European integration Totally Explained

Everything about European Integration totally explained

European integration is the process of political, legal, economic (and in some cases social and cultural) integration of European states, including some states that are partly in Europe. In the present day, European Integration is primarily achieved through the European Union and the Council of Europe.

History

For centuries, there have been proposals for some form of European integration. With his "Memorandum on the Organization of a Regime of European Federal Union" in 1930, Aristide Briand produced for the French government the first twentieth-century proposal by a European government for European Unity.

Council of Europe

Against the background of the devastation and suffering during the second World War as well as the need for reconciliation after the war, the idea of European integration led to the creation of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 1949. In his famous speech at the University of Zurich in 1946, Winston Churchill had called for a United States of Europe (though he was ambiguous on Britain's role in a United States of Europe) and the creation of a Council of Europe.
   The most important achievement of the Council of Europe is the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 with its European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which serves as a de facto supreme court for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout Europe. Human rights are also protected by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the European Social Charter.
   Most conventions of the Council of Europe pursue the aim of greater legal integration, such as the conventions on legal assistance, against corruption, against money laundering, against doping in sport, or internet crime.
   Cultural co-operation is based on the Cultural Convention of 1954 and subsequent conventions on the recognition of university studies and diplomas as well as on the protection of minority languages.
   After the fall of the Berlin Wall, former communist countries in central and eastern Europe were able to accede to the Council of Europe, which now comprises all 47 states in Europe with the exception of Belarus due to its still non-democratic government. Therefore, European integration practically succeeded at the level of the Council of Europe, encompassing the whole European continent.
   European integration at the level of the Council of Europe functions through the accession of member states to its conventions as well as through political coordination at the level of ministerial conferences and inter-parliamentary sessions. In accordance with its Statute of 1949, the Council of Europe works to achieve greater unity among its members based on common values, such as human rights and democracy.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization whose aim is to secure stability in Europe. It was established as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in July 1973, and was subsequently transformed into its current form in January 1995. The OSCE currently has 56 member states, covering most of the northern hemisphere.
The OSCE develops three lines of activities, namely the Politico-Military Dimension, the Economic and Environmental Dimension, and the Human Dimension. These respectively promote (i) mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution; (ii) the monitoring, alerting and assistance in case of economic and environmental threats; and (iii) full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Regional integration

Several Regional integration efforts have effectively removed barriers to free trade in European regions, while increasing the free movement of people, labour, goods, and capital across national borders, and reducing the possibility of regional armed conflict.

Common Travel Area

The Common Travel Area is a passport-free zone established in 1992 that comprises the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

Benelux

The Benelux is an economic and political union between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. On September 5, 1944, a treaty establishing the Benelux Customs Union was signed. It entered into force in 1948, and ceased to exist on November 1, 1960, when it was replaced by the Benelux Economic Union after a treaty signed in The Hague on February 3, 1958. A Benelux Parliament was created in 1955.

Nordic Council

The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers is a co-operation forum for the parliaments and governments of the Nordic countries. It was created in February 1953.
The Nordic Passport Union, created in 1954 but implemented on May 1, 1958, establishes free movement across borders without passports for the countries' citizens. It comprises Denmark, Sweden and Norway as foundational states; further, it includes Finland and Iceland since September 24, 1965, and the Danish autonomous territories of Faroe Islands since January 1, 1966.

European Communities

In 1951, a few European states agreed to confer powers over their steel and coal production to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Luxembourg.
   Coal and steel production was essential for the reconstruction of countries in Europe after the second World War and this sector of the national economy had been important for warfare in the first and second World Wars. Therefore, France had originally maintained its occupation of the Saarland with its steel companies after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in 1949. By transferring national powers over the coal and steel production to a newly created ECSC Commission, the member states of the ECSC were able to provide for greater transparency and trust among themselves.
   This transfer of national powers to a "Community" to be exercised by its Commission was paralled under the 1957 Treaty of Rome establishing the European Atomic Energy Community ---or Euroatom--- and the European Economic Community (ECC) in Brussels.
   In 1967, the Merger Treaty combine the institutions of the ECSC and Euratom into that of the EEC. They already shared a Parliamentary Assembly and Courts. Collectively they were known as the European Communities. The Communities still had independent personalities although were increasingly integrated, and over the years were transformed into what is now called the European Union.
   A key person in this initiative was Jean Monnet, regarded as the "founding father" of the European Union, which is seen as the dominant force in European integration.

