The history of the EU

European History Pre-1945 influences Attempts to unify the disparate nations of Europe precede the modern nation-states and have occurred repeatedly throughout the history of Continental Europe since the collapse of the Mediterranean-centred cultures Roman made Empire. Europes on heterogeneous rights, or collection enforced of languages and attempts based dynastic

through military occupation of unwilling nations, unstable and doomed to failure. The Frankish empire of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire united large areas under a loose administration for hundreds of years. Once Arabs had conquered ancient centres of Christianity in Syria and Egypt during the 8th century, the concept of Christendom became essentially a concept of a unified Europe, but always more of an ideal than an actuality. The Great Schism between Orthodoxy and Catholicism rendered the idea of Christendom moot. After the Fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, the first proposal for peaceful methods of unifying Europe against a common enemy emerged. George of Podebrady, a Hussite king of Bohemia proposed the creation of a union of Christian nations against the Turks in 1464. In 1569, the Union of Lublin transformed the Polish-Lithuanian personal union into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a multi-national federation and elective monarchy, which lasted until the partitions of Poland in 1795. In 1728, Abbot Charles de Saint-Pierre proposed the creation of a European league of 18 sovereign states, with common treasury, no borders and an economic union. After the American Revolution of 1776 the vision of a United States of Europe similar to the United States of America was shared by some prominent Europeans, notably the Marquis de Lafayette and Tadeusz Kociuszko. Some suggestion of a European union can be found in Immanuel Kants 1795 proposal for an eternal peace congress. In the 1800s, customs union under Napoleon Bonapartes Continental system was promulgated in November 1806 as an embargo of British goods in the interests of French hegemony. It demonstrated the workability and also the flaws of a supranational economic system for Europe. In the conservative reaction after Napoleons defeat in 1815, the German Confederation (GermanDeutscher Bund) was established as a loose association of thirtyeight German states formed by theCongress of Vienna. Napoleon had swept away the Holy

Roman Empire and simplified the map of Germany. The German Confederation was an association of independent, equal sovereign nation states. In 1834, the Zollverein (German customs union) was formed among the states of the Confederation, in order to create better trade flow and reduce internal competition. Italian writer and politician Giuseppe Mazzini called for the creation of a federation of European republics in1843. This set the stage for perhaps, the best known early proposal for peaceful unification, through cooperation and equality of membership, made by the pacifist Victor Hugo in 1847. Hugo spoke in favour of the idea at a peace congress organised by Mazzini, but was laughed out of the hall. However, he returned to his idea again in 1851. Following the catastrophe of the First World War, some thinkers and visionaries again began to float the idea of a politically unified Europe. In 1923, the Austrian Count Coudenhove-Kalergi founded the Pan-Europa movement and hosted the First Paneuropean Congress, held in Vienna in 1926. Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi :Europe as a political concept does not exist. This part of the world includes nations and states installed in the chaos, in a barrel of gunpowder of international conflicts, in a field of future conflicts. This is the European Question: the mutual hate of the Europeans that poisons the atmosphere. (.) The European Question will only be solved by means of the union of Europes nations. () The biggest obstacle to the accomplishment of the United States of Europe is the one thousand years old rivalry between the two most populated nations of Pan-Europe: Germany and France In 1929, Aristide Briand, French prime minister, gave a speech in the presence of the League of NationsAssembly in which he proposed the idea of a federation of European nations based on solidarity and in the pursuit of economic prosperity and political and social co-operation. Many eminent economists, among themJohn Maynard Keynes, supported this view. At the Leagues request Briand presented a Memorandum on the organisation of a system of European Federal Union in 1930. In 1931 the French politician Edouard Herriot published the book The United States of Europe. The Great Depression, the rise of fascism and subsequently World War II prevented this inter war movement gaining further support. In 1940, following Germanys military successes in World War II and planning for the creation of a thousand year Empire, a European confederation was proposed by German economists and industrialists. They argued for a European economic community, with a customs union and fixed internal exchange rates.

