VIII Ìåæäóíàðîäíàÿ
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«Ñîâðåìåííûå íàó÷íûå äîñòèæåíèÿ – 2012»
Ïîëèòîëîãèÿ/10. Ðåãèîíàëüíûå ïîëèòè÷åñêèå ïðîöåññû
Dinara Aitkazy
student of
Master EUCAIS program
A
short account of the different treaties of
the
European Union.
European integration has a long history of
different successful and not really successful events. The 20-th century for
European integration was full of significant moments.
The whole process of integration is marked by
series of treaties and each of them represents a new level of integration.
Thus, within history of European integration we can distinguish following
treaties:
1. European
Community of Coal and Steel;
2. Rome
Treaties;
3. Single
European Act;
4. Maastricht
Treaty;
5. Amsterdam
and Nice Treaty.
For better understanding the role and
importance of the treaties in European integration history is
necessary to closely examine each of them.
After World
War II Europe was totally exhausted and ruined.
Centuries-old trading links had been cut off and any
heavy industry or vital manufacturing that had not been destroyed was operating
below capacity in a Europe.
Effects of the WWII on the European economy had been
disastrous.
Damaged
communications of networks severed the transport of raw materials and finished
products. Not regular delivery of supplies and losses of the productive
apparatus led to considerable number of temporary lay-offs and as a consequence
to reduction of purchasing power at a time when all kinds of requirements
continued to grow. National economies were struggling by sharp need of
restoration of accommodation, industry and the transport infrastructure. In those
conditions people were occupied with everyday life and often had difficulty in
thinking about their long-term future. The deficiency of coal in the very hard
winter of 1946–1947 led to widespread strikes and mass demonstrations.
Moreover, Europe suffered from political instability. The
whole continent felt influences of both superpowers - the
United States and the Soviet Union - that fought for
the lead role in the international arena. In those conditions,
for Western Europe the only way to survive was to work together.
The treaty of Paris which established ECSC is
revolutionary integration moment in the history of Europe – starting with the
coal and steel sector; it revitalized the whole European economy by similar
community processes, created a single market across the Community, transformed
Europe through 'step by step' process (building through sectoral supranational
communities) leading to the unification of Europe democratically, including
both East and West Europe separated by the Iron Curtain.
The European Coal and Steel Community (also known as the
Shuman Plan) was international organization of six nations with the goal of
organizing free movement of coal and steel (without customs duties or taxes)
and free access to sources of production, the establishment of the lowest prices and improvement of working
conditions. The ECSC was the first organization which based on the principles
of supranationalism.
French
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman inspired by Jean Monnet and with the
agreement of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, on 9 May
1950 declared his aim to “make war not only unthinkable but materially
impossible” [1].
Europe's first supranational
community was formally established by the Treaty of Paris (1951), which was signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Thus the coal and steel
industries were moved from full national competencies to supranational
competence.
The United Kingdom was invited to join the ECSC, but
it refused on grounds of national sovereignty [2].
The ECSC helped to establish a
common market for coal and steel between upper mentioned six nations, in order
to expand the economies; it increased employment, and raised the standard of
living within the Community. The common market for steel was opened on 1 May
1953 and for coal on 10 February 1953. The market also rationalized the
distribution of high level production at the same time gave stability and
employment.
From the legal perspective the
Treaty enabled the development of conditions for the rise and application of a
unique legal system of European Communities. The Treaty became the keystone of
the European integration in a broad sense.
The Treaty consisted of four
areas like the ECSC, the institutions working with this community, the economic
and social prerequisites and the general terms.
It should be noted the huge job
which was done by establishing the important base for the main European
institutions as we know them today.
The ECSC Treaty is the origin of
supervising bodies – High Authority, Assembly, Council of Ministers and Court
of Justice.
The High Authority (later became European
Commission) was an executive body which governed the Community. According to
the Treaty the High Authority was responsible for establishing the best
conditions of competition among producers; for preventing the restoration of
producer cartels by requiring businesses to advertise their prices openly and
by monitoring mergers.
It included eight members:
France, Germany and Italy appointed two members each and other nations
appointed one member each. Then these eight members by themselves appointed a
ninth person to be President of the High Authority. Even though each member was
proposed by its government, in High Authority they needed to act together in
general interests of the Community as a whole (without pursuing national
interests).