European Free Trade Areas

European Free Trade Association

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a European trade bloc which was established on May 3, 1960 as an alternative for European states who didn't join the EEC. EFTA currently has four member states: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
The EFTA Convention was signed on January 4, 1960 in Stockholm by seven states: United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal. Finland became an associate member in 1961 and a full member in 1986; Iceland joined in 1970, and Liechtenstein did the same in 1991.
The United Kingdom and Denmark left in 1973, when they joined the European Community. Portugal left EFTA in 1986, when it also joined the EC. Austria, Sweden and Finland ceased to be EFTA members in 1995, by joining the European Union.

Baltic Free Trade Area

The Baltic Free Trade Area (BAFTA) was a trade agreement between Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. It was signed on September 13, 1993 and came into force on April 1, 1994. The agreement was later extended to apply also to agricultural products, effective from January 1, 1997. BAFTA ceased to exist when its members joined the EU on May 1, 2004.

Central European Free Trade Agreement

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a trade agreement between countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe.

European Union

The institutions of the European Union, its parliamentarians, judges, commissioners and secretariat, the governments of its member states as well as their people, all play a role in European Integration. Nevertheless, the question of who plays the key role is disputed as there are different theories on European Integration focusing on different actors and agency.
The European Union has a number of relationships with nations that are not formally part of the Union. According to the European Union's official site, and a statement by Commissioner Günter Verheugen, the aim is to have a ring of countries, sharing EU's democratic ideals and joining them in further integration without necessarily becoming full member states.

Economic integration

The European Union operates a single economic market across the territory of all its members, and uses a single currency between the Eurozone members. Further, the EU has a number of economic relationships with nations that are not formally part of the Union through the European Economic Area and custom union agreements.

Customs Union

The European Customs Union defines an area where no customs are levied on goods travelling within it. It includes all European Union member states. The abolition of internal tariff barriers between ECC member states was achieved in 1968.
Further, Turkey, Andorra and San Marino belong to the EU customs unions with third states.

Single Market

A prominent goal of the EU since its creation by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 is establishing and maintaining a single market This seeks to guarantee the four basic freedoms, which are related to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and people around the EU's internal market.
The European Economic Area (EEA) agreement allows Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to participate in the European Single Market without joining the EU. The four basic freedoms apply. However, some restrictions on fisheries and agriculture take place. Switzerland is linked to the European Union by Swiss-EU bilateral agreements, with a different content from that of the EEA agreement.

Eurozone

The Eurozone refers to the European Union member states that have adopted the euro currency union as the third stage of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Further, certain states outside the EU have adopted the euro as their currency, despite not belonging to the EMU.

Schengen zone

The main purpose of the establishment of the Schengen Agreement is the abolition of physical borders among European countries. A total of 28 states, including 25 European Union states and three non-EU members (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland), are subject to the Schengen rules.

Military

The European Union isn't a state and as such doesn't have its own dedicated military forces. However, there are a number of multi-national military and peacekeeping forces which are ultimately under the command of the EU, and therefore can be seen as the core for a future European Union army.
The Western European Union (WEU) capabilities and functions have been transferred to the European Union, under its developing Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

