Treaty on European Union

Context

For some fifteen hundred years, beginning with the collapse of the Roman Empire and culminating with World War II, the nations of Europe were intermittently at war with one another. Throughout that span of time, such historical figures as Charlemagne, Napoléon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler tried to unite Europe into a single political entity, but these efforts failed in part because they were based on force rather than cooperation. In the first decades of the twentieth century, European powers such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, England, and France remained distrustful of one another and would have rejected out of hand the notion of ceding authority to a supranational body.

The horrors of the twentieth century's two world wars, however, led to changes in thinking. National leaders finally accepted that some sort of political union would be necessary to eliminate future wars. They also recognized that Europe, fragmented into numerous small nations, all with different policies, currencies, and so forth, would be unable to compete economically with the United States unless the nations pooled their resources. Among the first countries to recognize the potential benefits of political unity were Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, three smaller nations in northwestern Europe that agreed to cooperate in matters of trade, tariffs, and economics through the formation of the Benelux Customs Union in 1948 (with the word Benelux coined from the opening letters of the three nations' names). This union evolved into the Benelux Economic Union in 1960.

In 1950 proposals for the formation of a unified coal and steel community were made, to join the coal and steel industries of France and West Germany. (Communist East Germany would not be included.) The motives were as much political as economic, for as the West German economy revived after World War II, France wanted to keep an eye on its neighbor and former enemy, especially since coal and steel are central to the armaments industry. West Germany eagerly joined with France and also the Benelux nations and Italy, and the treaty forming the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was signed in 1951, with the organization beginning operations the following year. The formation of the ECSC was a crucial step; for the first time, major European powers submitted themselves to a supranational body of ministers and a court of justice that would adjudicate disputes.

A breakthrough step occurred in 1957, when the ECSC nations signed the Treaties of Rome. These treaties formed the European Atomic Energy Community, or Euratom, and, most important, the European Economic Community, informally referred to as the Common Market. The chief feature of the Common Market was that it sharply reduced tariffs and import duties on products shipped from one member nation to another. It also allowed the member nations to create common policies on a range of matters, including transportation and agriculture. Other nations were invited to join, but Great Britain expressed reluctance and instead persuaded Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and Portugal to join it in the formation of the European Free Trade Association. In 1961 Great Britain reexamined its position and sought membership in the European Economic Community, but its membership was blocked by the French president Charles de Gaulle, who objected to England's close ties with the United States.

Yet another step toward European integration was taken in 1967 when the ECSC, Euratom, and the European Economic Community merged into a single organization, the European Community (EC). The EC featured a common financing system and developed a framework for cooperation in foreign policy. Discussions were soon held about expanding membership, and in 1973 the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined, though the people of Norway rejected membership.

Despite the enhanced degree of economic and political cooperation of the EC, it faced numerous problems. The admission of Greece, Spain, and Portugal proved problematic because those nations were not as economically advanced as the original members. Britain was not always an especially cooperative member of the EC because it was unwilling to cede its independence to an international body. Additionally, questions were raised about the funding of the EC and how its resources were to be distributed. Accordingly, in 1986, the European Council, consisting of the EC nations' heads of state, signed the Single European Act, which took force in 1987. The purpose of this act was to amend earlier treaties to create a single economic market, form common economic and fiscal policies, and adopt shared policies on taxes, health, employment, and the environment.

The most significant step yet in the process of European integration was the signing of the Treaty on European Union and the formation of the EU. This step was taken in response to the massive changes in Europe of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Chief among these changes were the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall (which had divided East and West Berlin) and reunification of Germany, and the gaining of independence by the Eastern European nations that had been part of the Soviet bloc. Many of these latter nations were economically underdeveloped, so they immediately looked to the European Community for financial help. As all these developments progressed, France and West Germany called for a conference to propose ways to augment European unity. The result of their deliberations was the Treaty on European Union and the consequent formation of the EU. The treaty was approved in December 1991; signed on February 7, 1992; and, after being ratified by the member states, took effect on November 1, 1993.