The Treaty provided for action
by the High Authority on the basis of information on production, investments,
social conditions (wages and movements of workers) and to price transparency
and other. As we see the Authority had a wide area of competence to ensure the goals
of the treaty were met and that the common market functioned correctly. It used
three types of legal instruments: Decisions, which had full legislative power
(law); Recommendations that only defined objectives and methods of achieving were
left to member states; and Opinions, which had no legal force.
The Common Assembly (later became the
European Parliament) exercised supervisory powers over the executive High
Authority.
It composed of 78
representatives of national governments who were delegated each year by their
Parliaments to the Assembly; Germany, France and Italy appointed 18 each,
Belgium, the Netherlands - 10 and Luxembourg – 4.
The Special Council of Ministers (equivalent to the
current Council of the European Union) was composed of six representatives of
national governments. The Presidency of the Special Council of Ministers was
held by each Member State in turn for a period of three months.
The main function of the Council
was the harmonization of the work of the high Authority and the general
economic policy of the national governments.
The Court of Justice was to ensure that the
law was observed according to the interpretation and application of the Treaty.
It composed of seven judges,
appointed by the national governments for six-year period. There were no
requirements that the judges had to be of a certain nationality, they just
needed to be qualified and independent.
The Consultative Committee (analogically to the
Economic and Social Committee) was created in order to involve representatives
of the various spheres of economic and social activity in the establishment of
the coal and steel sector. Thus, it organized participation of economic and
social bodies in the Community decision-making process.
The role of the Consultative
Committee was to assist the Commission.
Those institutions have
supervised an equal access to the sources of production and fair relationships
on the Common market. This strict supervision made the Treaty a great success.
Considering the economic
effectiveness, the Coal and Steel Community achieved its success: on
early-stage (between 1952 and 1960) iron and steel production rose by 75% and
industrial production rose 58% in Community participated nations. At the
difficult time of overproduction of coal, the ECSC showed its flexibility by
decreasing Belgium’s coal-producing capacity by 30% and thus, redirect finance
to retrain miners and development new industries.
By 1970 the ECSC granted about
$150 million in aid to retrain over 400,000 coal miners (The Columbia
Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007).
The success of the Paris Treaty
establishing the ECSC led to desire of developing such integration between
Nations of Europe, but The European Political Community project failed in 1954
when it became clear that the European Defense Community would not be ratified
by the National Assembly of France, which was afraid that the project entailed
an unacceptable loss of national sovereignty. As a result, the European
Political Community idea had to be abandoned.
The two Treaties of Rome which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and
the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or also known as Euratom) were
signed in Italy on 25-th of March 1957.
Less than five years after the
entry into force of the Paris Treaty establishing the ECSC, and less than three
years after the failure of EDC and EPC, united Europe stepped further towards
integration particularly since unlike
Paris Treaty (signed for 50 years), the Rome Treaties had no provisions for
time or a withdrawal procedure.
The Rome Treaties entered into
force on 1 January 1958. They were the result of intensive series of
meetings of foreign ministers of the Six, presided over by the Belgian Foreign
Minister Paul Henri Spaak. Those meetings,
following from the movement for the relaunch of Europe, started right after
Messina Conference (June, 1955).
According to the Articles 2 and
3 of the Treaty establishing the EEC provided for the establishment of a
common market, a customs union and common policies. Thus, the EEC Treaty
created a general common market characterized by a customs union which was
based both on the free movement (also known as “four freedoms”) of goods,
persons, services and capital and the drawing up of common policies, in
particular in the sectors of agriculture and transport [3].
In other words the Treaty had
two objectives: first, to transform the conditions of trade and manufacture on
the territory of the Community, and second, more political, to contribute
towards the functional construction of a political Europe what lead to step
forward towards the closer unification of Europe.
Even thought the Six had agreed
on developing Common Market, there was broad disagreement about procedures for
its implementation. Economies of Germany and Benelux countries much depended on
exports, and as a consequence, they wanted economic liberalism, including a
reduction in custom duties and low common external tariff. On the other side,
economies of France and Italy were less competitive, and hence, they preferred
an economy with market regulations and external protections.
Unable to find a solution to the
common agricultural policy which fit everybody, the Six decided progressively
establish EEC, once a transitional phase had expired. According to the Article 8 of the EEC Treaty the Common
Market will be progressively establish during a transitional period of 12 years
(three stages of four years each). Each stage consisted of a set of actions to
be initiated and carried through simultaneously. The expiration of the
transitional period constitutes the latest date by which all the rules must
enter into force.
