European Integration: Intergovernmentalism and Neo-functionalism

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Table of Contents

Introduction
European Union during the Cold War, Liberalism and Communism
Formation of the EU
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The history of the European Union dates back to the World War II. European countries were determined to prevent such human as well as economic costs witnessed during the war from ever happening again. The formation of the Council of Europe among Western European countries in 1949 marked the beginning of the establishment of the European Union.

In attempts to ensure that cooperating countries do not make weapons of war which they could use to turn against each other, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Luxembourg signed a treaty in 1951 to guarantee the smooth running of their heavy industries under single management.

The European Union is an economic as well as a political union functions through a hybrid system which includes supranational independent institutions as well as intergovernmentally made decisions which are made by the member states (Albi 204).

Supranationalism refers to a type of decision-making among United States or communities delegate or transfer power to an institution by involving and taking into consideration the views of all the governments making up the union. The term is popular with the European Union which has formed a unique kind of political entity. It is the only entity that practices international popular elections. This goes beyond the usual political integration generally adopted by international agreement (Kiljunen 21).

Its supranational foundation makes war among member states unthinkable as well as materially impossible. In addition, supranationalism reinforces democracy. On the other hand, intergovernmentalism refers to an approach where states as well as the national governments are the main actors in the process of integration.

Intergovernmentalism recognizes the importance of institutionalization in international politics as well as the influence of processes of local politics on governmental preferences. It explains the radical changes that took place during the integration of the European Union.

Finally, neo-functionalism is a concept that describes and tries to explain the course of regional integration in terms of interaction among three casual factors which include; increasing interdependence between countries; supranational market rules which are adopted to substitute national regulatory regimes; and finally organizational capacity to successfully resolve disputes as well as to create international legal regimes (Ernst 366).

It developed in 1960s as a result of the perceived spill-over effects which were expected to result from the European integration.

European Union during the Cold War, Liberalism and Communism

During the period of the cold war, Europe was divided into the west and east Europe. However, European integration which resulted to the formation of the Council of Europe and later European Union among the Western European nations, have expanded eastwards after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Most of the Eastern European nations were controlled by the USSR and they therefore formed the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON).

During this period of the cold war (1945-1990), countries which maintained a free-market economy were offered aid by the US. This was part of the US Marshall Plan of 1947 to reunite Europe. Western European nations removed key trade barriers so as to connect their economies and benefit from free trade areas through a common union and this provided the basis for the formation of EU as well as increasing cross-border trade.

Meanwhile, as the western economies benefit from increased economic growth, nations under the COMECON were under pressure to maintain their economies majorly as a result of the Cold War. The Cold War therefore slowed down European Integration as the two sides followed different agendas and ideologies.

During the Cold War, the western and eastern countries followed different political and economic ideologies. While the west leaned towards capitalism, the east supported communism which was the USSR’s ideology. The Marshall Plan which lasted for only four years (1948-1951) was part of the US plan to fight the spread of communism. During the period of communism the western capitalist countries removed trade barriers and as a result experienced high economic growths.

On the contrary, Soviet leaders constantly frustrated CEECs’ reform efforts through constant economic pressure as well as occasional military interventions. The end of communism among the Central and Eastern European Countries began after the free parliamentary elections held in Poland in1989 (Baldwin and Wyplosz 20).

Liberalism began in 1949 after the formation of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in 1948 among the western states and the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance in 1949 among the Soviet bloc. The major aim was to achieve free-trade territory among the capitalist and communist states respectively. Liberalization promoted rapid expansion of trade as well as economic growth among the OEEC countries in the 1950s and 1960s (Baldwin &Wyplosz 5).

The second period of liberalism which began in the mid-1980s to late 1990s was characterized by constraining and pushing of governments of European nations by the economic interest groups towards further integration (Bieler 576). The Western, Central and Eastern European countries focused on deregulation as well as liberalization of national economies so as to allow free flow of capital, goods, people and services.

The European integration in the mid-1980s onwards focused on the internal market deregulation which was institutionalized under the Single European Act of 1987 as well as the Economic and Monetary Union which was formed during the Treaty of Maastricht of 1991. In the 1990s, EU’s major agenda was the issue of enlargement. Austria, Sweden and Finland who were members of the European Free Trade Association joined the EU in 1995 after negotiations which took place in 1993 and 1994 (Bieler 575).

