We explain to you what were the origins and background of the European Union, when it entered into force and the process that led to its constitution.
What were the background of the European Union?
Yes ok The European Union was officially born in November 1993 (When the European Union Treaty signed in Maastricht came into force), the process that led to its constitution began long before.
In the interwar period (first stage), the Paneuropeo movement became strong With the ideas of thinkers and politicians such as Richard Coudehove-Kalergi, who proposed European unity as a way to avoid future conflicts between European nations after the horrors of World War I.
However, the rise of military nationalisms that led to the World War II (1939-1945) postponed European integration projects until after the war.
After the devastation caused in Europe by the military conflict, and in the context of the Cold War (which favored US financial aid to stop the progress of communism), the signing of treaties between the countries of Western Europe to The creation of organizations for economic and security coordination which shaped some forms of European unity: the European Community of Coal and Steel (1951), the European Economic Community (1957) and the European Atomic Energy Community (1957).
Key points
- The European Union (EU) is a association economic and political formed by 27 countries in Europe.
- It arose as a continuation of the European Economic Community (CEE), which was born after World War II with two main objectives:
- Restablish and strengthen the economies of Europe after the devastation caused by war.
- Maintain political cooperation between nations and avoid future clashes.
- The EU is directed by a parliament, whose members are chosen by citizens through suffrage, and other institutions such as the European Council and Commission.
- Most countries that make up the EU share the same official currency: the euro.
The integration process
The Roman Empire was the first great effort to integrate an important part of Europe and the set of land around the Mediterranean Sea. The Middle Ages brought the idea of unification under the common denominator of Christianity.
Renaissance and illustration were fundamental to extend the ideas of tolerance, freedom, respect for human rights and democracy on which European construction was tried to base.
From Rousseau to Marx, from Kant to Leibniz, the thinkers who proposed the idea of a European community as a long -term desirable political objective were multiple.
The background of the European Union in the interwar period (1919-1939)
THE BIRTH OF THE PAN-EUROPA MOVEMENT
For many intellectuals and political of the time, World War I (1914-1918) meant the beginning of the end of European civilization. Others considered, however, that Europe's reaction capacity depended on their ability to overcome the aggressive nationalisms that had led the continent to war. Adopt the ideal of a united and peaceful Europe as a common project.
In line with the second of these looks, in 1923 The Austrian Count Richard Coudehove-Kalergi founded the Pan-Europa Movement and in 1926 he managed to gather various political figures in the First Paneuropeo Congress in Vienna.
Coudehove-kalergi argued that The only way to overcome conflicts in Europe was through the union of European peoples and that the greatest obstacle to achieving this objective was the historical rivalry between Germany and France.
“Europe as a political concept does not exist. This part of the world encompasses peoples and states that are installed in chaos, in a barrel of gunpowder of international conflicts, and in a field paid for future conflicts. This is the European issue: the mutual hatred of Europeans who poisons the atmosphere. (….) The European issue will be resolved only by the union of the peoples of Europe. (…) The greatest obstacle to the realization of the United States of Europe is the thousand years of rivalry between the two most populous nations of Pan-Europa: Germany and France …“
Richard Coudehove-Kalegi.
Pan-Europa, 1923.
The Paneuropeo movement lived its golden age in the second half of the twenties the years in which the treaties of Locarno (1925) and the Briand-Kellogg Pact (1928) were signed.
These agreements consisted of ratifying the western borders of Germany arranged in the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and renouncing war as a means to resolve differences.
The Briand Memorandum
In 1929, Aristide Briand, French Prime Minister a famous speech pronounced before the Assembly of the Nations Society in which He defended the idea of a European Nations Federation . Briand said that this federation should be based on solidarity and the search for economic prosperity and political and social cooperation.
The speech had a great reception in the German government and among many economists, especially British.
“I think that among the peoples that are geographically grouped as the peoples of Europe, there must be a kind of federal link; These peoples must at all times have the possibility of getting into contact, of discussing their interests, of adopting common resolutions, of establishing among them a solidarity bond, which allows them, at the time they are considered appropriate, to deal with serious circumstances, if they arise. (…) Obviously, the association will have an effect especially on the economic domain: that is the question that most presses …“
Aristide Briand's speech before the Assembly of the Nations Society.
Geneva, September 5, 1929.
The Society of Nations commissioned Briand to present a memorandum with a specific project. Briand presented a “Memorandum on the organization of a European Federal Union system” in 1930. But it was too late: Economic depression Started in 1929 had begun to move of the international panorama The ideas of solidarity and cooperation between nations .