In 1943,

the

German

ministers Joachim

von

Ribbentrop and Cecil

von

Renthe-

Fink eventually proposed the creation of a European confederacy, which would have had a single currency, a central bank in Berlin, a regional principle, a labour policy and economic and trading agreements. Arthur Seyss-Inquart said: The new Europe of solidarity and co-operation among all its people will find rapidly increasing prosperity once national economic boundaries are removed, while the Vichy French MinisterJacques Benoist-Mechin said that France had to abandon nationalism and take place in the European community with honour. These pan-European illusions from the early 1940s were never realised because of Germanys defeat. Neither Hitler, nor many of his leading hierarchs such as Goebbels, had the slightest intention of compromising absolute German hegemony through the creation of a European confederation. Nazi ideas of an integrated Europe based on conquest and lacking a democratic structure can not be seen as true predecessors of the European Union. In Britain the group known as Federal Union was launched in November 1938, and began advocating a Federal Union of Europe as a post-war aim. In 1943, Jean Monnet a member of the National Liberation Committee of the Free French government in exile in Algiers, and regarded by many as the future architect of European unity, is recorded as declaring to the committee: There will be no peace in Europe, if the states are reconstituted on the basis of national sovereignty The countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation In 1946, the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pronounced a celebrated speech at Zurich University (Switzerland). It was considered by many people as the first step towards European integration in the postwar period. I wish to speak to you today about the tragedy of Europe. () Yet all the while there is a remedy which, if it were generally and spontaneously adopted by the great majority of people in many lands, would as if by a miracle transform the whole scene, and would in a few years make all Europe, or the greater part of it, as free and as happy as Switzerland is today. What is this sovereign remedy? It is to recreate the European Family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe. () The first step in the recreation of the European Family must be a partnership between France and Germany. Winston Speech at Zurich University The three communities Churchill

The European Union grew out of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was founded in1951, by the six founding members: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (the Benelux countries)and West Germany, France and Italy. Its purpose was to pool the steel and coal resources of the member states, thus preventing another European war. It was in fulfilment of a plan developed by a French civil servant Jean Monnet, publicised by the French foreign minister Robert Schuman. On May 9, 1950 Schuman presented his proposal on the creation of an organised Europe stating that it was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the Schuman declaration, is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union, which later chose to celebrate May 9 as Europe Day. The British were invited to participate in it, but refused on grounds of national sovereignty; thus the six went ahead alone. The ECSC was followed by attempts, by the same member-states and with much encouragement from NATO, to found a European Defence Community (EDC) and a European Political Community (EPC). The purpose of the EPC would have been to establish a federation of European states; and the EDC would have been to establish a common European army, under joint control, so that West Germany could be safely permitted to rearm and help counter the Soviet threat. This vision was however short-lived as theFrench National Assembly technically refused to ratify the EDC treaty and led to its eventual abandonment. After the failure of the EDC treaty, the EPC was quietly shelved. The idea of both institutions can be seen to live on, in a watered down form, in later developments, such asEuropean Political Co-operation (also called EPC), the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar established by the Maastricht treaty, and the European Rapid Reaction Force currently in formation. Following the failure of the EDC and EPC, the six founding members tried again at furthering their integration, and founded the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The purpose of the EEC was to establish a customs union among the six founding members, based on the four freedoms: freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and people. Euratom was to pool the nonmilitary nuclear resources of the states. The EEC was by far the most important of the three communities, so much so that it was later renamed simply the European Community. It was established by the Treaty of Rome of 1957 and implemented January 1, 1958.

