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EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
Inhoudsopgave
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 1

THEORIES OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION ........................................................................................................... 3

HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION I ........................................................................................................... 7
1945-1957:first step towards integration .......................................................................................................... 7
1958-1969:De Gaulle dominates European Politics ......................................................................................... 11
1969-1979:fom Euro-optimism to Euro-pessimism .......................................................................................... 11

HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION II........................................................................................................ 14
1979-1985:Slow Relance .................................................................................................................................. 14
1985-1988: Toward the single market ............................................................................................................. 15
1989-1992: From community to union ............................................................................................................. 17
1990-2000: developing the Union .................................................................................................................... 18
From Nice to Lisbon .......................................................................................................................................... 21
The treaty of Lisbon .......................................................................................................................................... 24

ENLARGEMENT............................................................................................................................................... 27

THEORIES OF EUROPEAN GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................................ 38

INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE EU .................................................................................................... 41

Guest Lecture : Norway 28th EU member........................................................................................................ 63

Guest Lecture: Karoline de Gruyter : Changing in Europe .............................................................................. 65

SINGLE MARKET AND COMPETITION POLICY .................................................................................................. 66

EU BUDGET .................................................................................................................................................... 75

Economic and Monetary Union – Economic Governance ............................................................................... 87

External Relations 4/12 ................................................................................................................................ 100

Gastles: Katleen van Brempt 11/12 .............................................................................................................. 109

Justice and Home Affairs 18/12 .................................................................................................................... 110




INTRODUCTION
Four worlds of European Integration


1

, - Integration of states (International Relations)
- Functioning of the European Union / EU Governance (Comparative Politics)
- Impact of the European Union on member states (Comparative Politics)
- Critique and construction of European integration (Critical Theory)

Four generations of European integration studies
- ‘Bottom up’: theories from International Relations aim to explain why sovereign
states integrate and build supranational structures and procedures
(Neo-)Functionalism, (Liberal) intergovernmentalism…
- ‘Within’: theories from Comparative Politics aim to analyse the functioning and the
output (governance) of the European Union as a political system
(New) Institutionalism, Multilevel Governance, Policy Analysis…
- ‘Top down’: theories from Comparative Politics aim to explain how and to what
extent the EU integration process impacts the member states
Europeanisation, Policy Evaluation, New Institutionalism…
- ‘Outside’: critical theories aim to (de-)construct and problematise European
integration, provide normative accounts, and critically explain European policies
Discourse, gender, critical social theory, critical political economy…

INTEGRATION VERSUS FUNCTIONING OF THE EU
History of European Integration:
Questions: - what is the degree of integration?
- why do sovereign states integrate?
Theory: - theories from International Relations / European integration
(functionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, …)
Functioning of the EU / EU as a political system / EU governance
Questions: - how does EU decision-making work?
- who determines policy contents?
Theory: - theories from comparative politics
(institutionalism, policy networks, multi-level governance, …)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
▪ basic knowledge regarding of European integration: theory, history, institutions and
policy domains
▪ application of academic literature and primary sources on European integration
▪ development of arguments on specific statements about European integration and
EU politics




2

,THEORIES OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
Four worlds of European Integration
- Integration of states (International Relations)
- Functioning of the European Union / EU Governance (Comparative Politics)
- Impact of the European Union on member states (Comparative Politics)
- Critique and construction of European integration (Critical Theory)

Four generations of European integration studies
- ‘Bottom up’: theories from International Relations aim to explain why sovereign
states integrate and build supranational structures and procedures
(Neo-)Functionalism, (Liberal) intergovernmentalism…
- ‘Within’: theories from Comparative Politics aim to analyse the functioning and the
output (governance) of the European Union as a political system
(New) Institutionalism, Multilevel Governance, Policy Analysis…
- ‘Top down’: theories from Comparative Politics aim to explain how and to what
extent the EU integration process impacts the member states
Europeanisation, Policy Evaluation, New Institutionalism…
- ‘Outside’: critical theories aim to (de-)construct and problematise European
integration, provide normative accounts, and critically explain European policies
Discourse, gender, critical social theory, critical political economy…

The introductory course on European integration
- ‘bottom up’: theories from International Relations aim to explain why sovereign
states integrate
(Neo-)Functionalism, (Liberal) intergovernmentalism, …
- ‘within’: theories from Comparative Politics aim to understand the functioning and
the output (governance) of the European Union as a political system
Policy Analysis, Institutionalism

