1. 
Contemporary Europe
The Evolution of the EU:
1950s to present
PART I
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

2.  Serious efforts to encourage integration: Second WW
 Economic reconstruction, security in the face of Cold war
tensions, efforts to prevent European nationalism spilling into
conflict
 Traditional hostility between France and Germany
 Cooperation thought to provide the foundations for broader EU
integration
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

3.  A modest step in 1949, creation of the Council of Europe
 May 9th
1950, French Foreign Minister, Robert Shuman
announces a plan for Europe’s coal and steel industries
 The ECSC in 1952 (6 member states)
 1958, creation of the EEC (European Economic Community)
 Ambitious set of goals: development of a single market, common
policies on agriculture, competition, trade and transport
 Other Countries apply for membership
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

4.  1st
Enlargement: 1973 (Britain, Denmark and Ireland)
 2nd
Enlargement: 1980s (Greece, Portugal, and Spain)
 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden
 Single Market boosted up with the Single European Act in 1986:
5 year deadline for removal of remaining barriers
 Progress on monetary union, with the 1999 launch of the euro
(12 national currencies replaced)
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

5.  Focus of enlargement shifts eastward: 12 new Eastern European
countries join in 2004-2007, 2013 Croatia (28 members and more
than 500 million citizens)
 Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey
 Progress on developing common policies on a wide range of
issues
 Disappointment over EU’s role in foreign and security policy,
and EU constitution draft in 2005 (France and Netherland
negativity)
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

6.  New Treaty of Lisbon: most content of the drafted
Constitutional Treaty: make EU more efficient
 Global Economic downturn of 2007-2010: new problems to the
mix
 Remaining economic weaknesses and vulnerabilities of Europe
emphasized, the Euro’s performance tested
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

7.  WWII: more than 40 million dead plus widespread devastation,
agricultural production halved, food rationed, communications
disrupted
 Beginning of the end of European Empires: emergence of the US
and SU as superpowers
 Europe’s reconstruction needed substantial capital, readiest
source: US: Large Investment through the Marshall’s plan
The Idea of Europe
Postwar Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

8.  Second postwar priority: security from threats, internal and
external
 Winston Churchill warns of the Iron Curtain in 1946, 1948
Britain, France and Benelux form a Western Union (military
cooperation)
 1949, North Atlantic Treaty Organization created
 July 1956 Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized
the Suez Canal (owned by France and Britain)
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

9.  France and Britain conspire with Israel to launch invasion of the
canal
 US divided between Egypt and Hungary
 UN Security Council, prompted by the US, ostracizes Britain
and France
 Britain and France no longer world powers, sign a programme of
decolonization, Britain looks up to Europe for its interests, West
Europeans recognize US as dominant party in the Atlantic
Alliance
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

10.  Major obstacles to peace?
 Economic Reconstruction and military security critical to the
future of the region
 Churchill feels new entity should be based around France and
Germany and not necessarily include Britain
 The Congress of Europe held in 1948 agreed the creation of
Council of Europe later founded in 1949 in London’s signing
The Idea of Europe
1st
steps towards integration
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

11.  The Council nothing more than a loose intergovernmental
organization, not what European Federalists wanted
 French entrepreneur and bureaucrat, Jean Monnet and Robert
Schuman not satisfied with Council of Europe, set to resolve the
perennial problem of Franco-German relations
 By 1950s, everyone felt West Germany needed to be rebuilt to
play a greater role in Western alliance
 Monnet thought integrating coal and steel would make WG
reliant on trade with the rest of Europe
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

12.  Monnet proposes new Institution independent of national gov’ts:
supranational than intergovernmental
 May 9th
1950, plan announced by Schuman
 The Schuman Declaration envisages unification of Europe in a
step by step process
 French and German coal and steel production placed under a
common “High Authority, within the framework of an
organization open to the participation of the other countries of
Europe” and thus war be “not merely unthinkable but materially
impossible
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

13.  Only 4 accept: Italy (respectability and econ. & polit. stability),
and the Benelux countries (heavily reliant on exports, ensure
security by being a part of bigger regional unit)
 Britain had extensive interests outside Europe, exported little of
its steel to the continent, Labor Gov’t nationalizes coal and steel,
did not like the supranational character
 Ireland heavily agricultural and dependent on Britain
 Denmark and Norway’s memories of German occupation too
fresh
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

14.  Austria, Finland and Sweden: protect neutrality
 Portugal and Spain: dictatorship with little interest in int’l
cooperation
 Easter Europe: Out of the question?
 Treaty of Paris in April 1951 creates the ECSC
 ECSC managed by nine member High Authority with its first
president?
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

15.  Decisions taken by a six member Special Council of Ministers
 78-member Common Assembly helps allay the fears of nat’l
Gov’ts regarding surrender of powers
 Disputes to be settled by seven-member Court of Justice
 ECSC: limited goals and powers, but notable for ?
 Allowed to reduce tariff barriers, abolish subsidies, fix prices,
and raise money by imposing levies on steel and coal production
 Failed its goals, but proved the feasibility of integration
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

16.  European integration moves ahead ambitiously
 June 1955 in Italy, ECSC foreign ministers agree to adopt
proposal “to work for the establishment of a united Europe by
the development of common institutions, the progressive fusion
of nat’l economies, the creation of a common market, and
progressive harmoiztion of policies”
 Two Treaties of Rome signed in March 1957: one creating the
EEC and the other the European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom)
The Idea of Europe
The European Economic Community 1955-86
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

17.  The EEC had similar administrative structure to the ECSC with
appointed Commission, a Council of Ministers with powers over
decision making, and a Court of Justice
 New 142-member Parliamentary Assembly created to cover the
EEC, ECSC and Euratom, renamed to European Parliament in
1962
 The EEC Treaty committed the 6 Six to the creation of a common
market within 12 years: removing all restrictions on the internal
movement of people, money and services, setting of a common
external tariff for goods coming into the EEC, development of
common agricultural, trade and transport policies
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

