Europatag

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Marhold

The European Union is lacking a “founding myth”? Not at all, here it is – and, in fact, it is no myth, but a real story: The destiny of European integration took shape on 9 May 1950, with the declaration of the French Foreign Minister Schuman, who launched the European Coal and Steel Community. The events of these days can be retraced hour per hour, the actors gain life and profile. The solution is revolutionary: It is the first “breach in national sovereignty”. This would become the path towards today’s EU. – The story once told, there is a lot to be learnt: What was the relation between the wish of the Western Allies to bind (West-)Germany into the Western Bloc and the Franco-German desire to ensure peace? What was the relation between the economy and (high) politics? What about the relation between structural constraints and personal political leadership – would other politicians than Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer have decided otherwise? This book tells the story of 9 May, our “Europe Day”, and reflects on its meaning.

Author(s):  
Simon Bulmer

The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was a founder member of the European integration process, namely the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) created in 1952. However, the circumstances were very different from the 2010s. Germany was a divided and defeated state until 1990. Integration provided important political and economic support to West Germany. From the 1970s, it strengthened the FRG’s foreign policy reach, for the new state was constrained by Cold War politics as well as other legacies, notably the Holocaust. European integration provided a framework for building trust with western neighbors, particularly France. The collapse of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1989 and its absorption into the FRG through unification in 1990 brought about significant change to Germany’s relationship to European integration. The unified Germany became the largest member state. Initial concerns about German power in Europe were allayed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl pursuing deeper integration to bind the unified Germany further to integration: through creating the European Union (EU) itself and setting a course toward monetary union. Specific concerns about German power only really emerged in the 2010s, as the EU was bedeviled by several crises. In seeking to offer a comprehensive understanding of Germany’s relationship with the EU, coverage is organized around four broad themes: the historical dimension of the relationship; the substance of Germany’s European policy; the sources of Germany’s European policy; and Germany’s role and power in the EU. The historical dimension of Germany’s relationship with European integration is important as a first theme. It is no exaggeration to suggest that European integration helped emancipate the FRG from the historical legacy of turbulent relations with France, Nazi tyranny, and the opprobrium of the Holocaust. European integration afforded a complementary framework for Germany’s political and economic order. The importance of embedding German unification in a context of European integration should not be underestimated. Germany’s European policy has displayed considerable consistency up to the contemporary era. Support for further integration, for enlargement, the market order, and the development of an EU “civilian power” have been key components. These policies are important contributors to understanding Germany’s role in the EU: the second theme. The political and economic system of the FRG forms an important backdrop to understanding Germany’s policy and role in the EU: the third theme. From the 1960s until the 2010s, EU membership was subject to cross-party consensus and permissive public support. These circumstances allowed the federal government autonomy in pursuing its European policy. However, the political climate of European policy has become much more contested in the 2010s. Germany’s role was placed in the spotlight by the succession of crises that have emerged within the EU and in its neighborhood in the 2010s, particularly the eurozone and migration crises. The fourth theme explores how the question of German power re-emerged. These four themes are important to understanding Germany’s role in the EU, especially given Berlin’s centrality to its development.


Author(s):  
Sofia Vasilopoulou

This chapter examines the role that the European Union (EU) issue plays in radical right party agendas. It shows that, despite the fact that radical right parties tend to adopt dissimilar positions on the principle, practice, and future of European integration, they all tend to criticize the EU from a predominantly sovereignty-based perspective justified on ethnocultural grounds. The EU is portrayed as posing a threat to national sovereignty, its policies dismantling the state and its territory, as well as being responsible for the cultural disintegration of Europe and its nation-states. The analysis of EU issue positions and salience over time suggests that—despite variations—radical right parties engage in EU issue competition not only by adopting extreme positions but also by increasingly emphasizing these positions over time.


2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Zahariadis

This article sheds light on the Greek trigger of the eurozone's fiscal crisis. Using Ostrom's institutional theory of collective action it argues that Europe's predicament is rooted in the failings of political leadership and institutional design at both the European Union and Greek levels. The findings have implications for Ostrom's framework, Europeanization and the future of European integration.


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 466-481
Author(s):  
Inger Eriksson Haider

Fifty years ago, in the aftermath of the Second World War, Europe lay in ruins. What could be done to put an end to its belligerent past? Robert Schuman, then French Foreign Minister, envisioned that the European nations pool their resources together and unite their sovereign states, creating a unique form of political and economic union to be governed by supranational institutions. In the words of Jean Monnet: “Nothing can be achieved without institutions.” These ideas were the origins of the European Union.