State	EU	Common Market (EEA)	Customs Union	Schengen	EMU (Euro)	Military
Andorra	No	No	1991	No	Unilaterally adopted	No
Austria	1 Jan. 1995	1 Jan. 1994	Yes	26 Dec. 1997	1999	EU BGs
Belgium	1 Jan. 1958	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	Eurofor, Eurocorps, EU BGs
Bulgaria	1 Jan. 2007	1 Jan. 2007	Yes	No	No	EU BGs
Croatia	Candidate	No	No	No	No	No
Cyprus	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	No	2008	EU BGs
Czech Republic	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Denmark	1 Jan. 1973	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	25 Mar. 2001	No	No
Estonia	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Finland	1 Jan. 1995	1 Jan. 1994	Yes	25 Mar. 2001	1999	EU BGs
France	1 Jan. 1958	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	Eurofor, Eurocorps, EU BGs, EGF
Germany	1 Jan. 1958	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	Eurocorps, EU BGs
Greece	1 Jan. 1981	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 2000	2001	EU BGs
Hungary	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Iceland	No	1 Jan. 1994	No	25 Mar. 2001	No	No
Ireland	1 Jan. 1973	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	No	1999	EU BGs
Italy	1 Jan. 1958	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Oct. 1997	1999	Eurofor, EU BGs, EGF
Kosovo	No	No	No	No	Unilaterally adopted	No
Latvia	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Lithuania	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Liechtenstein	No	1 May 1995	No	Signatory	No	No
Luxembourg	1 Jan. 1958	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	Eurocorps, EU BGs
FYRO Macedonia	Candidate	No	No	No	No	No
Malta	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	2008	No
Monaco	No	No	de facto, with France	de facto, with France	Adoption agreement	No
Montenegro	No	No	No	No	Unilaterally adopted	No
Netherlands	1 Jan. 1958	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	EU BGs, EGF
Norway	No	1 Jan. 1994	No	25 Mar. 2001	No	EU BGs
Poland	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Portugal	1 Jan. 1986	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	Eurofor, EU BGs, EGF
Romania	1 Jan. 2007	1 Jan. 2007	Yes	No	No	EU BGs
San Marino	No	No	2002	Open border	Adoption agreement	No
Spain	1 Jan. 1986	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	26 Mar. 1995	1999	Eurofor, Eurocorps, EU BGs, EGF
Slovakia	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	No	EU BGs
Slovenia	1 May 2004	1 May 2004	Yes	21 Dec. 2007	2007	EU BGs
Sweden	1 Jan. 1995	1 Jan. 1994	Yes	25 Mar. 2001	No	EU BGs
Switzerland	Application frozen	Bilateral treaties	No	Signatory	No	No
Turkey	Candidate	No	1996	No	No	EU BGs
United Kingdom	1 Jan. 1973	1 Jan. 1993	Yes	No	No	EU BGs
Vatican City	No	No	No	Open border	Adoption agreement	No

Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership or Barcelona Process was organised by the European Union to strengthen its relations with the countries in the Mashriq and Maghreb regions. It started in 1995 with the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Conference, and it has been developed in successive annual meetings.
   The European Union enlargement of 2004 brought two Mediterranean countries (Cyprus and Malta) into the Union, while adding a total of 10 to the number of Member States. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership today comprises 37 members: 27 EU member states and 10 Mediterranean Partners (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey). Libya has had observer status since 1999.
   The Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EU-MEFTA) is based on the Barcelona Process and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It will cover the EU, the EFTA, the EU customs unions with third states (Turkey, Andorra, San Marino), the EU candidate states, and the partners of the Barcelona Process.
   The Mediterranean Union is a proposed community of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea planned to be established in 2008.

Theories of Integration

The question of how to avoid wars between the nation-states was essential for the first theories. Federalism and Functionalism proposed the containment of the nation-state, while Transactionalism sought to theorize the conditions for the stabilization of the nation-state system. One of the most influential theories of European integration is Neo-functionalism, developed by Ernst B. Haas (1958) and further investigated by Leon Lindberg (1963). The important debate between neofunctionialism and (liberal) intergovernmentalism still remains central in understanding the development and set-backs of the European Union. But as the empirical world has changed, so have the theories and thus the understanding of European Integration. Today there's a relatively new focus on the complex policy making in the EU and Multi-level governance theory (MLG) trying to produce a theory of the workings and development of the EU.

Future of European Integration

There is no fixed end result of the process of integration. Integration and enlargement of the European Union are major issues in the politics of Europe, both at European, national and local level. Integration may conflict with national sovereignty and cultural identity, and is opposed by eurosceptics.

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