History of EU Flashcards
Definition of Regional Integration
- Elimination of economic frontiers between two or more nations
- Transfer of authority over key economic policy areas and regulation to a supranational level
Stages of Economic Integration
- Free Trade Area
- Customs Union (common tariffs for all countries in the zone)
- Common Market (CU + free movement of labour + capital)
- Economic Union (CM + same economic policies)
- Monetary Union (not necessarily the same currency)
- Total Economic Integration (e.g. USA, Switzerland, Belgium)
Positive vs. negative Integration
Negative: Reduction of internal barriers
Positive: new policies engage collaboration, create new competencies on a supranational level, etc.
Extent of economic setbacks in early post war period
Economic setback in 1945 (measured by GDP levels equalling year…) ranging between
- 1886 (Austria)
- 1891 (France)
- 1908 (Germany)
- 1938 (Finland)
What was a defining moment in Europe and a precursor of European integration in post-war Europe?
The merger of the French, US and UK occupied-zones in West-Germany.
Post-war actions
- Marshal Plan (1948): USA offered financial assistance for economic reconstruction
- > new view: trade liberalization could be pro-growth and pro-industrialization
- > best to embed an economically and militarily strong West Germany into a supranational Europe
Intergovernmentalism and examples
Nations retain all sovereignty
e.g. OEEC (1948), Council of Europe (1949), Court of Human Rights (1950), and EFTA (1960)
Federalism
Supranational institutions
(e. g.
- European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC signed in 1951: F, D, I, BENELUX);
- European Defense Community (EDC, signed in 1952);
- Messina Conference (1955) resulted in 2 Treaties of Rome (1957) -> EEC, European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom))
Situation by the late 1960s in Europe
- EFTA and EEC formed two non-overlapping circles
- > EEC was more attractive for exporters, wages and growth was higher
- > pressure for EFTA countries to apply for EEC (Denmark, Ireland, UK, Norway (stopped in referendum))
Main freedoms of Rome Treaty
- Free movements of goods
- Free movements of services
- Free movements of labour
- Free movements of capital
Main policy areas of Rome Treaty
- Common trade policy
- Common competition policy
- Common agricultural policy (CAP)
- Common transport policy
Reasons for Euro-pessimism in 1970/80s
1973-1986:
- Political shocks (‘Luxembourg Compromise’ + enlargement)
- Economic shocks (Bretton Woods, failed EEC monetary union, oil crisis, introduction of technical barriers)
- Bright spots (e.g. democracy in Spain, Portugal and Greece and EEC enlargement); 1987: Single European Act; 1992: Single Market Programme
Single Market Programme (1987)
- Area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured.
- Institutional changes: majority instead of unanimity decision-making
- Goods trade liberalization
- Factor trade liberalization
Goods trade liberalization
- Streamlining or elimination of border formalities
- Harmonization of VAT rates within wide bands
- Liberalization of government procurement
- Harmonization and mutual recognition of technical standards in production, packaging and marketing
Factor trade liberalization
- Removal of all capital controls
- Liberalization of cross-border market-entry policies, including mutual recognition of approval by national regulatory agencies