18.  Creation of the European Social Fund and European Investment
Bank
 Action taken where there was agreement, disagreements set
aside for future discussion
 Euratom aimed to create common market for atomic energy, but
only France interested thus Euratom focused primarily on
research
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

19.  The early years of the EEC seen in the light of int’l
developments: threats posed by Soviets were clear, WE rely on
security guarantees by the US, differences of opinion within the
Atlantic Alliance (e.g. Korean war, Cuban missile crisis, conflict
in Vietnam)
 Amidst these changes in Int’l Affairs, EEC realizes that it needs
to expand if its effects were to reach beyond the exclusive club of
6
 Any state, allowed to join under the terms of the Treaty of Rome
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

20.  Non-members had mixed feeling about the EEC, Britain nostalgic
of its world power, however, influence in Europe lays with the EEC
and risks isolation if it stays out
 EEC made substantial econ. & polit. progress thus Britain wanted
access to the rich market
 August 1961, Britain applies for EEC membership along with
Denmark and Ireland, joined in 1962 by Norway
 Denmark’s motive was agricultural, producing 3 times more food
than it needed, also considers boosting its industries
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

21.  Norway realizes the importance of the EEC market
 Ireland sees membership as way of furthering industrial plans
and reducing agricultural dependence on Britain
 Austria, Sweden, and Switzerland apply for associate
membership followed in 1962 by Malta, Portugal and Spain
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

22.  Negotiations between Britain and the EEC open in 1962, however,
President Charles de Gaulle aborts as he sees Britain rival to French
influence within the EEC, resents for earlier indifference towards
integration, also feels US will have too much influence in Europe
 January 1963, vetoes British membership (Denmark, Ireland and
Norway)
 Britain reapplies in 1967
 Gaulle resigns in 1969 and Britain applies and gets accepted
 January 1973, Britain, Denmark and Ireland join the EEC
 Norway fails in public referendum
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

23.  Enlargement in 1980s pushes EEC borders further south and west
 Greece previously turned down in 1950s due to its weak economy,
given associate membership in 1961, Greek Military coup of 1967,
applies in 1974 and joins in January 1981
 1975, possibility for Spain and Portugal for EEC membership real,
however, despite concern over fishing rights and workers moving
north EEC felt membership would encourage democracy in the
Iberian peninsula and link the two to NATO and WE
 January 1986, the 10 became the 12
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

24.  Doubling of the members has serious consequences:
 - increases global influence
 - changes the dynamic of the Community’s decision making
 - reduces overall influence of France and Germany
 - alters the relations with the US and developing countries
 - alters its internal economic balance ?
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

25.  Rather than enlarging further, the EEC now concentrates on
deepening relations amongst the 12
 1987 – Turkey
 1989 – Austria
 1990 – Cyprus and Malta
 East Germany enters through the back door ? October 1990
 No enlargement till 1995
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

26.  By 1986, the EEC had become known as the EC, members
combined to 322 million and accounted for just over 1/5 of world
trade
 The EC: own administrative infrastructure & independent body of
law, its citizens had direct, but limited, representation through the
Parliament
 Progress towards integration remains uneven: decision taken by
Gov’tal leaders and technocrats, ordinary Europeans indifferent
 Customs Union in place, but different nat’l technical, health and
quality standards and varying levels of indirect taxations prove to be
a handicap for the common market
The Idea of Europe
Economic and Social Integration 1972-92
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

27.  It was clear that true single market required a common European
currency
 Controversial due to loss of national sovereignty and move towards
political union
 EC leaders respond with the creation of the European Monetary
System and the signature of the Single European Act
 Need to encourage stable exchange rates: a priority
 Leaders divided whether economic or monetary Union should come
1st
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

28.  Community Leaders discuss possible economic and monetary union
(EMU) in 1969
 1979 new initiative launched: the European Monetary System (EMS)
 EMS designed to control fluctuations in exchange rates
 EMU back on track by the 1994
 Meanwhile, concern that progress was handicapped by inflation and
unemployment led the National Gov’ts to protect home industries with
subsidies (non-tariff barriers)
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

29.  Economic competition from US and Japan
 February 1986 in Luxembourg, Single European Act was signed, the
1st
major change since the Treaty of Rome
 Came into force in July 1987: complete all requirements of the
single market market by 31st
December 1992
 300 new pieces of legislation, removal of all physical barriers
(customs and passports checks), fiscal barriers (indirect taxation),
and technical barriers (conflicting standards, laws and qualifications)
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

30.  The SEA aimed to create “an area without internal frontiers in
which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is
assured”
 The effects of the SEA were profound:
 - it created the single biggest market in the World, monopolies
broken down
 - gave community Institutions responsibility over new policy areas
such as the environment, R&D, and regional policy
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

31.  - the SEA gave new powers to the European Court of Justice,
created the Court of First Instance to hear certain kinds of cases
 - gave legal status to meetings of heads of governments under the
European Council, new powers to the Council of Ministers and the
Parliament
 - Legal status to European Political Cooperation (foreign policy
coordination), work more closely on defense and security
 - Economic and monetary union made an EC objective and
promoted “cohesion”?
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

32.  Despite the SEA, opening borders’ progress was variable, no
common policy on immigration, visa and asylum
 1985, Benelux, France and Germany signed the Schengen
Agreement: removing all border controls
 Although not all EC countries signed the agreement, it marked a
substantial step towards the removal of border controls
The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke

33. THANK YOU

The Idea of Europe
POLS 208 European Studies
European University of Lefke