1995
1995 - Austria, Finland, and Sweden
All these states were previous members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and had traditionally been less interested in joining the EU than other European countries
The three states, plus Norway and Switzerland (which never joined due to their referendum results) began to look at stronger ties with the EU (which was the European Economic Community (EEC) before 1993) towards the end of the 1980s for three principal reasons:
- the 1980s economic downturn in Europe,
- difficulties for EFTA companies to export to the EU and
- the end of the Cold War
After the 1970s, Europe experienced a downturn which led to leaders launching of the Single European Act which set to create a single market by 1992. The effect of this was that EFTA states found it harder to export to the EEC and businesses (including large EFTA corporations such as Volvo) wished to relocate within the new single market, making the downturn worse for EFTA. EFTA states began to discuss closer links with the EEC despite its domestic unpopularity
Finally, Austria, Finland and Sweden were neutral in the Cold War so membership of an organisation developing a common foreign and security policy would be incompatible with that. As that obstacle was removed, the desire to pursue membership grew stronger
However membership was still domestically unpopular and the then-EEC was also uninterested in another enlargement. The EEC had begun working on the creation of a common currency and did not want another enlargement to divert their attention away from that project. Commission President Jacques Delors proposed the European Economic Area to give EFTA access to the EU’s internal market without full membership. While they would not have a say in the creation of EU law, it would be easier to sell to their electorates.
Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden all applied for full membership of the EU and the EU agreed to enter negotiations. The EU’s change of heart was also due to predicted enlargement of the EU towards countries mostly in central Europe, invited by the European Commission in 1997 and eventually completed in 2004, and hence the wealthy EFTA members would help balance the EU budget.
The impact of the 1995 enlargement was smaller than most as the members were wealthy and already culturally aligned with existing members. It did however create a Nordic bloc in the Council, with Sweden and Finland backing up Denmark on environmental and human rights issues (which Austria also backed up) and the Nordic countries also called for membership of the Baltic states. As net contributors to the EU budget, they also increased the voice for budgetary reform.
This enlargement began to show the problems with the EU’s institutional structure, such as the size of the Commission (with minor jobs insulting the state receiving them) and the Council’s voting rules meaning states representing 41% of the population could be outvoted. This resulted in the increase in the blocking minority in the Council and the loss of the larger states’ second European Commissioner. Planning also began on new amending treaties to ready the bloc for the next enlargement
- The Treaty of Amsterdam:
a) challenges,
b) provisions,
c) shortcomings
As a legal document, the Treaty of Amsterdam has as main objective to modify certain regulations of the Treaty of the European Union, the constituent treaties of the European Communities (Paris and Rome) and of some acts related to them. It does not substitute the previous treaties, but rather it is added.
Approach:
- More supranational decisions
- More democracy in EU decision-making
- More QVM and co-decision
In 1998, the European Council, held in Cologne, decided to begin drafting a Charter of Fundamental Rights. The treaty considered that the fundamental rights applicable at Union level should be strengthened in a Charter in order to raise awareness of them among citizens.
The Community Treaties, international conventions such as the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights and the 1989 European Social Charter, constitutional traditions common to the member States and various European Parliament declarations. Based on the Community Treaties, international conventions such as the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights and the 1989 European Social Charter, constitutional traditions common to the member States and various European Parliament declarations.
- British government signed, presided over by Tony Blair, of the Social Charter annexed to the Treaty of Maastricht.
- This Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, commonly known as the Social Charter, was included in the Treaty of Amsterdam. It is a political instrument that contains moral obligations to guarantee the respect of certain social rights. They are related to labour market, vocational training, equal opportunities and the working environment.
- All affairs related to free movement of persons; controls on external borders; asylum, immigration and safeguarding of the rights of third-country nationals; and judicial cooperation in civil matters were “communised” by the Treaty of Amsterdam, that is to say, they were brought under the legal framework of the first pillar.
- To this effect, the Schengen Agreement and Convention were included in the Treaty. United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark voluntarily stayed out and, therefore, kept the right of exercising controls on people in their frontiers. Denmark joined Schengen in 1996.
Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (fight against racism and xenophobia, terrorism, drugs traffic , fraud, and international organised crime and money-laundering) continued included in the third pillar and, accordingly, are matters of intergovernmental cooperation. The objectives of making easier the judicial collaboration, facilitating the extradition procedures among member States and fomenting police collaboration, were settled on. In this way, a gradual program of development of the Europol (European Police Office) activities was agreed.