Nevertheless, the Treaty
provided improvement in productivity, self-sufficiency in food for
participating countries and the establishment an adequate income for farmers.
The Treaty establishing Euratom created a common nuclear
market. The main objective of the Treaty - to make a contribution to the formation and development of nuclear
industries in Europe, so that all the participant countries can benefit from
the development of atomic energy, and to ensure security of supply. Moreover,
the Treaty guarantees high safety standards for the public and prevents usage
of nuclear materials in places where they are not intended.
The Euratom consists of exactly
the same Member States as the EEC. However, sometimes negotiations on the
establishment of Euratom were were long and difficult. During diplomatic
discussions between the Six, France clearly indicated to its partners that it
gave priority to the Euratom project rather than to the plan for a common
market. France was against Euratom possessing any powers whatsoever as regards
the military use of the atom. The French Army wanted to buy nuclear weapons and
was afraid that the Euratom could interfere in what seemed to be a national
strategic aim. Even though France was a little ahead of its partners in nuclear
research, its resources for financing such a powerful industry by itself was
limited. Therefore it hoped to share the cost of civil nuclear research with
Euratom, so that it might then devote itself entirely to military nuclear
research.
This perspective did not appeal
to France’s partners; they had no desire to possess nuclear weapons, neither to
finance them. And all other five counties with Germany at the head voluntarily
abandoned production of all nuclear weapons.
However, the Suez Crisis in 1956
caused major difficulties in the supply of petroleum products to Europe, and
European unity proved importance of ensure its autonomy in terms of energy. As
a result, in favor to come to a successful conclusion they decided to give the
members of Euratom discretion to use the fruits of military nuclear research, according
to the provision of international controls. Thus, France agreed to grant the
common market, and Germany took a more conciliatory line towards Euratom. As a
result, negotiations resulted in the signing of the Euratom Treaty on
25 March 1957 in Rome.
The EEC
Treaty established decision-making mechanisms and institutions made possible at
the same time to express national interests and a Community vision. The
institutional balance was based on sort of a triangle: the Council, the
Commission and the European Parliament. They all work together: the Council
prepared the standards, the Commission drafts the proposals and the Parliament
played an advisory role.
The Commission represents the common
interest. It has a monopoly on initiating legislation and proposes Community
acts to the Council of Ministers. It also monitors the implementation of the
treaties and secondary law and has the executive power to implement Community
policies.
The Council of Ministers consists
of representatives of the governments of the Member States and authorized with
decision-making powers.
The Parliamentary Assembly (before 1962 was European
Parliament) was an advisor organ and its members (national
representatives) were not yet elected by direct universal suffrage.
The Treaty also provides for the
creation of the Court of Justice,
which resolved cases between the Member States and between Member States and
Community institutions and heard appeals against Community institutions.
The Economic and Social Committee
(the ECSC retained its Consultative Committee)
was also involved in the decision-making process as an advisor.
According
to the Convention on certain common institutions, which came to force
concurrently as the Treaties of Rome, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Court
of Justice are common to the EEC Treaties and the Euratom Treaty.
Later in
1967, with the Merger Treaty the Council and the Commission become institutions
shared by the three Communities (ECSC, EEC and Euratom) and the principle of
budgetary unity was imposed.
Thus, the
three Communities had a single Court of Justice and a single Parliament. An ESC
was common only to the EEC and to Euratom. Finally, the European Investment Bank (EIB), formed by the Treaty establishing
the EEC, was set up to finance projects which were directly associated with the
implementation of the Common Market.
In February 1986 the Single
European Act
was signed by 12 Member States and entered into force on 1 July 1987. It is the
first major amendment of the EEC Treaty. It hopes to realize the potential of
the Common Market, and to add the finishing touches to the Community structure
by enabling the institutions to operate more efficiently.
The Single Market is defined as "an area without
internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and
capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty" and Article 8A of the SEA clearly established the motivational deadline of 1992
for the completion of the European Single Market [4].
Here a list of the main documents which led to the
signature of the SEA:
- the solemn declaration of
Stuttgart of 19 June 1983;
- the draft Treaty establishing
the European Union;
- the Fontainebleau European
Council of 25 and 26 June 1984;
- the White Paper on the Internal
Market of 1985.
The last one – the “White Paper” published by the
Commission – identified the 279 legislative measures needed to complete the
internal market. It actually scheduled a deadline of 31 December 1992.
