Evolution of the European Union

In the wake of the mass destruction left behind from the Second world war, there was a desire to prevent the nations of Europe from ever committing euthanasia again. There was also a political  argument to be made, with the rising threat of the Soviet East. Economics too played a factor, as mass unemployment and failed harvests meant that the nations of Europe could either work together, or fail alone.

To this end, the ‘European Steal and Coal Community was established which was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe", starting with the aim of eliminating the possibility of further wars between its member states by means of pooling the national heavy industries.^[28] The founding members of the Community were Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and West Germany.

The participants were to:

substitute for age old rivalries the merging of their essential interests; to create, by establishing an economic community, the basis for a broader and deeper community among peoples long divided by bloody conflicts; and to lay the foundations for institutions which will give direction to a destiny henceforward shared”

It is important to note that at this early stage, the UK was not involved with this union. While Churchill had called for an organisation of the nations of Europe, the UK was still as a whole, opposed to this idea

Institutions were created which still exist in some form today, although they have undergone changes throughout the years. These include the High Authority, a consultative committee, an assembly, a court of ministers and a court of justice.

The High Authority consisted of 9 independent appointees and was a main executive institution with decision-making powers. It was responsible for implementing the aims of the Treaty and had the power to make economic decisions that were contrary to the wishes of the MS government. However it did not have much control in relation to coal and steel. While it could regulate production and prices, it could only do so in situations of shortage or over-production.

The assembly consisted of national parliaments delegates. It has undergone several changes over the past half century and is now known as the European Parliament. It is the only directly elected body, and has become hugely controversial in recent times.

The council comprised of 1 delegate from each member state, and were intended to exist in a purely consultative role. However, they did have some decision making power.

The Court of Justice was made up of seven judges and two advocate generals. Each would sit a six year term and were appointed by common accord of the member states.

Even at this early stage, there were many criticism of the European Coal and Steel Community. Many felt it did not play a central role in the development of national coal and steel industries and also did not achieve the objectives it was established to achieve. Rules not enforced enough, as  MS protected and subsidised their own industries. While there was power placed on the  High Authority to enforce the elimination of national subsidies; imposing transparency of prices on undertakings; banning cartels; and adopting crisis management measures allowing the European Commission to impose production quotas, these were hardly used until the 1980s.

Benelux customs union had been set up by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. This had the effect of abolishing customs duties between themselves on goods. Benelux countries had adopted a common duties with outside countries, which was highly profitable. It was thus envisaged that a similar project could be adopted by all 6 member states. To this end the European Economic Community Treaty (EEC) was established at the Messina Conference in Italy in June 1955. It was attended by Foreign Ministers of the MS and Two Treaties were signed, EEC and EURATOM, to come into force 1^st January 1958.

The European Economic Community Treaty was above all else, an economic treaty, unlike the ECSC which had more political motives. Its aim was to establish a common market, based on the four free movements-goods, persons, capital and services. To do this, it had to approximate the economic policies of the Member States, promote Harmonious development of economic activities throughout the Community, to increase stability and raise the standard of living and to promote closer relations between Member States

Competition was an important feature, although at this time it is important to note that there were no anti-competitive agreements. The EEC treaty led to the establishment of a common customs tariff and a common commercial policy and the abolition of obstacles to the free movement of persons, services and capital between the member States (MS). Due to the fact that it was signed in Rome, the EEC treaty would forever be called the treaty of Rome.

At the same time the EEC treaty was signed, the Euratom was also signed. Its aim was to coordinate the research programmes on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to develop nuclear energy, distribute within Community and sell surplus to outside countries. However, Euratom never developed as originally envisaged due to political pressures. This was mainly because France already had a nuclear weapons facility. However, it did have the important role of research and the promotion of nuclear safety.

The next aim of the fledgling union was to establish a political community. However, there was a disagreement amongst member states of which approach to be adopted, with de Gaulle of France advocating an intergovernmental approach, which is defined as an "association of States established by and based upon a treaty, which pursues common aims and which has its own special organs to fulfil particular functions within the organisation.

