IR and EU Integration Post WW11

Schuman Declaration

1950 proposal to pool French and German coal and steel production; first major step toward European integration

ECSC

European Coal and Steel Community (1951); made war economically impossible and politically unthinkable

Monnet Method

Gradual integration through small practical steps

Treaty of Paris (1951)

Created the ECSC

Treaties of Rome (1957)

Created the EEC and Euratom

EEC

European Economic Community; aimed to create a common market

Messina Conference (1955)

Meeting that relaunched European integration and led to the Treaties of Rome

Spaak Report

Recommended customs union and common market; basis for Treaties of Rome

Customs Union

Common external tariff and free movement of goods internally

Common Market

Free movement of goods, people, services, and capital

Supranationalism

States transfer some authority to institutions above the nation-state

Intergovernmentalism

States cooperate but retain sovereignty and control

Charles de Gaulle

French leader who favored intergovernmentalism and vetoed British entry

Fouchet Plan

De Gaulle's proposal for intergovernmental political cooperation; failed

Elysée Treaty (1963)

Strengthened Franco-German cooperation

Empty Chair Crisis (1965)

France boycotted EEC institutions over supranational decision-making

Luxembourg Compromise (1966)

Allowed states to block decisions involving vital national interests

Van Gend en Loos (1963)

Established direct effect of EU law

Direct Effect

EU law creates rights for individuals enforceable in national courts

Costa v ENEL (1964)

Established primacy of EU law

Primacy of EU Law

EU law takes precedence over conflicting national law

Merger Treaty (1967)

Combined ECSC, EEC, and Euratom institutions

Willi Brandt

West German Chancellor associated with Ostpolitik

Ostpolitik

West German policy of improving relations with Eastern Europe

Helsinki Accords (1975)

Agreement promoting East-West cooperation and human rights

European Council

Meeting of heads of government that sets EU political direction

Stagflation

High inflation combined with economic stagnation

OAPEC Oil Embargo (1973)

Oil embargo that triggered economic crisis in Europe

Jacques Delors

Commission President who revitalized European integration in the 1980s

Delors White Paper (1985)

Plan to complete the internal market by 1992

Single European Act (1986)

Expanded qualified majority voting and advanced the internal market

Qualified Majority Voting (QMV)

Voting system that reduces the need for unanimity

Internal Market

Area without internal frontiers allowing free movement of goods, people, services, and capital

Four Freedoms

Goods, people, services, and capital

Spillover

Integration in one area creates pressure for integration in others

Subsidiarity

Decisions should be made at the lowest effective level

Margaret Thatcher

British PM who supported markets but opposed deeper integration

British Budgetary Question

UK complaint that it paid too much into the EC budget

Fontainebleau Agreement (1984)

Gave Britain a permanent budget rebate

Berlin Wall (1989)

Symbol of Cold War division; fell in 1989

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader who introduced glasnost and perestroika

Glasnost

Openness and reduced censorship in the USSR

Perestroika

Economic and political restructuring in the USSR

German Reunification (1990)

Reunification of East and West Germany

Maastricht Treaty (1992)

Created the European Union and set path to EMU

European Union (EU)

Created by Maastricht Treaty in 1992

EMU

Economic and Monetary Union leading to the euro

Maastricht Criteria

Requirements for joining the euro

EU Citizenship

Right introduced by Maastricht granting additional rights to citizens of member states

Widening

Adding new member states

Deepening

Increasing integration and EU powers

Copenhagen Criteria

Requirements for EU membership: democracy, market economy, ability to adopt EU laws

Amsterdam Treaty (1997)

Expanded EU role in justice, immigration, and internal security

Nice Treaty (2001)

Institutional reforms before eastern enlargement

Euro Introduced (1999)

Start of the euro as a currency for financial transactions

Euro Notes and Coins (2002)

Euro enters physical circulation

2004 Enlargement

Largest EU enlargement; EU grew from 15 to 25 members

Democratic Deficit

Concern that EU institutions are too distant from citizens

Great Recession (2008)

Global economic downturn following financial crisis

Eurozone Crisis

Sovereign debt crisis affecting countries such as Greece, Ireland, and Portugal

Troika

European Commission, ECB, and IMF

Austerity

Spending cuts and reforms aimed at reducing public debt

European Stability Mechanism (ESM)

Permanent bailout fund for Eurozone countries

North-South Divide

Disagreements between creditor and debtor states during Eurozone crisis

Migration Crisis (2015)

Large increase in refugees and migrants entering Europe

Dublin Regulation

Asylum claims handled by first EU country entered

Frontex

European Border and Coast Guard Agency

Externalisation

Preventing migrants from reaching EU borders through agreements with third countries

Euroscepticism

Skepticism or opposition toward European integration

UKIP

UK Independence Party; advocated British withdrawal from EU

Nigel Farage

Leading figure of UKIP and Brexit campaign

Brexit

United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union

Brexit Referendum (2016)

Leave won with 51.9% of the vote

Article 50

Process for leaving the European Union

David Cameron

British PM who called the Brexit referendum

COVID Recovery Fund

€750 billion EU recovery package after the pandemic

Jean Monnet

French architect of European integration and creator of the Monnet Method

Robert Schuman

French Foreign Minister who proposed the Schuman Declaration

Konrad Adenauer

West German Chancellor who supported European integration

Paul-Henri Spaak

Belgian politician who helped shape the Treaties of Rome

Walter Hallstein

First President of the European Commission and supporter of supranationalism

Helmut Kohl

German Chancellor who supported reunification and Maastricht

Altiero Spinelli

Author of the Ventotene Manifesto and advocate of European federalism

Ventotene Manifesto (1941)

Called for a federal Europe to prevent future wars

Marshall Plan

US aid program that helped rebuild Western Europe after WWII

Truman Doctrine

US policy of containing communism

Berlin Blockade (1948-49)

Soviet attempt to cut off West Berlin; defeated by airlift

Cold War

Political and ideological struggle between the US and USSR

Franco-German Motor

Idea that France and Germany drove European integration

Crises Drive Integration

The idea that European integration often advances through crises and their solutions