Formation of the EU

The need for reconciliation after the end of the World War having experienced devastating human killings and destruction of infrastructure led to the formation of the Council of Europe in 1949. This led to the creation of a de facto supreme court, European Court of Human Rights in 1950 based in Strasbourg. The Council of Europe was mainly concerned with issues of democracy and human rights. The member states agreed to transfer their national authorities over their steal as well as coal production to the ECSC Commission.

This promoted greater transparency as well as trust among themselves. The two institutions, ECSC and Euratom were later merged into EEC in 1967 during the Brussels Treaty to form the European Communities (EC). Denmark, the UK and Ireland later joined EC in 1973 while Greece became a member in 1981. Spain and Portugal also joined in 1986.

East and West Germany were reunified in 1990 and hence East Germany became a member of the Community. The European Union was finally established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht founded on the pre-existing European Economic Community which by then had twelve member states (Stirk and Weigall 111-15).

Effects of neo-functionalism on European integration

European integration is seen as having followed Neo-functionalism. The Organization for European Economic Community was created to promote development among the European nations. It resulted into the establishment of the Council of Europe, European Coal and Steal Community, the European Economic Community as well as the European Atomic Community and finally the European Union.

It also led to deregulation of internal markets among individual member states as well as liberalization of trade in the European Union during liberalism. It led to the formation of European Free Trade Association which consisted of four member states, Sweden, Austria, Norway and Finland who later Joined European Union. Economic interest groups and associations pushed for further integration among European countries so as to pursue their economic interests.

This resulted into establishment of supranational European institutions as a result of political spill-over. Neo-functionalism also promoted high economic growth especially among the OEEC countries between 1950 and 1970 as a result of elimination of trade and payment barriers among member states.

It also promoted cooperation among the European communities on matters of human rights, democracy, security, environment, labour policies, and health standards as well as economic cooperation leading to signing of several treaties aimed at achieving those (Haas (a) 368. It therefore made European integration inevitable.

It therefore facilitated the European integration as more and more countries pursued regional integration to eliminate their limited economic activities (Haas (b) 162). The enactment of the constitution of the European Union could an assurance increase in European in the future. The international secretariats in the EU manages co-operation among member countries while the international courts enforce European integration. European integration was facilitated by the Single European Act of 1987.

Effects of intergovernmentalism on European integration

Intergovernmentalism had an influence on the establishment of supranational European Union institutions and policies. International co-operation among European countries resulted from the common national interest of countries particularly economic interests rising from decisions and forces of the national politics.

Intergovernmentalism led to the historical progression from custom, to political and then to economic union and finally to monetary union in the EU starting from the six member states to nine, twelve, fifteen and finally twenty seven. The institutional framework as well as rules that guide the European integration reflects the bargaining power of different nations.

The legislators, promoters as well as the promulgators of the expanding European integration are mainly the individual national governments and in particular, the major European Union countries and their representatives and heads of state (Puchala 319).Intergovernmentalism was very significant during the periods leading to important agreements. Besides, the legally recognized signatories of any EU treaty are state representatives.

As a result of intergovernmentalism, the European Union respects the national identities of its member countries and in particular, those whose governments adopt democratic principles in their governance systems as outlined in the Treaty of the European Union. Respect for national identity is preserved whenever key intergovernmental decisions are being made under unanimity, when amending treaties or while dealing with issues of the European Council.

Again when it comes to foreign policy, national concerns dominate European interests. Member states have always protected their national interests and restrict future transfer of their sovereignty. They therefore operate through intergovernmental institutions instead of transferring supreme authority to European Union’s central institutions. The interests of the member state executives and not the supranational actors determine the policy outcomes (Moga 801-802).

Effects of the leaders to the integration and the ideologies (6 ECSC countries)

The aftermath of the World War II had encouraged leaders to come together and cooperate so as to eliminate any factor that could cause war and also promote European political and economic Union. Leaders of governments as well as ministers of the Western European countries facilitated European integration in several ways such as policy reforms, ideologies and political pressures.

Robert Schuman who was the then French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister offered the proposal to create ECSC which would help eliminate future wars between Germany and France which were major superpowers by then. His proposal was explicitly political; however, it followed an economic integration approach with broad political objectives.