Author(s):  
Suzana Mehmedi Ph.D ◽  
Ilir Mehmedi Ph.D

The problem of research is very current for several reasons. Namely, the dominant approach on the basis of which are based all have developed and established theories of European integration, developing modern theories of international relations is a realistic basis. Neo-functionalism, inter-guvernmentalism, neo-liberalism, institutionalism (in most of its variants) as the most developed branches of the theory of European integration, despite differences in their settings to keep the basic premise that states are rational, unitary actors, whose interest stems from the assessment of their position in the system of states. For our study caused a special interest model of constructivism using Habermas theory of communicative action according to which entities in mutual interaction is open to other arguments and their validity appreciate having regard to the outgoing reasons and norms on which they are based, thereby seeking consensus as a common goal. Apply to the European Union, this approach allows European institutions were perceived as a place of discussion to reach consensus on solving common problems, rather than just the arena for bargaining. Functional adaptation to the numerous petitions which sets the European Union, requires thorough and integrated activities in the economic, institutional, administrative and legislative spheres. This process should be understood as a continuous, painstaking and long process, not a single radical surgery. Republic of Macedonia, as countries aspiring for membership in the European family must meet the political and economic criteria and to adapt political institutions in the country with those of the European Union and their needs and requirements. The aim of this paper is to perceive the key features and trends in the politics of enlargement and to make a comparison between the policy of expansion applied in the process of accession Central and Eastern Europe and the policy of expansion in the process of stabilization and association, with special emphasis on the Republic of Macedonia. Of course, previously been necessary to develop theoretical and practical approach to the concept of policy integration, development and its major elements and modalities.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. Bulmer

ABSTRACTThe analysis of European integration has tended to use a toolkit drawn from international relations. But since the revival of integration in the mid-1980s, the governance of the European Community and European Union has increasingly come to resemble that of a multi-tiered state. Accordingly, this article analyzes the governance of the European Union from a comparative public policy perspective. Using new or historical institutionalism, three levels are considered. In the first part, attention is focused on the EU's institutions and the available instruments of governance. The second part examines the analysis of governance at the policy-specific or sub-system level, and puts forward an approach based on governance regimes. The final part considers the institutional roots of the persistent, regulatory character of governance in the European Union.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maistro S. ◽  
Kropyvnytskyi V. ◽  
Krykhtina Yu. ◽  
Treskov A.

The article describes the peculiarities of the formation and implementation of state policy for the development of various branches and spheres in the context of European integration of Ukraine. The degree of effectiveness of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union in various branches and spheres has been determined. The problematic aspects and contradictions of the state policy of development of various branches and spheres in the context of the implementation of the Association Agreement are highlighted. The ways of transformation of the state policy of development of various branches and spheres in the conditions of European integration of Ukraine are determined.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-154
Author(s):  
João Gualberto Marques Porto Júnior

A relação entre o Reino Unido e os países do continente foi marcada ao longo da história por diversos desencontros e disputas. Não foram poucas as guerras travadas entre os britânicos e outras nações europeias. A própria integração europeia inicia-se sem o Reino Unido que apenas na década de 1960 decidiu integrar as comunidades, sendo durante anos impedido pela Franca de Charles de Gaulle. A adesão tardia em 1973 não minimizou as diferenças, tendo novamente havido tensões na década seguinte durante a gestão Margaret Thatcher. As diferenças do casal estranho continuaram após a criação da União Europeia em 1992 e tiveram na decisão do Brexit apenas o desfecho de uma relação distante e tumultuada.ABSTRACTThe relation between the United Kingdom and the countries from "the continent” has been characterized by several disputes and differences along history. A large number of wars were fought between the British and other European nations. Even the European integration started without the United Kingdom, that only decided to take part in the communities in the sixties, being, however, blocked by de Gaulle’s France. Britain’s late accession to the European Communities in 1973 did not reduce the differences with its European neighbors and several tensions emerged during Margaret Thatcher’s government during the eighties. The differences between the odd couple continued after the creation of the European Union in 1992 and the “Brexit” simply represents the natural outcome of a distant and tumultuous relationship.Palavras-chave: Integração europeia, Reino Unido, BrexitKeywords: European integration, United Kingdom, BrexitDOI: 10.12957/rmi.2015.24641Recebido em 08 de Julho de 2016 / Received on July 8, 2016.


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