Integration versus functioning of the EU
History of European Integration:
Questions: - what is the degree of integration? IR theories (international
Relations)
- why do sovereign states integrate?
Theory: - theories from International Relations / European integration
(functionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, …)
Functioning of the EU / EU as a political system / EU governance
Questions: - how does EU decision-making work?
- who determines policy contents?
Theory: - theories from comparative politics
(institutionalism, policy networks, multi-level governance, …)




3

,The intellectual background: academic
David Mitrany – ‘A Working Peace System’ (1943):
- legacy of the failed League of Nations: nationalism as the cause of war
- eliminate nationalism by making states work together
- establishment of a series of international functional (sectoral) agencies
- expectation that states will discover the benefits of cooperation and that increasing
cooperation will refrain states from acting independently
- political elites and eventually citizens will be socialized in an international
environment

- depoliticization of the power transfer, bureaucratic process
- no aim to build regional or worldwide federations

The intellectual background:political
Altiero Spinelli and the European Union of Federalists:
- legacy of the Resistance Movements of WW II
- Ventotene Manifesto (1941): call for a European Federation
- explicit aim of a transfer of political authority: abolishment of the sovereign nation-
states and creation of a European federation, political project
- European Congress (The Hague 1948) failed to establish the expected federation

The intellectual background: political/bureaucratic
Jean Monnet - Functional Federalism:
- Technocrat (civil servant) and planner
context: economic reconstruction of France
the need to control German economic reconstruction
- establishment of supranational institutions to make states mutually dependent (they
will together decide about reconstruction of Europe)
- start with strategic sectors and add other sectors later: spill over we start with coal
and steel (strategic)-> later weapons because you can make them from coal and steel
- ultimate aim is a political union by starting with economic integration


IR theories of European Integration
Intergovernmentalism (Stanley Hoffmann – 1964/1968)
- building on IR theory of Realism
- governments of states are dominant in international relations and European
integration:
o external pressures influence national governments’ international behaviour
o national governments control integration, keeping an eye on national
interests -> die hard realism
o domestic interest groups play a role, but national governments keep control
(governments enjoy the sovereign power and the democratic legitimacy)
o when national interests coincide, functional integration is possible to the
extent that it serves the individual national interests
o political integration and integration in ‘high politics’ sectors (e.g. foreign
policy) remain highly unlikely


4

, Neofunctionalism (Ernst Haas - 1958, Leon Lindberg – 1963/1968)
- critique on the dominant IR theory of Realism
- pluralist theory: states are no unified actors and are not the only international actors:
o pluralist: domestic interest groups and private actors influence national
governments’ international behaviour
o transnationalism / transgovernmentalism: domestic interest groups bypass
national governments and seek contact with each other
multinational corporations and the European Commission become important
actors and allies
o functional spill-over: increasing sectoral integration due to
interconnectedness (see Monnet)
o political spill-over: private actors focus on the international level and lobby
political actors to proceed with integration
o cultivated spill-over: the European Commission fosters integration
empirical problem: national vetos (De Gaulle!)

Realist Theories Liberal Theories
Intergovernmentalism <-> Neo-Functionalism

Liberal Intergovernmentalism (Andrew Moravcsik – 1993)
- more sophisticated version of intergovernmentalism:
- states are rational actors but not ‘black boxes’: national governments play a ‘two
level game’; first a domestic pluralist or liberal interest aggregation process and
second the international representation of the national interest by the national
government
- national governments negotiate in the Council of Ministers to determine the
common policy and the necessary institutional arrangements
- integration is shaped by national preferences, which are based on national economic
interests and the outcome reflect states’ bargaining power
empirical critique: Moravcsik’s analysis only for intergovernmental high level politics and
much less for day-to-day technical decisions

Supranational Governance (Sandholtz / Stone Sweet - 1998)
- puzzle: different levels of integration in different policy fields
- increasing international transactions lead to a supranational society of actors who
favour international rules; they lobby their governments to set op these rules, which
are then refined by supranational institutions and courts and drift away from
national governments’ control
empirical critique: not applicable to high level politics (Treaty changes, foreign policies)

New Intergovernmentalism (Bickerton, Hodson, Puetter 2015)
- national governments are drivers of integration
- national governments’ preferences are shaped by domestic politics
- further integration (cooperation?) but without erosion of national sovereignty
- further institutionalization of procedures that favour member states (European
Council, European Semester)


5

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