War, EEC and Treaty of Rome
Introduction
- Initially set up as a means to terminate the conflicts that occurred in the beginning of the 20th century.
- Particularly rivalry between Germany and France
- Started as EEC (European Economic Community) est. 1957
- Progressed to form the politico-economic union that we know of today.
PARAGRAPH 1: ECSC, War, EEC and Treaty of Rome
- Europe was extremely divided after the 2 world war’s
- 50’s were dominated by a cold war, a divide between the democratic west and communist east.
- Period of uncertainty in which each side expected the other to invade, which never happened.
- Developed into a war fuelled by propaganda, deceit and spies.
- Both sides had nuclear weapons which were a huge threat that neither wanted to deploy.
- Idea of EU by writer and philosopher Jean Monnet who believed unity could only be accomplished by the establishment of a federal Europe.
- French foreign minister, Robert Schuman and Monnet composed the Schuman Plan which led to creation of ECSC in May 1950.
- Forced 6 founding countries - France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg - to share to biggest industries coal/steel resources
- ‘The solidarity between the 2 countries established by joint production will show that war between France and Germany becomes not only unthinkable, but materially impossible’ –Robert Schuman Declaration , 1950
- Inevitably forced countries to co-operate in rebuilding of Western Europe after WWII – Prevented another major war and strengthened the West to combat communism in East.
- “Germany required coal and steel, and France didn’t want them to have it” – Disadvantage, difficulty that Monnet faced towards achieving his goal. The money trap, John Lanchester
- Created a council, commission and parliament.
- Led to become the EEC – Rooted under the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
- TOR mentions the creation of ‘an ever closer union between the peoples of Europe’
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- Extended to other areas of trade via the customs union - composed of a free trade area and common external tariff.
PARAGRAPH 2: Expansion of EEC
- During the early 60’s the EEC expanded due to the political and economic progress which developed into a ‘rich EEC market’ Pg.57 Understanding the EU
- Britain, Demark, Ireland made application to join in Aug 1961. Norway followed in 1962.
- Britain’s application had some trouble due to their close alliance with US. President, Charles de Gaulle felt their entrance would result in too much American influence in EU. Went behind EEC partner’s backs. Resulted in Britain, Ireland, Demark & Norway being rejected (part of a package)
- Britain reapplied 1967 – Again rejected
- Disadvantage – Goes against the democratic ideals of EU, one man had so much influence to reject applications without a wider vote, due to his own agenda.
- Wasn’t until Gaulle resigned in 1969 that Britain application was accepted along with Norway, Denmark & Ireland. Joined in 1973 apart from Norway due to referendum results.
- EU continued to expand: Greece Jan 1981, Span + Portugal Jan 1986. Memberships highlight advantage of EU helping to bring democracy to countries that were left devastated by dictatorships.
- EU doubled in size – < Global influence while > influence of Germany + France
- Advantage: EEC helped poorer, Mediterranean states to develop.
PARAGRAPH 3: Monetary Union
- By 1986 EEC became known as EC (European Community) and was thriving. Accounted for over 1/5 of all world trade Understanding the EU, John McCormick, Pg.59
- Monnet’s vision of an ‘ever closer union’ via common market was coming into place but hinged by the obstacles to the free movement of capital + people, consisted of: different levels of taxation and the varied exchange rates.
- To defeat this, in March 1979, EEC introduced the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in order to decrease exchange rate inconsistency and obtain monetary stability in Europe
- Became evident that there could never be true single market without total monetary union, a common European currency.
- Idea was highly controversial as would result in considerable loss of national sovereignty disadvantage - Understanding the EU, pg. 59
- Sharing of a single currency was unheard of which was highlighted by award-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz “No one had ever tried a monetary union on such a scale, among so many countries that were disparate” – The Money Trap
- This bizarre notion was difficult to overcome due to the countries being so different regarding religion, culture, history, legal + political systems.
- Despite the controversy, the idea of a single currency - which would be called the ‘euro’ – came into place in 1995 and the schedule conceded under the Maastricht Treaty required the cooperating countries to agree on exchange rates by January 1999.
PARAGRAPH 4: Treaties
- Signed in 1993, officially called the treaty of the European union witch turned the EEC into EU we know of today.
- Established 2 new areas- a common foreign & security policy and justice and home affairs
- Gave the 12 member states European Citizenship meaning they had the right to move between each state and vote in any European and local elections in any country.
- Treaty was very unpopular, particularly with the Danish, English and French resulted in it taking years to come into force.
- Following this came the Amsterdam Treaty 1999 which updated the Maastricht in order to make the EU more democratic and prepare for the expansion of the EU to eastern countries.
- Gave the European parliament and the Council of ministers the power to legislate on a variety of issues including transport, health, employment, social policy and the environment.
- Also abolished boarder checks via the Schengen Agreement for all member states apart from Ireland and Britain.
- After the Maastricht treaty EU expanded further with the joining of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia who joined in 2004
- The most recent of Treaties is The Lisbon Treaty which was an international agreement to amend the TOR and the Maastricht Treaty and simplify the institutions that governed the EU.
- The TOL entered into force in December 2009.
- Upon the signing of the treaty the European Community disappeared with its structures and powers being incorporated into the EU.
- Moreover the idea of an EU president came into light who was chosen by the leaders of the member countries.
- Furthermore the Charter of Fundamental Rights came into force which introduced a range of civil, political, economic and social rights guaranteed to all citizens of the EU – britanicca
PARAGRAPH 5: Advantages and Disadvantages
- Major advantage: Tax Free trading among member states – provided free trade with no additional taxation costs resulted in produce from within the EU being cheaper and encouraged the member states to trade with each other.’
- Free movement of people – resulted in more job opportunities and increased access to various education facilities. Also gave countries a wider understanding of other cultures and encouraged members to integrate into other societies. This was especially beneficial for those from poorer countries with very high unemployment.
- The common currency also simplifies business, travelling and the purchase of goods from other EU countries and ratifies the sense of unity between the members that cooperate.
- Disadvantage: Forces all members to share their wealth which many portray as unfair as some countries generate a much more money than others but often have to contribute to the recovery of countries that have had a debt crisis, such as Greece in 2011.
- Another thing that angers people is that the EU has power over the governments in each country. And seeing as individually, the people have no choice in who governs the EU, many feel disconnected from the decisions that the union make.
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