Text I. History of the European Union

Winston Churchill, former prime minister of Great Britain, stated in 1946 that postwar Europe needed a …Sovereign remedy…to recreate the European family, or as much of it as we can, and provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace and safety and freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe.

Jean Monnet, who held a number of different positions in the French government and is credited as the founding father of the EU, said that “the states of Europe must form a federation.” George Marshall, Secretary of State for the United States, supported this concept as a way to rebuild Europe after World War II and to enable the United States to work with both the victors and the vanquished in Europe as strong strategic allies. They hoped this type of partnership would obviate the possibility of a third world war.

The EU was preceded by several earlier and less ambitious attempts at regional cooperation. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established in 1952, included the six founding countries and centered on combined price and output controls, investment subsidies, tariff protection, and competition rules. Many of the European coal and steel industries were and are government owned. The ECSC and the respective governments were instrumental in rebuilding in the industries after the war and in protecting those industries from competition.

Treaty of Rome. The European Community (EC as it was called) was formed by the signing of the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, which created the Common Market. The six member countries (Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) hoped to build on the success of the ECSC and use the organization to advance all of the countries economically without sacrificing their individual, culture, or sovereignty.

The Treaty of Rome stated the original objectives of the Community.

These principles were based on the creation of a customs union that would both eradicate the internal tariffs and restriction and create a uniform external tariff for nonmembers. The Community committed to achieving the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital; and to eradicating the barriers to the establishment of business by establishing a single, integrated common market. The goals of the community are often stated as a commitment to the “Four Freedoms” – that is, to the free movement of capital, goods, people, and services.

In 1965, the Merger Treaty integrated the ECSC and the EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Commission, which was dedicated to the peaceful development and application of nuclear energy) into the organization structure of the EC. Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom joined in 1973, Greece in 1981, Portugal and Spain in 1986, and Austria, Sweden, and Finland in 1995.

1992 and the Single European Act. The ensuing years saw some progress towards the ambitious goals stated in the Treaty of Rome, but the dream of free movement of capital, goods, people, and services was not a reality between the member countries. Even today, fewer than two percent of the EU population lives outside of the country of their birth.

 In the 1980s, the member of the EC realized that because of their growth in membership and strong national allegiances and the accompanying protectionism, they had not achieved the goals of the Treaty of Rome. In 1985, the members called “for the abolition of barriers of all kinds, harmonization of rules, approximation of legislation and tax structures, strengthening of legislation and tax structures, strengthening of monetary cooperation, and the necessary … measure to encourage European firms to work together.” The member acknowledged the need to eliminate physical barriers – such as custom checks at borders, veterinary and plant checks, technical standards and building codes, and services and professional standards – and to revamp VAT (Value Added Tax) collection. As a result of this realization and the promise of increased competitiveness upon the elimination of these barriers, the twelve existing members enacted the Single European Act (SEA), effective July 1, 1987. The purpose of the SEA was to strengthen the EC institutions and enable them to act and thus to achieve the goals of the Treaty of Rome. The SEA also set the deadline December 31, 1992, to achieve economic integration.

The Single European Act signaled a dramatic move away from business as usual. The members abandoned the requirement of unanimous consent to move forward and adopted the concept of qualified majority voting. This change meant that for proposals related to the internal market all the countries did not have to agree – the community could make decisions in spite of some objection. In December 1991, the twelve leaders met in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and hammered out the historic agreement known as Maastricht Treaty. The Treaty needed ratification by the member states and in 1993 the European Union was born.

 

Vocabulary notes

remedy – средство

to dwell – находиться, жить

vanquished – побеждённые

to obviate – избегать

to sacrifice – жертвовать

to eradicate – ликвидировать

Merger Treaty – договор о слиянии

the ensuing years – следующие года

allegiance – верность

consent – согласие

to revamp – приукрашивать

EIDHR – the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights

NGOS – Nongovernmental organization

EDF – European Development Fund

TACIS – Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent states

ALA – American Latvian Association

MEDA – Mediterranean and Middle East policy

PCAS – Partnership and Cooperation agreements

 

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