The politicians who continued to advocate European unity, such as the Frenchman Édouard Herriot (who published in 1931 the book “The United States of Europe”), were in frank minority.
Adolf Hitler's rise to the German Foreign Ministry in 1933 meant the final end of European Concord and the rebirth of militarist nationalism. Europe, and with it the world, was aimed at a new war: World War II (1939-1945).
Who was Richard Coudehove-Kalegi?
Richard Coudehove-Kalergi (1894-1972) was a Austrian Count, of flamenco and Cretan ancestors and Japanese mother, Czechoslovaco since the creation of Czechoslovakia and finally nationalized French that is, the paradigm of cosmopolitism. In 1923 he published his book Pan-Europe and created the Pan-Europa movement in order to achieve a European Union.
In 1926, He managed to organize in Vienna the First Paneuropeo Congress . In 1927, Aristide Briand was elected honorary president of the Pan-Europa Movement. Among the members of the movement were illustrious names of European culture and politics of the moment, such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Sigmund Freud, Rainer Maria Rilke, Miguel de Unamuno, Salvador de Madariaga, José Ortega and Gasset and Konrad Adenauer.
The great economic depression of 1929 interrupted the Coudenhove-Kalergi project . During the following decades, he continued his political and intellectual activism. He died on July 27, 1972.
The background of the European Union in the period 1945-1957
Europe in the early postwar years
World War II (1939-1945) demonstrated the level of destruction to which the nationalist rivalry in Europe could lead. The need for some type of European integration became evident to establish a new way to reorder the political map of Europe.
Three realities showed the need for this new orientation Towards European integration:
- The consciousness of the Europeans of their own weakness. World War II had ended the traditional European hegemony in the world. The two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had an economic, political and military power far superior to that of the heterogeneous set of European states.
- The conviction that the return to a confrontation between European states had to be avoided by all means. The two world wars had begun as European “civil wars”, and Europe had been the main battlefield. It was about seeking an agreement between France and Germany, which would have the approval of the United States. Unity was the way to guarantee peace.
- The extended desire among many Europeans to create a freer, fair and prosperous continent. Europeans shared the intention that international relations were developed in a framework of Concordia.
In 1946, former British prime minister Winston Churchill delivered a famous speech at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) in which proposed the creation of the United States of Europe . This speech was considered by many as the first step towards European integration during postwar period.
“I would like to speak today of the drama of Europe (…) Among the victors you only hear a Babel of voices. Among the defeated we find only silence and despair. (…) There is a remedy that, if it were adopted globally and spontaneously by most of the peoples of the many countries, could, as by a miracle, completely transform the situation, and make all of Europe, or most of it, as free and happy as the Switzerland of our day. What is this sovereign remedy? It consists of reconstituting the European family or, at least, as long as we cannot reconstitute it, provide it with a structure that allows it to live and grow in peace, security and freedom. We must create a kind of United States. (…) To perform this urgent task, France and Germany must reconcile.“
Winston Churchill.
Speech at the University of Zurich, September 19, 1946.
United States intervention in postwar Europe
USA He did not opt for isolation, as he had done after the First World War, but adopted, following his position as the first world power, An intervention policy in European affairs .
The US government was convinced that the obstacles to free trade, which had spread after the depression of 1929 and had reached its maximum expression in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, had largely been responsible for the international tension that led to World War II.
The adoption of a free trade policy became a basic condition for any country to receive the long -awaited American financial aid .
At that time the cold war was starting. The United States applied the so -called “Truman Doctrine”, whose purpose was to stop the expansion of communism and the Soviet Union (USSR), and launched The Marshall Plan for Economic Aid to European countries . It was about promoting the economic development of the shattered Europe with the political objective of preventing the extension of communism.
The European Organization for Economic Cooperation (1948) and the Council of Europe (1949)
The United States promoted the creation of a centralized European organization that manages the distribution of the massive financial aid of the Marshall Plan. With this objective, several European countries created, in 1948, The European Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECE) . This was one of the first organisms that They group a large part of the countries of Western Europe (The Soviet Union and its satellite states of Eastern Europe did not participate because they rejected US aid).
The OECs helped liberalize trade between member states introduced ideas aimed at arranging monetary agreements and favored economic cooperation in specific aspects.
In 1949, again on American initiative, The majority of Western European states founded, together with the United States and Canada, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), The Great Western Military Alliance Faced with the Soviet Union .