Enlargement of the EU 1973 1973: 9 member states. The United Kingdom, Denmark (with Greenland but not the Faroe Islands) andIreland join. Greenland left in 1985. In January 1960, Britain and other OEEC members who didnt belong to the EEC formed an alternative association, the European Free Trade Association. But Britain soon realised that the EEC was more successful than the EFTA and decided to apply for membership. Ireland and Denmark, both of whom being heavily reliant on British trade, decided they would go wherever Britain went, and hence also applied to join the Community. Norway also applied at this time. The first application occurred in August 1961 under the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan, who was more favourable to Britain joining the EEC than his predecessors. Negotiations started in November 1961 and a provisional agreement was reached in July 1962. However, Britains membership was vetoed by French president Charles De Gaulle in January 1963 (all EEC founding members had this right). Officially, De Gaulle said that Britain was not sufficiently European-minded yet to break away from the Commonwealth and accept a common agricultural policy. But other reasons include Britains close relationship with the US in terms of defence (see Nassau agreement) and De Gaulles fear that Britains membership would be followed by many other countries joining the EEC, thus making the community lose its cohesion. De Gaulle refused an Atlantic Europe. As a result, the whole negotiations with the four countries broke off. The second application occurred under the Labour government of Harold Wilson. Wilson said in April 1966 that Britain was ready to apply for EEC membership if essential British interests were safeguarded. Negotiations started on May 1967 with the four countries but De Gaulle used once again his right of veto in September 1967. Officially, De Gaulle said that Britain had to improve its economy but he actually still feared that Britain would act as the US trojan horse. The whole negotiation broke off once again, and it seemed that Britain wouldnt be able to join the EEC as long as De Gaulle would be president. The third and last application occurred after De Gaulle resigned in 1969 and was replaced by Georges Pompidou. In October 1969, the European Commission asked for new negotiations concerning the applications of the four countries. In November 1969, during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the EC(EEC, ECSC and Euratom had merged into the EC in 1967), French minister Maurice Schumann declared that France would agree to Britains membership if questions of agricultural finance were settled first. Negotiations started in June 1970 under the Conservative government of Edward Heath, who was one of the most

strongly pro-European politicians in Britain. Britain agreed to the conditions of the EC: Britain had to accept the Merger Treaty and all decisions taken since the second application, and resolve its problem of adaptation, i.e. conflicts between the EC and the Commonwealth. Finally, Britain joined successfully on January 1, 1973. In 1972, Ireland (application from July 1961), Denmark (application from August 1961), Norway (application from April 1962) held referenda on whether to join. The results were: Ireland 83.1% in favour (May 10) (see also: Third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) Norway 46.5% in favour (September 25) Denmark 63.3% in favour (October 2) Following the rejection by the Norwegian electorate (53.5% against), Norway did not join, an event that was to be repeated again twenty years later, when the government proposed joining along with Austria, Sweden and Finland. 1980s 1981: 10 member states. Greece joins. 1985: Greenland leaves. 1986: 12 member states. Spain and Portugal join. Greece submitted application in June 1975 and joined on January 1, 1981, under the presidency ofConstantine Caramanlis. In 1985, Denmarks territory Greenland left the union following home rule and a referendum. See Special member state territories and their relations with the EU for details. In 1986, Spain and Portugal joined. Portugal submitted application in March 1977 and Spain in July 1977. This was one of the first times the member states began to consider the problems of immigration from all new and poorer stories applicant nations. The German, French and British press circulated predicting uncontrollable

immigration from the new members, flooding the labour market, lowering wages, and causing racial problems. The same year (February), the Single European Act was signed in Luxembourg.

Such a fear didnt materialise, but a similar concern for the possibility of uncontrolled immigration was to occur again preceding the 2004 enlargement. 1993 The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a nation is eligible to join the European Union. The Criteria require that a nation-state have the institutions to forward and preserve democratic governance, human rights, a functioning coordinated market economy, and accept the obligations and intent of the EU. These membership Criteria were drawn and established at the June 1993 European Council in Copenhagen, Denmark. Except from the Copenhagen Presidency conclusions:Membership requires that the candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and, protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Membership presupposes the candidates ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union. Most of these elements have been enshirined over the last decade by legislation of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. During the negotiations with each candidate country, progress towards meeting the Copenhagen Criteria is regularly monitored. On the basis of this, decisions are made as to whether and when a particular country should join, or what actions need to be taken before membership realisation. The Copenhagen Criteria are divided into three groups geographic, political and economic. The Criteria are held in a lengthy, eighty thousand-page document. An example of the broad over arching changes the Criteria dictates is illustrated by the fact that it will take Turkey a minimum of 10 years to implement all 80 000 pages. 1995 1990: Reunification of Germany. 1995: 15 member states. Austria, Finland and Sweden join. The 1994 referenda on membership were as follows:

Austria 66.6% in favour (June 12); application submitted in July 1989 Finland 56.9% in favour (October 16); application submitted in March 1992 (separate referendum held inland) Sweden 52.8% in favour (November 13); application submitted in July 1991 Norway 43.1% in favour (November 28); application submitted in December 1992 Austria, Sweden and Finland (with land) were admitted on January 1, 1995. As the referendum in Norway was 52.2% against joining, the proposal by the Norwegian government to join was rejected for the second time. With 2004 2004: 25 member states. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Report of October the Czech 10 Republic, Hungary, Slovakia,Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus join. The European the Czech Commissions Strategic 9, 2002 recommended Their candidate members for inclusion in the EU in 2004: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic, Hungary, Slovakia,Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus. combined population is roughly 75 million; their combined Gross Domestic Product was about 840 billion US dollars (purchasing power parity; CIA World Factbook 2003), similar in size to that of Spain. While the EU has enlarged several times in the past, never before had an enlargement round included so many countries and with such strikingly different levels of economic and domestic political development, not to mention different historical and cultural backgrounds. Many of the candidates had only just begun building democracies and had not finalized their transition to a market economy. Culturally and linguistically, this enlargement greatly increased the number of languages spoken within the EU, reflecting the increased cultural heterogeneity and level of diversity in the EU. Also, although several of the previous enlargement rounds in EU history have included the accession of countries whose average GDP per capita was lower than that of the EUs, never had the difference been this great nor had the enlargement included so many countries. This could therefore be called one of the most ambitious enlargements of the European Union yet. On the side of the European Union it was partly motivated by a desire to reunite Europe after the end of the Cold War, and an effort to tie Eastern Europe firmly to the West in order to prevent it falling again into communism or dictatorship. the departure of Austria, Sweden and Finland to the EU, only Norway, Iceland, Switzerland andLiechtenstein remain members of the EFTA.

The first stage of negotiations took place among the then current 15 member states when they agreed upon a common negotiating position regarding the terms of accession with which to approach the candidates. The second stage of negotiations occurred between the EU and the candidate states, when these terms were discussed and revised. Cyprus was made a candidate for admission because Greece threatened to veto the enlargement unless Cyprus was also allowed to be a part of it. The prospect of membership for the island also led to a significant (but eventually failed) push for reunification through the Annan Plan for Cyprus. After negotiations between the candidates and the member states, the final decision to invite these nations to join was announced on December 13, 2002 in Copenhagen, with the European Parliamentvoting in favour of this on April 9, 2003. On April 16, 2003 the Treaty of Accession was signed by the 10 new members and the 15 old ones inAthens. The final remaining step was the ratification of the treaty by the current member states and by each of the candidate nations. Ratification in the former was done by the parliaments of the member states alone, whereas in the latter the ratification was first subject to a referendum, except for Cyprus where the parliament was solely responsible. The 2003 referenda dates (in four of the countries, a two-day ballot is held), and the outcomes in each of the candidate countries, are as follows: Malta 54% in favour (March 8) Slovenia 90% in favour (March 23) Hungary 83% in favour (April 12) Lithuania 91% in favour (May 10-11) Slovakia 92% in favour (May 16-17) Poland 77% in favour (June 7-8) Czech Republic 77% in favour (June 13-14) Estonia 67% in favour (September 14) Latvia 67% in favour (September 20) In the event that one of the referenda did not return an affirmative result, provision had been made for the enlargement to carry on without that country. However, the referenda results were all in favour of joining, ratification proceeded without problems and the candidate countries became full members of the EU on May 1, 2004. 2007 2007: 27 member states. Bulgaria and Romania join

Bulgaria and Romania completed negotiation talks on December 14, 2004 and joined the Union on January 1, 2007. The Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania was signed on April 25, 2005, in Luxembourg giving the legislative bodies of the 25 EU-member states a year and a half to ratify the treaties. On May 11, 2005 the Bulgarian National Assembly ratified the Treaty of Accession with the European Union. Two votes were held by the 240 member Parliament. First reading: 230 in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions Second reading: 231 in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions On May 17, 2005 a joint session of the Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies ratified the Treaty of Accession with the European Union. The vote was held by the 469 member upper and lower houses. Results: 434 in favour, 0 against and 0 abstentions