Lecture on History of the European Union

Question 1

What was the prime concern after World War II?

Answer 1

How can Europe avoid another war?

Question 2

What were three schools of thought implying the three different solutions?

Answer 2

1. German Deindustrialization
2. Communism
3. European Integration

Question 3

What did the rejection of the Soviet Vision by America and Britain lead to?

Answer 3

Cold War

Question 4

What plan did the US suggest for economic recovery?

Answer 4

(1948) Marshall Plan

Question 5

What organisation was founded to administer the Marshall plan and prompt trade liberalization?

Answer 5

European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)

Question 6

What did the OEEC lead to?

Answer 6

It advanced European integration, by removing quotas on intra-OEEC trade and establishing the European Payments Union

Question 7

What did the need to embed Germany in a European supranational structure lead to?

Answer 7

It led to the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, 1951) - they place their coal and steel secturs under control of a supranational authority

Question 8

What attempts for european integration failed in between 1951 and 1957?

Answer 8

The creation of the European Defence Community (EDC) and the European Political Community?

Question 9

Riding on the success of the ESCS, the “six” commited to form a customs union, what was it called?

Answer 9

The European Economic Community (EEC, 1957)

Question 10

What did the European Economic Community (EEC, 1957) promise?

Answer 10

• Free labour mobility
• Capital market intgration
• Free trade in services
• Range of common policies

Question 11

What did the EEC lead to compared to non-EEC europeans?

Answer 11

Discrimination to non-EEC europeans, including OEEC

Question 12

What free trade area was opposed to EEC, which was a customs union?

Answer 12

the European Free Trade Assocation (EFTA, 1960)

Question 13

What is intergovernmentalism?

Answer 13

Nations retains all sovereignty, (economic) cooperation only when necessary and agreed upon (OEEC and EFTA, Council Of Europe (1949) and the Court of Human RIghts (1950)

Question 14

What is federalism?

Answer 14

Embed nations in a supranational structure (EEC, EDC, EPC), embodied with some of the powers that had traditionally been exercised exclusively by nations

Question 15

What did the first years of European Integration after WW II mainly involve?

Answer 15

Geo-strategic thinking

Question 16

What did falling trade barriers within the EEC and within EFTA (but not between) lead to?

Answer 16

Discrimination

Question 17

Firms based in the remaing EFTA would suffer a disadvantage and industries pushed their government to address this situation: what did this result in?

Answer 17

A set of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) between each remaining EFTA nation and the EEC

Question 18

What were the causes of Euro-pessimism 1.0 in the 1970’s?

Answer 18

• Political shocks such as the luxembourg compromise and unanimity
• Economic shocks such as Bretton Woods falling apart and 1973 + 1979 oil price shocks

Question 19

What was the Single European Market (SMP)?

Answer 19

The Single European Market (SMP), also known as the Single Market, is an integrated market within the European Union (EU) that allows for the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among EU member states.

Question 20

Who launched completion of the internal market?

Answer 20

Jacques Delors

Question 21

What kind of institutional changes did SMP lead to?

Answer 21

• European Community (EC) / European Union
• Majority Voting

Question 22

What are the basic elements of the Single Market Programme (SMP)?

Answer 22

• Goods trade liberalization
• Factor trade liberalization

Question 23

What was the European Economic Area (EEA)

Answer 23

An extension of the single market by incorporating Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein

Question 24

What was the swiss solution?

Answer 24

Complicated set of bilateral, EEA-like treaties with the EU

Question 25

What were the central and eastern European countries called?

Answer 25

CEECs

Question 26

What did the polish labour movement “Solidarity” force?

Answer 26

Free parliamentary elections which communists lost

Question 27

What were the Copenhagen criteria (1993) for accession of CEECs to the EU

Answer 27

• Political stability of institutions
• A functioning market economy
• Community “acquis”

Question 28

What did the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992 talk about?

Answer 28

Monetary union by 1999, single currency in circulation by 2002

EU citizenship
- Strengthened EU cooperation economic-areas
- Strengthened the power of the European Parliament

Question 29

What are ratification difficulties?

Answer 29

• Britain opted out of common currency
• Danish voters rejected the Treaty and reversed their choice only once Denmark opted out of common currency

Question 30

How can we describe the economic integration during the 1990s and much of the 2000s?

Answer 30

Great moderation: growth, low and stable inflation

Question 31

What do anti-EU populists push for?

Answer 31

More intergovernmentalism

Question 32

What did the Britains lack regarding their Brexit?

Answer 32

They lacked a plan on how to leave the EU and about the future relationship

Question 33

What did the COVID19 pandemic lead to in the EU?

Answer 33

A resurgence in national unilateralism

Question 34

What plan shifts the EU priorities towards climate change issues?

Answer 34

European Green Deal and Carbon Neutrtality by 2050