The primary objective of the SEA
was to add new momentum to the process of the European construction in order to
complete the internal market. However, this goal was quite difficult to reach
on the basis of the existing treaties, because of the decision-making process
at the Council, which imposed unanimity for the harmonization of legislation.
Designed to speed up the
completion of the Single Market, the Act also provided the establishment of a
European area without internal frontiers with upper mentioned “four freedoms”
and more than 300 000 000 consumers. Presented a unique condition for
economic development, the objective of the Single Market was to offer larger
markets for Member States’ products, and at the same time, increase competition
and the stimulations thereof [5].
The Single European Act provided
a legal basis for the European Council that had been created in 1975, but
didn’t appear in legal documents.
The Act also expanded the
possibilities for the Council of Ministers to use qualified majority voting and
provided the creation of the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the European
Communities, in order to relieve the overloaded Court of Justice and establish
a second level of jurisdiction.
Moreover, by establishing a new
cooperation procedure the Act increased role of the European Parliament in the
Community’s legislative process. This gave the right for Parliament to reject
the Council’s decision, if an absolute majority of its Members was secured at
second reading, and to make limited changes to the Commission’s proposals.
In addition, the Act established
the approval procedure which expanded the powers of European Parliament of
co-decision with regard to accession treaties and association agreements; as a
result, it formalized the Commission’s participation in European Political
Cooperation (EPC). For the first time, the Act codified the EPC’s practices and
procedures which had been gradually developed since the early 1970s.
In accordance with the Act, mechanisms
of foreign policy of Europe were based on consultation with and information to
the Community’s Member States. Furthermore, the Act formalized the obligation
for States to consult with each other before adopting a final position.
The Commission was also responsible for the reform of the
Community’s structural funds such as the European Social Fund (ESF), the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on the European Union
- TEU) is important new stage in European integration because it opens the way to
political integration. The TEU was signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 and
entered into force on 1 November 1993.
The TEU is the result of
internal and external events. The external events are: collapse of the USSR and
the outlook of German reunification. The internal events are: the Member States
wished to improve already achieved progress by the SEA.
With the TEU, the Community
clearly went beyond its original economic objective (the creation of a common
market), and its political ambitions came to the fore.
The TEU had five main
objectives:
1.
to
strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the institutions;
2.
to
improve the effectiveness of the institutions;
3.
to
establish economic and monetary union;
4.
to
develop the Community social dimension;
5.
to establish a common foreign and security
policy.
The TEU is the basis of the
famous "pillar structure":
First pillar consists the Europeàn Communities (ECSC, EC, Euratom) and concerns the
areas in which the Member States share their sovereignty through the Community
institutions.
The second pillar sets Common Foreign
and Security Policy (CFSP) [6]. This replaces the provisions of the SEA and
allows Member States to take action in the field of foreign policy. This level
involves an intergovernmental decision-making process which largely relies on
unanimity.
The third pillar regards
cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs (JHA) [7]. The EU should
undertake joint action in order to offer its citizens a high level of
protection in the area of freedom, security and justice.
The second and the third pillars
organize intergovernmental cooperation, which uses the common institutions with
certain supranational features, notably the involvement of the Commission and
the consultation of the European Parliament [8].
The European Monetary Union
(EMU) makes the finishing touches to the single market. Economic policy
consists of three terms: the Member States must ensure coordination of their
economic policies, provide for multilateral surveillance of this coordination,
and are subject to financial and budgetary discipline.
The aim of monetary policy is to
establish a single currency and to ensure this currency's stability thanks to
price stability and respect for the market economy. Monetary policy is based on
the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), including the Central European
Bank and the national central banks. These institutions are independent of the
national and Community political authorities.
Thus, the TEU renamed the EEC
into European Community (EC); launched the economic and monetary union;
established European citizenship; officially created the European Union (which
became the title); set the process of Economic and EMU (which would lead to the
creation of the Euro).
Moreover, the role of the
European Parliament was enlarged due to the establishment of a co-decision
procedure in certain areas and Parliament's involvement in the procedure for
confirming the Commission. This result was not possible without some degree of
differentiation between Member States; and as a consequence, the UK and Denmark
did not sign the social protocol and stayed free from participation in the euro.
The Amsterdam Treaty is a result of two-year
discussions and negotiations in a conference of member state government
representatives. It was agreed by the European Union's political leaders on 17
June and signed on 2 October 1997. It entered into force on 1 May 1999 after
being ratified by the fifteen member states of the European Union under their
respective constitutional procedures.
