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Файл:International integration. Past and present. Учебное пособие
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Topics for Discussion
1. The United Nations and the human rights issues.
2. Protection of minority rights and the United Nations human
rights activities.
3. The Oil-for-Food Program and the issue of corruption in the
United Nations.
4. Drafts of the United Nations reform.
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Chapter VI
European Union (EU)
Unit 6.1. General Facts and Historical Background. The European
Union is an economic and political association of twenty-eight
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countries in Europe occupying the territory of 4.381.376 km
(1.669.808 square miles) with a population of about 508.191 thousand
people (estimate, 2015)
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functioning through the system of
supranational bodies and institutions on the basis of the
intergovernmental agreements concluded in different years.
The EU may be considered as an implementation of the
European unification idea (Pan-Europeanism) arising under the
influence of numerous armed conflicts and wars, the latter bringing
enormous distress to the peoples of Europe for centuries.
The idea of creating of a permanent European Union with its own
armed forces was put forward for the first time in 1818 by Alexander I
at the Congress of the Holy Alliance in Aachen. However, the Russian
tsar considered the creation of such a union primarily as a way to
prevent revolutionary social change on the continent. Among the
supporters of the idea of the European unity may also be mentioned
such thinkers and cultural figures as Victor Hugo, Giuseppe Mazzini,
William Penn, and many others.
Between the two world wars the Pan-European movement
emerged and gained strength pursuing the goal of uniting the peoples
of Europe in order to counter the economic expansion of the United
States as well as the spread of the world socialist revolution
advocated by Soviet leaders in those years.
Among the active participants of the Pan-European movement at
different times were Konrad Adenauer, Thomas Mann, Fridtjof
Nansen, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and many others. The idea
of the United States of Europe was welcomed by Winston Churchill in
his famous speech at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946,
who, however, believed that the association should include only the
countries of continental Europe excluding Great Britain.
Very ambiguous attitude to the idea of the European unity was
shared by V.I. Lenin. In particular, in his article “On the Slogan of the
United States of Europe” (1915), he pointed at the “invulnerability” of
this idea as a means for the revolutionary overthrow of “three most
reactionary monarchies in Europe headed by the Russian autocracy.”
5
URL: www.europa.eu/
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At the same time, the “leader of the world proletariat” believed that the
practical implementation of this idea under the conditions of
imperialism will inevitably mean “an agreement on the division of
colonies” between the imperialist powers opposing to it the idea of the
United States of the World and the victory of the communist revolution
on a global scale.
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Another outstanding Russian theoretician of the revolutionary
Marxism, the author of the permanent revolution theory L.D. Trotsky,
considered the slogan of the United States of Europe as “a promising
response to the most burning problems of the European progress”,
but only in conjunction with the victory of the revolution of workers and
peasants. Out of this combination, he saw the Pan-European idea as
a “pacifist stew” which “the bourgeois diplomacy was preparing for the
peoples of Europe and the world”
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.
The first practical steps towards European integration were made
shortly after the end of World War II. The call for the creation of the
political, economic, and monetary union of European nations was first
made at the Hague Congress held in May 1948, with the participation
of 750 representatives from the European countries as well as
observers from the USA and Canada.
In May 1949, the Council of Europe was established which
became the first all-European supra-national body whose tasks include:
1) Facilitating cooperation between European countries in the
field of human rights protection;
2) Developing legal standards and norms common to all
participants;
3) Cooperation in the field of culture.
The organizational structure of the Council of Europe includes:
1) Council of Ministers which represents the foreign ministers of
all member states;
2) Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
consisting of the parliamentarians from the member states;
3) European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) acting on the basis
of the European Convention on Human Rights which became active
on 3 September 1953.
The European Convention on Human Rights is a subject to
mandatory ratification by the parliaments of all member states of the
Council of Europe. The member states citizens may lodge complaints
6
Lenin V.I. Full Collection of Writings. V. 26. P. 355.
7
URL: www.magister.msk.ru/library/trotsky/trotm232.htm
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with the ECHR in case of violation of their rights. If the latter
recognizes the human rights violations, it makes decision on
compensation to the victims. ECHR decisions are binding on all
members of the Council of Europe.
The tasks of the Council of Ministers include control over the
execution of the ECHR judgments by national courts.
Unlike the decisions of the ECHR, the decisions of PACE are not
binding and its powers are limited to the right to investigate and make
recommendations only.
An important role in the activities of the Council of Europe is
performed by the European Commissioner for Human Rights whose
tasks include:
1) Analysis of the situation in the area of human rights protection;
2) Informing officials and the public of the member states on the
situation in this field;
3) Making reports and recommendations on the protection of
human rights.
