The integration of Europe has three theories that explain its evolution: federalism, neofunctionalism, and intergovernmentalism. Federalism, evolving after World War I and becoming prominent after World War II, holds a focus on avoiding future wars within Europe and containing nation-states. Functionalism has a focus on this idea, as well so when evolved into neofunctionalism, there is a focus on integrating different aspects of society in order to avoid conflicts and have these integration policies essentially lead to more integration. Intergovernmentalism rejects the neofunctionalist ideal and highlights that a nation’s preferences should be acquired through bargaining and deciding on what is best collectively while being overseen by a common authority. These theories have intermingled to create institutions that aim to achieve successful European integration.
Federalism, one of the theories of European integration, is a theory in which a general or federal government presides over regional governments or states. After the tragedy that was World War I, there was a desire for a “united Europe that overcame national jealousies” to avoid another total war (Blair, 11). The Pan-European Union was introduced by Austrian Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1923, that gained a following of politicians such as Aristide Briand. In 1929, Briand, the French Prime Minister at the time, proposed the formation of a European Union within the League of Nations to provide a framework to contain Germany while also preserving the Versailles conditions. Briand’s proposal would focus on economic collaboration between the larger nations, as well as provide security against the threat of the Soviets. Although never adopted due to the Great Depression, Briand’s proposal served as a model for integration developments that would emerge after World War II. After the war, movements took place for a European federation, such as the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and the European Movement. Nations wanted to “engineer some fort of mutual constitutional settlement” to secure peace (Rosamond, 1). Strong advocates for federalism in Europe included the nations of Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg, mostly due to the effects felt after the war had ended. Winston Churchill, no longer the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, addressed the need to “build a kind of United States of Europe” during his speech at the University of Zurich in 1946. However, the United Kingdom wished to stay out of a federalist agenda since they still had their commonwealth, as well as a relationship with the United States that made integration useless to them. The UEF, having become active in 1946, was a nongovernmental organization that focused on campaigning for federalism. Although they split in 1956 due to disagreements, they later rejoined to campaign for direct elections to the European Parliament. The European Movement, established in 1948, was a lobbying association for European integration through federalism. The organization was able to pave the way for the Council of Europe in 1949. The theory of federalism regarding European integration was strong in the period of the wars, yet it failed to become decisive in European politics. The Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty establishing the Constitution for Europe had mentions of federalism, but the theory was never adopted as a consensus.
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Functionalism is an international relations theory developed during the inter-war period that rejects ideas of state power as well as influence politically. The theory states that integration develops its own dynamics through individual areas. Functionalists held to focus on securing the “most efficient method of administering to the real material needs of people” (Rosamond, 2). Neofunctionalism is a theory of integration that reintroduces territory into importance, while also placing importance on regional organizations and groups. Neofunctionalists wanted to “apply functionalist thinking to a delimited international region” (Rosamond, 2). Jean Monnet, a French diplomat and economist, was a key figure due to his approach most closely following neofunctionalism. He believed that the integration of key factors of different national sectors would have a ‘spillover effect’, and thus continue the integration process into the other sectors. Ernst B. Haas, the founder of neofunctionalism, created “no specific temporal component”, meaning that the spillover effects of integration had no set time frame in which they would happen (Ruggie, 279). Due to this, the theory has been ‘disconfirmed’ by many scholars. Yet, Monnet’s work, while he was “devoted to eliminating the risk of war in Europe” (Ruggie, 278), led to many of the following developments of integration in the coming years. Such an idea of the ‘spillover effect’ took place with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 at the Treaty of Paris with the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Luxembourg signing to take part. Neofunctionalists essentially used the ECSC and the European Economic Community (EEC) as starting points for the merging of particular sectors of the economy.
Intergovernmentalism, a theory of European integration, places states and national governments as the main participants in the integration process. Through this, the amount of power awarded to supranational institutions is limited to halt the materialization of common policies. Intergovernmentalists emphasize the centrality of national executives. In 1948, at the Hague Congress, the Council of Europe was discussed and was later founded in 1949 by Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (later to be joined by Greece and Turkey) through the Treaty of London. Although the Hague Congress was set by federalists, the organization took on more intergovernmental policies than federalist policies. Scandinavia decided to become a part of the Council of Europe because they recognized that the action was no longer potentially dangerous to them due to it not being of a federalist base. While the organization was formed to implement human rights, democracy, and law within Europe, “members quickly realized its powerlessness” because it didn’t “involve the transfer of power and influence away from nation states”, like the federalists had hoped it would (Blair, 16). It soon became apparent that proposals for political authority would be rejected, and the organization’s first president, Paul Henri Spaak of Belgium, resigned and became one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union. Another intergovernmental institution that was created was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) through the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 by the 12 original members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The organization was instituted as a military alliance and it still exists today with now 29 North American and European members. In 1950, French Prime Minister Robert Schuman proposed the Schuman Declaration that suggested placing German and French coal and steel productions under a common authority with the participation of other interested nations as well. At the Treaty of Paris in 1951, the ECSC was created, as mentioned earlier. It was hoped that this institution would cause a ‘spillover effect’ into other aspects of the nations and further integrate Europe. The ECSC formed a model for institutions made at the Treaty of Rome in 1957, such as the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), thus accomplishing what was hoped for by the ECSC. In 1967, the Brussels Treaty combined these two institutions, and the ECSC was also combined with them in 2002 to create the European Community. This was the first pillar of the European Union (EU), which was founded by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. The EU is an economic and political intergovernmental organization that has established a free market to ensure the free movement of people, goods, and resources within its twenty-eight member states. Additionally, the EU functions through independent institutions and intergovernmental decisions made by its member states. Although the EU has been able to tackle common issues of integration within its boundaries, there is “still no such thing as a single common foreign policy”, which brings into question if there will ever be such a thing (Dedman, 12).
The theories of European integration are not theories that follow a specific blueprint or layout. Even the European Union, which is considered to be intergovernmental, can be evaluated and said to contain factors of the other theories. As Rosamond said, the EU is too complex to be captured by a single theoretical prospectus. As can be seen, by the different institutions which they have helped create, these integration theories overlap and intertwine to create complex economic and political ideas and organizations that aim to achieve European integration.
Works Cited
- Blair, Alasdair. The European Union since 1945. Pearson Education. Longman Harlow, England; New York 2005.
- Dedman, Martin J. The Origins and Development of the European Union, 1945-95: A History of European Integration. Routledge, London; New York, 2010.
- Rosamond, Ben. Theories of European Integration/Ben Rosamond Macmillan: St. Martin’s Press London; New York 2000.
- Ruggie, John Gerard; Peter J. Katzenstein; Robert O. Keohane; Philippe C. Schmitter (June 2005). Transformations in World Politics: The Intellectual Contributions of Ernst B. Haas. Annual Review of Political Science. 8: 271-296. Archived from the original on 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
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