History of European Integration

Question 1

World War II Quick Statistics

Answer 1

• Around 50 million people died.
• 60 million people of 55 ethnic groups from 27 countries were displaced
• 45 million were left homeless
• only around 670,000 were liberated from Nazi death camps

Question 2

Europe after WWII

Answer 2

After WWII, Europe was in
ruins. It was also politically divided as most Central and Eastern European countries were de facto
occupied by the Soviet Union.

Question 3

Factors that contributed to a new perception of post-war Europe

Answer 3

1. Politics
2. Economy
3. Humanitarianism

**and the United States’ vision of the post-war world and of the reconstruction of Europe

Question 4

The Marshall Plan

Answer 4

On 5 June 1947, at a Conference at Harvard University, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall,
announced the American plan for European reconstruction. He proposed cash grants to all European nations subject to two conditions:
1. European States were to co-operate in the distribution of American aid
2. They had to progressively abolish trade barriers

Question 5

Stalin and the Marshall Plan

Answer 5

Although all European nations were invited to participate in the Marshall Plan, Joseph Stalin, the First
Secretary of the Russian Communist Party, called the Plan a capitalist plot and forced all countries under his control that had expressed interest in the Plan to withdraw.

Question 6

Results of the Marshall Plan

Answer 6

1. US$13.6 billion was transferred to Europe, in addition to US$9.5
   billion in earlier loans and US$500 million in private charity.
2. The Marshall Plan was a huge success as it helped to restore Western European trade and production while controlling inflation.
3. The Marshall Plan and the way it was administered contributed to the unity of Europe.
4. By 1951, Western Europe was booming

Question 7

EU countries & the Marshall Plan

Answer 7

Initially, 16 European countries participated in the Plan:
Austria; Belgium; Denmark; France; Greece; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; the
Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; and, the United Kingdom.
West Germany joined the Plan later, and thus through economic co-operation West Germany was reconciled with other European countries.

Question 8

The OEEC

Answer 8

Under the leadership of France and the United Kingdom, the Committee for European Economic Co-operation was set up.
It was later replaced by the permanent Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), to plan and distribute American aid.

Question 9

The Schuman Plan

Answer 9

Robert Schuman, the French minister for foreign affairs,
followed the advice of Winston Churchill, who emphasized in his speeches that France should take Germany back into the community of nations.
Schuman believed that Europe was facing three problems:
1. Economic dominance by the US.
2. Military dominance by the Soviet Union.
3. A possible war with rejuvenated Germany.

Question 10

The US and EU integration

Answer 10

The Americans supported the idea of political and economic integration in Europe since it would, in the long term, reduce the cost of their obligations and commitments in Europe.

Question 11

Robert Schuman and the Schuman Plan

Answer 11

1. Robert Schuman
   considered that the best way to achieve stability and peace in Europe was to place the production of steel and coal (then two commodities essential to conduct a conventional war) under the international control of a supranational entity.
2. On 9 May 1950 Robert Schuman announced his Plan, based on proposals put forward by Jean
   Monnet, an eminent French economist and the “father of European integration”.
3. Although in Schuman’s Plan only France and Germany were expressly mentioned, Schuman invited other European States to join, in particular the UK, Italy and the Benelux countries.

Question 12

The Schuman Plan, Germany & France

Answer 12

The Schuman Plan was enthusiastically accepted by Germany, and Konrad Adenauer, the then chancellor of Germany, saw it as a breakthrough towards the beginning of German statehood and independence.
Personally, Adenauer was in favor of closer relations with the West and of the abandonment of traditional German policy, which for centuries had concentrated on the East.
The Schuman Plan was advantageous to both Germany and France:
1. Germany it offered a way of regaining international
respectability, and in the immediate future the opportunity to gain access to the Saarland.

2. For France, the opportunity to control the German economy and to rebuild French industry.

Question 13

Result of the Schuman Plan

Answer 13

An international conference was held in Paris on 20 June 1950, attended by France; Italy; West Germany; and, the Benelux countries, to consider the Plan.

Following from this, a Treaty creating the European Coal and Steel Community was signed on 18 April 1951 in Paris and it entered into force on 23 July 1952.

