After WWII, many politically influential people saw a need to create some form of interdependence between the nation states of Europe as a means to preventing further war (Watts, 2008: p6). In 1951 Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg all signed the Treaty of Paris creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC); the beginnings of an integrated Europe which has seen many changes since its creation (Thody, 1997: p1). Today it has become the highly integrated European Union with 28 member states, 18 of which share a single currency (Archick, 2014: p1). The process of EU integration is a complex one, as can be seen in its history and will surely be seen in its future. There is no simple explanation that can successfully explain the growth of the EU from a economic community of six nation states to the political and economic union it has become today. However there are two competing theories for explaining EU integration that give opposing views on the matter, neo-functionalism and intergovernmentalism. In this essay I will examine both theories and attempt to reach a conclusion if either successfully explains EU integration.
Neo-functionalism is a theory initially proposed by Ernst Haas during the 1950s in response to the creation of the ECSC (Bomberg, 2008: p11). One of the main ideas in the neo-functionalism theory is the concept of the “spillover”, where, “integration triggers endogenous economic and political dynamics leading to further integration” (Majone, 2005: p42). In other words, integration in one area, can in itself can cause further unintended integration in another area, even if the individual nation states are reluctant to integrate (Fligstein et al, 2012: p106). Therefore neo-functio...
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...olyakova, A., S and Holtz, W. 2012. European integration, nationalism and European identity.JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 50 (s1), pp. 106--122.
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Hix, S. 2011. The EU as a new political system. In: Caramani, D. eds. 2011.Comparative Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lelieveldt, H. and Princen, S. 2011The politics of the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Majone, G. 2005.Dilemmas of European integration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thody, P. M. W. 1997.An historical introduction to the European Union. [e-book] London: Routledge. p. 1. Available through: Ebrary http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10057275 [Accessed: 26 Mar 2014].
Watts, D. 2008.The European Union. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Balil Rogers 10-5-14 HIST 100: United States History I Treaty of Paris During the 18th century, the British and the American colonies had many differences in the Americas. British troops looked down on the colonies. The colonies couldn’t proceed with the cruel treatment from the British and later revolted due to the Treaty of Paris. The British didn’t respect the Indians either.
Throughout the years, European history had undergone hurdle after hurdle with the devastating world wars and the advent of the Cold War. From 1946-1989 many different views had begun to emerge and were held over whether or not the European states should be unified. Once again the continent had become divided, with war separating Europe into opposing alliances and turned nations against others. Conflicting arguments soon arose on how to address the state of Europe and whether it should be kept divided or reunified once more. Some believed a unified Europe would bolster its strength, some were more doubtful and undecided, while others declared themselves to be completely opposed to the very notion of unification.
7 Smith, Karen E., European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World, 2003, p. 171-176.
In the core of the debate about the possibility of turkey to be a member state of the EU stand the question who can be considered to be European. Morrison follows an academic debate, and analyze the question of Europe’s identity with the help of two compete definitions – ‘thin’ and ‘thick’. The ‘thin’ definition marks the European Identity by “a set of economic, institutional and legal principles, including the rule of law, democracy, human rights and secular governess.” According to that definition, the criteria of being European is only the willingness and ability to follow the civil norms and laws. However, as opposed to the ‘thin’ definition, the ‘thick’ definition identify Europeans as having a common characteristic derives from a shared history and culture. According to that definition, no one - people or states can become Europeans it is matter of birth into
A Democratic Deficit in the EU The question over the legitimacy of the EU has been a nearly continuous debate and many commentators appear to agree that the EU suffers from a severe ‘democratic deficit’. There are many reasons why this perception is so widespread. As a multinational body it lacks the grounding in common history and culture upon which most individual polities can draw.
The progress represented by the EU is progress that deserves to be shared with the people of all European nations, yet on what scale? While today’s EU leaders are more than ready to invite fellow nations to join the EU, they fail to take proper account of the future, of how this could possibly cheapen the European identity and the work that was only spurred on by two destructive World Wars.
The European Union is an example of successful political globalization as there is stability in the region. The European Union has united several countries, specifically “twenty seven European countries” (Davies 1) and there has been benefits to this system. There has been a “reduction in crime, a rise in population, life expectancy and income as well as an improving government.” (Rich 3). Through this political system there has been improvement in not only in the government but in the people’s wellbeing.
Peterson, J. and Shackleton, M. 2002. The institutions of the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schneider, C. J. (2007). Enlargement Processes and Distributional Conflicts: The Politics of Discriminatory Membership in the European Union. Public Choice, 132(1/2), 85-102.
Nationalism is the idea that a people who have much in common, such as language, culture and geographic proximity ought to organize in such a way that it creates a stable and enduring state. Nationalism is tied to patriotism, and it is the driving force behind the identity of a culture. Nationalism had many effects in Europe from 1815, The Congress of Vienna and beyond. In the following essay I will describe many of the consequences of nationalism on European identity, as well as some of the conflicts that it created.
Pech, l. (2011), ‘The Institutional Development of the EU post-Lisbon: A case of plus a change…?’, available at: http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/11-5%20Pech.pdf
7th edition. London: Pearson Longman, ed. Garner, R., Ferdinand, P. and Lawson, S. (2009) Introduction to Politics. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
Scholars of the European Union (EU) have a strong interest in the concept of European Union identity (Cram, 2009). The ‘European union’ identity can be identified nowadays, although there are still conflicts between national identities and a shared European identity which can be illustrated by the data from Eurobarameter and other sources. Most people perceive themselves as Europeans, as Anderson (1991) state, there is no contradictory between Europe and nation-state, ‘country first, but Europe, too’ is the main feeling of the public. However, some people don’t consider themselves as European which result from a strong attachment to the national culture. Even though, the tendency of the convergence of diverse national identity cannot be resisted (Cram, 2009). Migration of population within Europe and the implementation of Europe policy accelerate the progress of formation of the shared identity. This article is going to focus on two reasons why people are willing to define themselves as European by showing how their national identities interact with the European identity, mainly in two countries UK and Poland .The first reason is the issue of Euro, which can be regarded as a tangible symbol of a shared identity and can be perceived easily. The second reason is the collective memory shared among countries and entire Europe.
Central to the entire discipline of global politics after the Second World War, is the concept of European Integration. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Europe found itself in a state of economic devastation and with various problems to solve. Besides, the continent was soon to be divided into two major spheres of influence by the beginning of the Cold War. The Cold War was a constant state of political and military tension amongst powers in the Western Bloc (the United States) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies) (Judt, 2005, p.1). Soon after the beginning of the conflict, several treaties and institutions were established in order to create collaboration between Western European states.