Fig. 3. Headquarters of the European Council in Strasbourg, France
The supervision of the Council of Europe activities is being
carried out by the Secretary-General appointed by PACE for five
years. Currently, this position is held by Thorbjorn Jagland (Norway,
since 2009).
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The headquarters of the Council of Europe and the ECHR is
located in Strasbourg (France). Forty-seven countries, including
Russia, are now members of the Council of Europe.
However, the immediate prelude to creation of the European
Union was the proposal of the Prime Minister of France Robert
Schuman on the actual merger of the coal and steel industries of the
European countries made on 9 May 1950. The implication of this
proposal was a desire to establish centralized control over the
manufacturing of weapons in Europe.
On the basis of Schuman’s proposals Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands signed a treaty in Paris on 18
April 1951, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC), which became operational in 1952. Cancellation of import
tariffs for coal within the ECSC contributed to the following:
1) Significant reduction in the cost of these goods;
2) Tenfold increase in its sales within the association.
The Higher Administration, the governing body of the ECSC, has
issued 280 loans for the modernization of production in coal and steel
industry which contributed to lower costs, production increase,
employment, and living standards in the participating countries.
Among the most important achievements of the ECSC the
creation of supranational EU institutions may also be mentioned, for
example, the Higher Administration and the General Assembly, which
operate nowadays in the form of the European Commission and the
European Parliament respectively.
However, the ECSC could not prevent the emergence of
monopolies in metallurgy and coal mining similar to those which
contributed to the accession of Adolf Hitler to power in Germany as
well as price collusion between these monopolies.
Further development of European integration was signed by the
ECSC members of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, which
implied the establishment of the European Economic Community
(EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)
starting from 1 January 1958. Both communities were formally
independent of the ECSC but possessed some common institutions
with the latter, the courts and the General Assembly. The highest
governing bodies of both communities were called Commissions.
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The objectives of the EEC included:
1) Deepening economic integration among its members
(Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands);
2) Formation of the common market and customs union.
The European Common Market ensured four basic freedoms:
1) Free movement of capital between member states in the form of
investment, cross-border transfers, payments for goods, services, etc.;
2) Freedom of movement for people and labor among the
participants of the Community, which among other things meant
mutual recognition of education certificates;
3) Free operation of services;
4) Freedom of new business entities establishment in the entire
territory of the EU.
Formation of the customs union pursued the following
objectives:
1) Final elimination of all customs barriers in mutual trade
between its members;
2) Establishment of common customs tariffs on goods from the
countries which are not the members of the EEC.
The objectives of the Euratom included:
1) Promotion of the development of nuclear energy in Europe;
2) Development of the European market of nuclear energy;
3) Selling of nuclear energy in Europe and beyond.
On 8 April 1965, the Treaty on merging the executive bodies of
the ECSC, EEC, and EURATOM was signed in Brussels (Belgium),
and on 1 July 1967, it came into force. According to the Treaty of
Brussels, the Commission and the Council of the EEC had to replace
the High Authority of the ECSC as well as the Council and the
Commission of the EURATOM.
It is worth noting that the larger EEC member states (France,
Germany, and Italy) had two representatives in the Commission of the
association, while the smaller ones (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the
Netherlands) – only one representative.
Technically, each of the three communities maintained
independence, but some of their institutions were common, for
example, the Court and the Parliamentary Assembly.
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In the 1960s, there was a serious tension between the EEC
leadership and France; the latter opposed the excessive
strengthening of supra-national bodies of the Community.
In particular, France took a special position on a number of important
issues, such as financing of the Common Agricultural Policy and the
accession of Great Britain to the EEC, actively opposed by French
president Charles de Gaulle, who perceived London as the enemy
and the “Trojan horse” of the United States.
In July 1965 – January 1966, France even boycotted the work of
the Council of the EEC (“empty chair crisis”), thus blocking the
functioning of the latter. The way out was found in the so-called
Luxembourg compromise reached in the course of negotiations
between the Community member states in Luxembourg in January
1966, which introduced a right to veto the decisions of the EEC
Council if they threaten national interests of the participants.
As for the question of Great Britain’s accession to the
Community, it was solved positively only after de Gaulle’s leaving the
post of the president of France. The simultaneous joining the EEC by
the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland on 1 January 1973, was
the first in a series of the large-scale expansions of the Community.
On 12 June 1975, shortly after overthrow of the military
dictatorship (“black colonels”), the desire to enter the EEC was
announced by Greece, which became the tenth member of the
Community on 1 January 1981. In 1977, an application for EEC
membership was submitted by Spain and Portugal, which became a
reality on 1 January 1986.