Question 14

The ECSC

Answer 14

The Contracting Parties were: Belgium; France; Italy; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; and, West
Germany.
The institutional structure of the ECSC was original in that it consisted of:
1. The High Authority

2. A Special Council of Ministers.
3. The Common Assembly made up of MPs from Member States, with only supervisory and
   advisory functions.
4. A Court of Justice responsible for ensuring “that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty . . . the law is observed.”

The Treaty was concluded for a period of 50 years and expired on 23 July 2002. After its expiry the
ECSC ceased to exist.

Question 15

The Consequences of the Expiration of the ECSC

Answer 15

A Protocol on the Financial
Consequences of the Expiry of the CS Treaty and on the Research Fund for Coal and Steel was attached to the ToN (under the ToL it has become Protocol No. 37 attached to the Treaties).

Since the expiry of the ECSC, coal and steel (being goods) are subjected to rules in the Treaties.

Question 16

Reason 1 for the Demise of the ECSC

Answer 16

The first and the most important reason was that the situation for which it was created had never materialized, i.e. the fear that Germany might regain dominance in steel and coal in Europe, and that due to its dominant position other European States would not have access to steel and coal necessary to rebuild their economies.
Accordingly, the ECSC, which was
established to deal with robust demand and scarce supplies, had to deal with failing demand due to
oversupplies. The CS Treaty was not made to deal with that situation and the Member States were not willing to make changes necessary for the ECSC to adjust to new circumstances.

Question 17

Reason 2 for the Demise of the ECSC

Answer 17

The ECSC had neither created a common market in coal and steel, nor played a central role in the development of national coal and steel industries. Thus, it did not achieve the objectives for
which it was established.

This was because Member States were not interested in making the ECSC a success. The ECSC rules were not enforced. The Member States persistently protected and subsidized their national industries in breach of the CS Treaty

Question 18

The CS Treaty Mechanisms I

Answer 18

1. Eliminating national subsidies;
2. imposing transparency of prices on undertakings;
3. banning cartels;
4. adopting crisis management measures allowing the High Authority to impose production
   quotas

Question 19

The CS Treaty Mechanisms II

Answer 19

The mechanisms were hardly used until the 1980s.
For the first time in 1981, the Member States, unable to deal
with a world crisis in the iron and steel industry, agreed to empower the Commission (which took over
the tasks of the High Authority under the Merger Treaty) to take measures to permanently reduce the production of steel and to reorganize the industry.

Question 20

1990 Steel Crisis and the Doom of the CS Treaty

Answer 20

When a new crisis in steel
started in the 1990s, the majority of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, who endorsed neo-liberal free market ideas, refused to empower the Commission to intervene.

As a result, in March 1991 the Commission declared that the ECSC would cease to exist in 2002, as provided in the
CS Treaty.
The Member States had no regrets, as this ended their expensive policy of subsidizing. industries which were in decline.

Question 21

The Messina Conference

Answer 21

In June 1955 in Messina (Sicily), the foreign ministers of the Member States of the ECSC decided to “pursue the establishment of a United Europe through the development of common institutions, a progressive fusion of national economies, the creation of a common market and harmonization of social
policies”.

From this materialized two Treaties signed in Rome on 25 March 1957:

1. European Economic Community (EEC)
2. European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

The Treaties came into force on 1 January 1958. Both were concluded for an indeterminate
period of time.

Question 22

EURATOM

Answer 22

The main objective of the European Atomic Energy Community Treaty (EA Treaty) was to create “the conditions necessary for the speedy establishment and growth of
nuclear industries”.

Question 23

EURATOM Tasks

Answer 23

Laid down in Article 2 EA and encompass:
1. the promotion of research and dissemination of technical information regarding atomic
energy;

2. the establishment of uniform standards for health and safety;
3. the promotion of investment;
4. the equitable supply of ores and nuclear fuels;
5. the security of nuclear materials;
6. the international promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy;
7. the creation of a common market in this area.

**The institutional framework set up by the EA Treaty is identical to that of the EEC Treaty.

Question 24

Euratom’s Successes