In the early days, Community decisions were taken by consensus. However, it became abundantly clear early on that Consensus was not always feasible. It so gradually came into effect that required certain decisions to be taken by a qualified majority voting(QMV). QMV requires a specific number of votes (rather than a simple majority) to be cast in favour of a measure in order for it to be passed. It currently operates in the following manner (transitional provisions-until 31^st October 2014) -the proposal for an act must be supported by 260 out of the total of 352 votes (73.9%). At least 15 MS vote in favour of a Commission proposal and those 15 MS must comprise of at least 62% of the total population of the Union. If not, act cannot be adopted

Originally a consensus was required. All 6 MS had to agree to pass a decision. However, from 1966 QM decisions (by the Council) were to be taken in relation to agricultural prices. This was because Agriculture absorbed most of the Community’s expenditure and was an area of key importance to France. To France, QMV was more supranational. Supranational is defined as ‘the process whereby political actors in several distinct national settings voluntarily shift their loyalties, expectations, and political activities toward an encompassing unit, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the pre-existing nation-states’.

The next important development was the Merger Treaty 1965 (Came into effect 1967). Having three institutional structures under the 3 Treaties soon became inconvenient and so since this treaty the three Communities have enjoyed a common institutional structure. The High Authority is renamed the Commission.

By the mid-60s, the basis of the community had been firmly established. However, the UK was still not a member at this time. European Free Trade Area had been set up by UK, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland in 1959 although it lacked structure of EEC.

UK applied for membership in 1961-vetoed by France, led by Charles de Gaulle. One reason given for de Gaulle's refusal was the recent American agreement to supply Britain with the Skybolt nuclear missile. He did it, he said, because he thought the United Kingdom lacked the necessary political will to be part of a strong Europe. He further saw Britain as a "Trojan Horse" for the USA. It needed to be a unanimous decision and so when the UK applied again in 1967 and was again vetoed by France it meant that its membership was impossible.

It was not until 1970, on the third time of asking, that the UK was accepted, along with Ireland and Denmark. With more states joining the EEC an important issue remaining regarding that of increased integration.

 An Intergovernmental conference (IGC) was held in 1985 to discuss Treaty amendments. It was the first major attempt to revise the Treaties and what emerged was the Single European Act. Up until SEA, there were the 3 original Communities, when a New MS joined therefore; it was required to amend the original Treaties. The SEA thus helped the EEC prepare for enlargement . It came into effect in 1987 and led to a revival of Community momentum towards integration and institutional and substantive reforms, which had lain dormant during the conservative revolution of the early 80s.

There were a number of changes, the most substantial being the establishment of the Court of First Instance (CFI) to assist the ECJ (now General Court). Assembly renamed the Parliament, although it still is not a technically a parliament in the strictest sense of the word. Parliament’s consultative role was extended and qualified majority voting was introduced into a number of areas that had previously required unanimity

Internal market was to come into operation by the 31^st of December 1992.Also known as the single market. Internal market was intended to take the Community beyond being a mere customs union (an area without internal barriers to trade) to a Community with complete totality of economic activity. The main aim was economic, namely to establish an “internal market” that would be free from interstate barriers thereby ensuring the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital.

After the SEA, the Maastricht Treaty was signed in Maastricht in Holland in 1993. Its Formal title: Treaty on European Union (TEU). It made provision for a single European currency, changed the name of the EEC to the EC and showed that the Community had gone far beyond its original economic goals.

It introduced the concept of the European Union, which at first led to widespread confusion. This was at first rejected by Denmark and was narrowly passed by the French electorate in a referendum. It introduced the 3 pillars of the EU, the EEC, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs.

The TEU Established a concrete timetable for the introduction of the European Monetary Union, Introduced new areas of competence and led to the Concept of European citizenship beings established.

The establishment of the Euro began with Maastricht, although it was not adopted by all member states due to a fear of loss of economic control. Time has proved these fears correct, as the Eurozone areas were beset by catastrophe after catastrophe during the economic meltdown.

Next was the Treaty of Amsterdam, in 1999. This was essentially an amended version of the TEU which consolidated and tidied up the structure of the treaties. The Union remained largely the same by structure.

However, there were a number of shortcomings with this treaty, which became known as Amsterdam’s leftovers. These unresolved issues led to the Treaty of Nice, in 2002. However, the voters of Ireland rejected the Treaty of Nice in a referendum.  They would later accept it after a number of amendments had been made.

After Nice, the Reform Treaty was proposed. It set out to consolidate the existing treaties, incorporated principles established by the ECj, provide for fundamental human rights, laid out the competences of the union, and provided for citizens rights, in addition to policies regarding the functioning of the union.

It was rejected by both France and the Netherlands and so was re-drafted and called the treaty of Lisbon. It was initially rejected by the Irish, though they accepted on the second time of asking. The Treaty of Lisbon merges the 3 pillars and creates a single European Union.