A major problem of the EU common foreign and security policy from its start with the Treaty of Maastricht has been the conspicuous imbalance between its ambitious objectives and the meagre means the Union counts on to accomplish them.
The reform of the EU institutions:
- The competences of the European Parliament were enhanced (member states agreed to transfer certain powers from national governments to the European Parliament across diverse areas, including legislating on immigration, adopting civil and criminal laws, and enacting common foreign and security policy (CFSP), as well as implementing institutional changes for expansion as new member nations join the EU.), as well as the functions of the Court of Auditors, Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions.
The European Parliament endorsed the treaty on 19 November 1997, and after two referendums and 13 decisions by parliaments, the member states finally concluded the procedure.
- Some reforms were also established in the functioning of the Commission and the Council of the European Union.
c) The Treaty of Amsterdam attracted widespread criticism. These are some of the main critical remarks:
It did not solve one of the greatest pending problems of the Union: the adaptation of the institutions to a increasingly wider Community. Some institutions were thought for an inferior number of member States and are not efficient for the Europe of the Fifteen, not to mention for the future Union that will arise from the future accession of Central and Eastern Europe countries.
For the more pro-Europe point of view, the Treaty was not a step courageous enough towards political Union. Community competences in spheres as common foreign and security policy (CFSP) or police and judicial cooperation were not enhanced.
No advance was done to work out the so known democratic deficit of the Union. The negotiations that precede the Treaty continued being based on give and take between governments and States, with neither public participation, nor transparent and sufficient information. The European Parliament, the sole community elected institution, role has not been sufficiently boosted. The text of the treaty went on being quite complicated -it consists of three parts, one annex and thirteen protocols- and is not easily intelligible neither to citizens, nor, even, to legal, economic and political agents that should act according to its regulations.
- A step towards further enlargement, but not a decisive one
- A new definition of QMV remained necessary
- The number of members in the European Commission was not settled for enlargement purposes
b) Provisions (sumed-up)
- Free movement of persons, visas, asylum and immigrationenter the Community pillar
- Employment and social protection become key to the Union (UK accepts the social protocols)
- The European Council defines common strategies within the CFSP
- A High Representative for the CFSP (Secretary General of the Council)
- Co-decision expanded to employment, social policy, health, transport and the environment
- QMV in the Council for employment, social exclusion, customs and data protection
- EU enhanced cooperation created
- EU Commission President has to seek the vote of confidence by the European Parliament
- The Schengen Convention becomes part of the acquis
- The third pillar is renamed Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters
- The Treaty of Nice: paving the way for East-Central Europe’s membership
Premises:
- Addressing the failures of the Treaty of Amsterdam
- Paving the way for E-C Europe enlargement
- Signed in 2001, ratified in 2003
- Type: amending
Approach:
- Unanimity mostly replaced by QMV in the Council
- Redefine QMV in the Council of Ministers
- Set the number of Commissioners
Provisions:
- QMV defined as no. of states, votes allocated and population (triple majority)
- EP seats increased to 732
- European Commission: each state would delegate one member (as of 2005), but no more than 27 in total
- Facilitates the work of the European Court of Justice
- Easier ways to sanction member states
- Enhanced cooperation reinforced
- Transition of the ECSC to the EU
Ratification (2001-2003)
- 1 referendum (Ireland)
- Failed in 2001 (neutrality concerns, role of small member states)
- Major campaign, concessions - clear ratification in 2002
- 14 national parliamentary ratifications
- Approval of the European Parliament
Shortcomings
- The Treaty fostered a two-speed Europe
- No legal personality for the Union
- Complicated text, no unified treaty
- No Charter of Fundamental Rights (had been drafted in 2000)
- The East-Central European enlargement waves:
a) historical background,
b) impact,
c) challenges
a) The countries in Central and Eastern Europe had emerged from dictatorships and wanted to consolidate their democracies.
- They also wanted to join the project of European integration and ensure they did not fall back into the Russian sphere of influence.
- EU & NATO seen as a safe space of economic growth and stability
Following this Romania and Bulgaria, though were deemed initially as not fully ready by the commission to join in 2004, acceded nevertheless on 1 January 2007