The Treaty of Amsterdam was
based on the existing Treaties, amended of certain provisions of the Maastricht
Treaty and the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of other
related Acts. For clear understanding the Treaty has been divided into four
major chapters dealing with the main reforms:
Freedom,
security and justice
It explains the guarantees to
protect fundamental rights, such as equality between men and women,
non-discrimination; discusses the changes concerning freedom of movement within
the EU and the inclusion in the EC Treaty of a new Title on visas, asylum,
immigration, and other policies linked to the free movement of persons;
includes police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and the conditions
for the integration of the Schengen acquis into the legal framework of the
European Union.
The
Union and the citizen
The Treaty brought improvements
in areas directly affecting the rights, interests, and well-being of individual
citizens.
Here some of them:
- the elaboration the idea of European Citizenship, explanation
the of the relation between national citizenship and European citizenship;
- the development of common strategies for employment
and the coordination of national policies;
- an
improvement in promoting high standards of public health.
Effective
and coherent external policy
The Amsterdam Treaty enabled the
EU to defend its interests more effectively on the international stage.
This chapter consists of two
sections: economic and political. The first one is dealing with extension the
scope of the common commercial policy (to include international agreements on
services and intellectual property rights), and the second one - with reform of
the CFSP (the creation of a new instrument, the improvement the decision-making
thanks to greater use of qualified majority voting in the Council; the creation
of the post of High Representative for the CFSP) and other major reforms.
Institutional
questions
The Amsterdam Treaty
strengthened the role of the European Parliament, extended of qualified
majority voting, clarified the role the Court of Justice in areas such as
fundamental rights and certain matters closely affecting the internal security
of the European Union, described the possibility of closer cooperation between
those Member States and other several points.
As we see the Treaty of Amsterdam
made a major step forward. It increased the powers of the Union. The focus was
on the strengthening of the position of human rights within the Union (in order
to bring Europe closer to its citizens), the incorporation of the Schengen acquis in the EU, the cancellation of
the UK’s derogation on social policy, and the establishing of “an area of
freedom, security and justice”, which strengthened the means for taking action
in matters of foreign policy [9].
The Treaty of Nice was signed on 26 February
2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2003 after being ratified by the
fifteen Member States of the EU. The main objective of this Treaty was to prepare the
EU for enlargement by revising the Treaties in four key areas:
-size and composition of the Commission;
-weighting of votes in the
Council;
-extension of qualified-majority
voting;
-enhanced cooperation.
Much of the text of the Treaty
is about reforms in decision-making of the EU; it also extended Qualified
Majority Voting (QMV) in the European Council and removed national vetoes from
thirty-nine areas. It gave the opportunity to elect the Commission President to
the European Parliament and gave him the power to fire individual
Commissioners.
Looking forward to enlargement,
it set limits on the numbers of future Commissioners and MEPs, revised the
voting powers of the member states in the European Council to give more weight
to the largest states, and formalized the idea of enhanced co-operation first
set out in the Treaty of Amsterdam. The Treaty strengthened the CFSP by creating special
representatives and the idea that the Council should be able to negotiate on
behalf of all members at international meetings. Finally, in the 'Declaration
on the Future of the EU', it announced that another Inter-Governmental
Conference should be set up to write an EU constitution [10].
As from the Treaty of Nice, it
became obvious that the EU's architecture had to be defined in a global manner
so it could function properly after enlargement. It was the movement which led
to the creation of the European Convention and the preparation of the
Constitution.
Concluding this article, I would like
to say that the all upper mentioned Treaties reflect the evolution of the
European Union’s process of integration and show all historical steps (which
were sometimes unthinkable hard). Each Treaty is a tremendous amount of
work done by Europeans in order to work together, each Treaty is a new
level of achievement towards a common goal of the Nations and each Treaty is a valuable contribution to the
development of Europe as a union.
References:
1.
Gateway to the European union. Declaration of 9 May 1950. Available at:
http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/9-may/decl_en.htm (accessed: 9 February 2011);
3.
European
navigator. The establishment of the EEC
and Euratom. Available at: http://www.ena.lu/ (accessed 22 February
2011);
6.
Title V of the Treaty of
the European Union;
7.
Title VI of the Treaty of
the European Union;
9.
European
Navigation. Historical events. The Treaty
of Amsterdam. Available at: http://www.ena.lu/ (accessed 25 February
2011);