He helped reform the French policy to surrender its permanent control over parts of Germany which were coal mining areas such as the Saar and the Ruhr regions to set pace for the establishment of the ECSC. Other leaders such as Jean Monnet also helped in writing the French policy. His guiding principles were international democracy among states.

Political leaders such as Andre Philip, Edourad Bonnfous and Paul Reynaud among others supported linkages of economies through the formation of ECSC. They initiated specialist subcommittees in the Council of Europe to help establish ECSC. However, Charles de Gaulle opposed the formation of ECSC terming it as false and weak approach. Western European leaders developed the legal framework to guide the operations of the ECSC and the Franco-German reconciliation.

The leaders also facilitated and participated in the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1951by France, Italy, West Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Netherlands. In 1953, a common market for both coal and steal was opened. The Western European leaders guided ECSC’s operations through to 1967 when it was merged into the EEC.

All the countries and the leaders involved pursued capitalist and both intergovernmentalism and neo-functionalism ideologies such as democratic governance through creation democratic institutions both nationally and internationally, free-market economy and respect for human rights.

Intergovernmentalism influence neo-functionalism and the integration

Intergovernmentalism set up serious barriers to policy innovation in the event of non-unanimous governmental agreement. The institutional policies and decisions reflect the interests of member state governments or representative executives. New policy initiatives have occasionally been met with oppositions and always have slim chances of being adopted given the political system of the EU. The forms supermajority procedures practiced in the EU’s political system remains a hurdle to neo-functionalism.

Intergovernmentalism adopted by the member states to protect EU’s constituent units and their national autonomy hinders the operations of neo-functionalism. Far-reaching market liberalization has occasionally blocked political re-regulation of EU’s policies and also threatens the future European integration process since it could lead to market imbalance. Frustration among the electorates could lead to voting for parties which are far off the centre and in turn endanger European integration (Falkner 4).

Conclusion

European integration has been influenced by the ideologies of intergovernmentalism and neo-functionalism at different periods and on different decisions and initiatives. The two ideologies provide divergent assumptions about European integration. Neo-functionalism brings a new political setting whereby countries forgo their desire as well as ability to perform both domestic and foreign policies autonomously with an aim of making joint decisions or transferring decision-making to new central institutions.

The ideology was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s and promoted the establishment of several economic communities and the enlargement of co-operating members from 6 members to 27. It also promoted co-operation among European communities solving common problems. On the other hand, intergovernmentalist perspective which became popular in the 1970s emphasized on individual governments of the co-operating union as the determinants of decisions and policy outcomes.

It promoted the participation of governments in important agreements as well as protection of national sovereignty of member states. The ideology resulted into the creation of legal framework to guide the operations of the supranational institutions of the European Union. Supranational institutions respect the national identities of individual member states.

Works Cited

Albi, Anneli. Implications of the European constitution. EU enlargement and the constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print.

Baldwin, Richard. and Wyplosz, Charles. Manuscript for the Economics of European Integration. 2003. Web.

Bieler, Andreas. The struggle over EU enlargement: A historical materialist analysis of European integration. Journal of European Public Policy, 2002: 575-597. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Falkner, Gerda. Interlinking neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism: Sidelining governments and manipulating policy preferences as “passerelles”. Working Paper, No. 03/2011 (2011): 1-25. Vienna: Institute for European Integration Research.

Haas, Ernst. Beyond the Nation-State: Functionalism and International Organization. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964. Print.

Haasm, Ernst. International Integration: The European and the Universal Process. International Organization 15 (1961): 366-392. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Kiljunen, Kimmo (2004). The European Constitution in the Making. Centre for European Policy Studies. Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies.

Moga, Teodor. The Contribution of the Neofunctionalist and Intergovernmentalist Theories to the Evolution of the European Integration Process. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, 1:3 ( 2009): 796-807. Iasi: University of Cuza.

Puchala, Donald. Institutional, Inertgovernmentalism and European Integration: A Review Article. Journal of Common Market Studies, 37:2 (1999): 317-331. New Jersey: Blackwell publishers.

Stirk, Peter and Weigall, David. The Origins and Development of the European Community, Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1992. Print.

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