Summary of European Politics Year 2023—2024 KU Leuven

Summarize: European integration since 1945
Senne Paepen
Especially history of the EUlinks with current events.




Cartoon left: instable construction= the EU
threatened by the USA under Trump and Russia under poetin
Cartoon on the right: Eu threatened by Poetin and some east- Europe leaders like Erdogan
and Orban


European integration
- Start: 1940
- End Ukraine VS Russia (24/02/22)
- We’re going to answer 6 questions?


‘Deadly sins’ in the EU …
- 1. Council of the European Union (the Council) ≠ European Council ≠ Council of Europe
o European council: led by Charles Michelles
o The council of Europe: alle leaders and head of the governments
- 2. British Isles > Republic of Ireland + United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Great Britain: England + Wales + Scotland
- 3. Benelux ≠ Benelux countries
- 4. EMU = Economic and Monetary Union
- 5. regulation = verordening directive = richtlijn
o A regulation= een verordening

,  It is immediately at force
o Directive= richtlijn
 It needs to be approved by the federal government before it is valid




If you answers open questions at the exam you need to mention:
Content
context
author(about who)




Shuman: 1950ECSC: European coal and steal community
Treaty of Maastricht: just after the fall of the Berlin wall.
Lisbon treaty: basis of the treaty of the present

,Y-ass: decision-making
X-ass: competences (how many topics)


Bv: left corner: only one topic but big power of decision
Bv: right corner: many topics, little influence (a youth council)


Member states many competences, EU big decision-making

,- EU = enlargement history
- • 1952: France/(West) Germany/Italy/Benelux-countries
- • 1973: UK/Ireland/Denmark (Norway)
- • 1981: Greece
- • 1986: Spain/Portugal
- • 1990: former GDR
- • 1995: Austria/Finland/Sweden (Norway)
• 2004: Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Poland/Czech
Republic/Slovakia/Slovenia/Hungary/Cyprus/Malta
- • 2007: Bulgaria/Romania
- • 2013 (1 juli): Croatia
- • 2020 (31 January): United Kingdom
- • + Iceland/Türkiye/Western Balkan countries + …


North-Ireland still in the EU?


EU = history of crises
- Council of Europe
- EDC > NATO membership Germany
- British accession
- ‘empty chair crisis’ 1965-66
- monetary union
- Eurosclerose
- referenda Maastricht/Nice/Constitutional Treaty
- euro crisis
- migration crisis
- Brexit

, Phase 1: Adenauer: first Chanselor after Nazi-Germany
Link with Zelensky
Adenauer: received a peace treaty from Stalin for a unified Germany, but in return they
couldn’t join the NATO. Adenauer responded: rather a free Germany then an unified
Germany
With Zelensky the same thing: peace in return to not Join the NATO.


Phase 2: unified Germany In 1989 (fall of the Berlin wall)


Phase 3: New cold War?
Geopolitics
2016: Brexit referendum
Trauma as president who undermines the EU integrartion.




Course 2: Why is there no European Army, yet?
Data about the second world war: look ppt for the maps

- 1939: Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
o Foreign affairs ministers
- 01/09/1939
o Nazi-Germany invaded Poland.
- 05/1940
o Blitzkrieg
- 1941:
o Operation Barbarossa
o Stalin asks the West to invade Germany, too ease the pressure on his front.
o The west did not invade Germany until D-Day.
- 1944:
o D-Day, Normandy landings
o Stalin gets paranoid, he thinks that the West is going to overtake the SU= Start of
the cold war.
- May 1945:
o End of the war in the west
- 1946:
o Descend of the Iron curtain.
o The west is afraid of communist influence among their political parties who wants to
destroy the democracy


Henry Spaak: minister foreign affairs Belgium 1948
- He gives a speech to the delegate of the SU
o SU has a hidden agenda who undermines the democracy.