United States of Europe - Future or Past Idea? (2)

Our today's European Union is an intergovernmental and supranational organisation. Not a Federation. What does that mean? To understand the issue it is important to look at the very beginning of the integration of Europe. European integration was such a complex and fast development that various theories emerged about what Europe should be like. There is not one European integration but multiple, which are described as theories. The theorists thought of an outcome from their point of view and how they would have liked Europe to integrate or not.

Therefore, different theories developed: Functionalism, Federalism and Intergovernmentalism. It is essential to understand these perspectives in order to understand the institutions on which the EU is built today and to gain an overall view of what might happen in the future.

Functionalism or ‘Europe of Offices’ (L. van Middelaar, 2013) is a theory, which describes national tasks being handed over to a European administration, meaning that the administrative structure goes beyond the frame of a state. Functionalists prefer supranational organization (e.g., European Commission) but from the point of view that the institutions make the decisions and not representatives of the nation states. This administration operates independently and according to established principles. It emerged from the perspective of post-war Europe after 1945 and from the functionalist point of view was their theory the best to secure well-being for the society and economy. Moreover, functionalism has no "higher goal" to aim for, which underlines its theory that if supranationalism works, it will work, and if it does not, change will happen. But there is no goal for further integration, for example, to a federal unit (loss of power of nation-states).

Federalism - ‘Europe of Citizen’ (Middelaar) describes a shift of power from nation states to a larger unified institution, i.e., a central authority emerges and creates a higher form of government in which nation-states give up some of their authority. This larger institution would directly govern the citizens of the participating members. Federalist goal is to create a united democracy, in which the participants think of themselves as a ‘single political, cultural entity’ (Middelaar) and not in the form of nation states. The most known description for a federalist Europe is ‘United States of Europe’ first mentioned by Victor Hugo. After the Second World War, the federalist movement grew out of the anti-Nazi resistance and expanded into a few federalist movements. Federalists wanted a united Europe to secure peace and stability with active participation from citizens.

Federalism wants to combine power and create a single unity, while Functionalists wanted to keep their power within their nation states but create a common institution, which can function through supranational organizations. To conclude, Federalist movements slowly degraded because their theory started at the end. They directly wanted to reach the step of ‘unity’, without having a base of common ground of politics or economy. On the other hand, it is important to note that still today there are several federal European movements (e.g., JEF).

Intergovernmentalism - is the first developed theory of European integration, mostly by historians and scholars of international relations. Intergovernmentalism argues that states (e.g., national governments) have the power and from their interest it determines the outcome of integration. They do not want central power or central institutions, as functionalism, for example, does. The power remains in the nation states - ‘Europe of States’ (Middelaar). Their perspective is that European politics gain through international cooperation (e.g., conferences, meetings). An aim is that they wanted to secure peace and pursue stability for the citizens.

To put this in the overall context of European Integration: After WW2 there were many ideas and ‘meetings’ about the future of Europe. Different countries had different prospects. France wanted a leadership position and was anxious about Germany regaining power and its resources. France did not want to lose its power but wanted cooperation. Monnet, the initiator who proposed a Franco-German coal and steel production, which later established the Coal and Steel Community initiated the integration process within the framework of the theory of intergovernmentalism. National powers were not taken away, but cooperation was introduced. Germany and its integration processes were therefore able to regain their nation-state power and had the chance to give itself a new "image" after the Second World War, because cooperation meant that Germany was an equal partner with the other countries involved. With the creation of the Benelux Customs Union (1948), it was shown that peace could be ensured through the setting up of a European framework. And this led to the creation of the ‘European Union of Federalists’ movement, from people who argued that this cooperation leads to peace and stability.

Bibliography

[1] ‘Extension: What are International Organizations?’ (online) [Accessed 20.10.21: <https://carleton.ca/ces/eulearning/introduction/what-is-the-eu/extension-what-are-international-organizations>]

[2] ‘Theories of European Integration’ B. Rosamond, Palgrave; 2000. Edition [Accessed: 05.10.21]

[3] ‘Passage to Europe – How a Continent became a Union’ - L. van Middelaar, Yale University Press; Reprint Edition (30. Juni 2014) [Accessed: 05.10.21]

[4] ‘Neo-Functionalism and the European Union’ - Thomas M. Dunn [online], Available: < https://www.e-ir.info/2012/11/28/neo-functionalism-and-the-european-union/> (Accessed: 04.10.2021)

[5] ‘Neo - functionalism’ - Jasmine Ganeshalingam [online], Available: < http://testpolitics.pbworks.com/w/page/25795541/Neo%20-%20functionalism> (Accessed: 05.10.2021)