In Norway, the referendums on the membership in the
Community were held twice, in 1972 and 1994, but both times the
answer to the question of the referendum was negative, albeit with a
small majority.
In 1985, after granting the autonomous status and holding a
nationwide referendum (1982), the decision to withdraw from the EEC
was proclaimed by Greenland. And this case is not unique:
on 23 June 2016, a referendum on Great Britain’s membership in the
European Union was held giving a majority of 51,9 % to supporters of
the idea of leaving the organization.
In 1987, a desire to become the Community member was
officially announced by Turkey, an associate member of the EEC
since 1963, and of the Customs Union within the Community – since
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1995, however, failing to achieve this goal up to now, which is also
unique in the EU history. The reasons are the foreign policy issues
related to Turkey’s involvement in the Cyprus conflict, the opposition
of France and other European countries.
Meanwhile, on 25 June 1994, an agreement on the accession of
Austria, Finland, and Sweden to the European Union was signed which
being neutral states could become the EU members only after the collapse
of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. These countries joined
the European Union officially on 1 January 1995. This expansion did not
lead to any significant changes in the functioning of the EU because the
countries which joined the association possessed the following:
1) Advanced economies;
2) High standard of living;
3) Traditionally close political, economic, and cultural ties with
the rest of Europe.
Fig. 4. Enlargement of the European Union, 1952–95
On 1 May 2004, the most extensive enlargement in the history of
the European Union took place when ten countries in Eastern and
Southern Europe, Cyprus (Greek part), Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia
simultaneously became its members.
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On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania, and on 1 July 2013,
Croatia, joined the EU which thus became the association of twentyeight nations. The initiator of this enlargement of the European Union
was Germany motivating it by the following:
1) Need to ensure sustainable economic growth in the former
socialist countries in order to prevent a new division of Europe as a
result of economic and political instability in the east of the continent;
2) Prevention of ethnic conflicts similar to the Yugoslav conflict
posing a potential threat to whole Europe.
Test Your Knowledge
1. Outline the background of the European integration.
2. Give a description of the Council of Europe:
A) Objectives;
B) Organizational structure;
C) European Convention on Human Rights and its value;
D) Activities of the Council of Europe and the European
integration.
3. Characterize the Treaty of Paris (1951) and the creation of the
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) as the first stage of the
European integration.
4. Characterize the Treaty of Rome (1957) and the creation of
the European Economic Community (EEC) and EURATOM on the
basis of the ECSC.
5. What are the objectives of the EEC?
6. What are the four fundamental freedoms of the EEC?
7. What are the main goals of the EURATOM?
8. Give a short description of the Customs Union of the
European states. Characterize its main objectives.
9. Outline the evolution of the EEC in the 1960s, its
achievements and contradictions.
10. Characterize Great Britain, Denmark, and Ireland’s joining
the EEC.
11. Characterize the entry of Greece, Spain, and Portugal into
the EEC.
12. Characterize the accession of Austria, Finland, and Sweden
to the EU and its significance.
13. Describe the EU enlargements on May 1, 2004, January 1,
2007, and July 1, 2013.
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Topics for Discussion
1. Cultural and civilizational background of the European integration.
2. Russian Federation and the Council of Europe.
3. Charles de Gaulle’s policy as the President of France and
contradictions within the EEC.
4. European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European
integration.
5. Issue of Norway’s accession to the European Union.
6. Problem of Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
Unit 6.2. Legal Framework of the EU Functioning. In February 1986,
the Single European Act (SEA) was signed and became operative on
1 July 1987, being an agreement that:
1) Set a goal of creating a single market by 31 December 1992;
2) Formed a legal framework for cooperation in the fields of
foreign policy and security;
3) Expanded the rights of the European Parliament and the area
of application of the qualified majority voting.
In June 1993, the EEC Council adopted the Copenhagen criteria
defining the conditions compliance to which is the basis for accession
to the Community. The most important of them are:
1) Respect for the purposes and principles of the EEC;
2) Democratic political regime;
3) Rule-of-law state;
4) Strict observance of human rights and freedoms;
5) Respect for and protection of minorities;
6) Market economy and free competition;
7) Compliance of national legislation to the European standards.
On 7 February 1992, in the city of Maastricht (Netherlands) the
Maastricht Treaty was signed which came into force on 1 November
1993, fixing the compliance to the provisions of the EEA and securing
the EU establishment in its current form. German Chancellor Helmut
Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand became the initiators
of the treaty.
The Maastricht Treaty regulated cooperation in the economic field
and called for the introduction of a single European currency, the euro
(non-cash circulation since 1 January 1999, in cash – since 1 January
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