A year earlier, In 1948, Beneux had entered into force (Belgium Customs Union, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) with the application of a common external tariff. This organism had been created in 1944, before the end of World War II.
Another important step towards European integration was The creation of the Council of Europe in 1949 . This organism, still existing, arose to promote political cooperation among European countries . However, its statutes did not express as a objective the union or the federation of states, nor the assignment of sovereignty by these states. Its main function was to reinforce the democratic system and human rights in the Member States.
From the Schuman statement to the Treaty of Rome (1950-1957)
The first step in the creation of the European Community was given by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. On May 9, 1950, the state Integrate and manage in the frank-German coal and steel production . This measure of economic integration sought to consolidate the approach between France and Germany and definitely move the danger of war in Europe.
“Gentlemen, it is not a matter of vain words, but of an act, daring and constructive. France acts and the consequences of its action can be immense. We expect it. France acts for peace (…) and associates Germany. Europe is born from this, a solidly united and strongly structured Europe. A Europe where the standard of living will rise thanks to the grouping of productions and the expansion of markets that will cause pricing. (…) Europe will not be suddenly made, in a joint work, it will be done through concrete accomplishments, which believe, in the first place, a de facto solidarity. The French government proposes that the whole of the Franco-German production of coal and steel under a common authority be submitted, in an organization open to the participation of other European countries. The sharing of coal and steel production will immediately ensure the establishment of common economic development bases, the first stage of the European Federation (…)“
Schuman statement, May 9, 1950.
That same year, the French government proposed The creation of a European Defense Community (CED) . This project It was frustrated in 1954 when the French National Assembly vetoed its application. The CED, which implied a strong political and military integration, was replaced by the Western European Union (UEO), a coordination organization in defense and security matters that, in practice, was practically annulled by NATO.
Despite the failure of the CED, the path of economic integration continued. On April 18, 1951 it was signed The Treaty of Paris that gave birth to the European Coal and Steel Community (CECA). This organization became the 1950 Schuman Plan.
The high authority of the CECA became chaired by Jean Monnet, who had inspired the Schuman statement. This first European community was made up of the six countries signatory to the Paris Treaty: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (known as “Los Seis”).
Since the failure of the CED had shown that the political and military unity was still a utopia, it had been evident that The only clear path to a European unit It was economic integration.
The Foreign Ministers of “Los Sex”, under the presidency of the Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak, met in 1955 at the Messina conference (Italy).
Fruit of the agreements reached there was the final step in the construction of a European Community: on March 25, 1957, the six signed The treaties of Rome for which HE They created the European Economic Community (CEE) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) . These treaties entered into force on January 1, 1958 and were the direct antecedent of the future European Union (1993).
The frustrated Treaty of the European Defense Community
Before the signing of the treaties in Rome in 1957, the six signatory countries (France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) signed in Paris the constitutive treaty of the European Community of Coal and Steel (1951) and the treaty constituting the European Community of Defense (1952).
Although the first treaty was ratified by all the signatories and entered into force on July 23, 1952, the second was not ratified by the French National Assembly and, therefore, the European Defense Community never became constituted. Below are some fragments of the frustrated treaty.
Constitutive Treaty of the European Defense Community
May 27, 1952
“The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Majesty The King of the Belgians, the President of the French Republic, the President of the Italian Republic, his Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, His Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands,
Resolved to contributing to the maintenance of peace, particularly ensuring the defense of Western Europe against all aggression, in cooperation with other free nations, in the spirit of the United Nations Charter and in close union with organizations that have the same end;
Considering that an integration as complete as possible, compatible with the military needs, of the human and material elements gathered in their defense forces within a supranational European organization, is the most appropriate means to achieve this objective with all necessary speed and efficiency;
Convinced that such integration will lead to the most rational and economic employment of the resources of their countries, as a result, in particular, the establishment of a common budget and common weapons programs;
Determined to ensure in this way the development of their military power without harming social progress;
Eager to safeguard the spiritual and moral values that are the common heritage of their peoples, and convinced that within a common army constituted without discrimination between the participating states, national patriotisms, far from weakening, they can only consolidate and harmonize in a broader framework;
Aware that they are thus taking a new and essential step on the road to the formation of a united Europe;
They have decided to create a European Defense Community (…)
Title First
Fundamental principles
Chapter 1
Of the European Defense Community
Art. 1. For this treaty, the high contracting parties institute among them a European Community of Defense, of a supranational nature, consisting of common institutions, common armed forces and a common budget.
Art. 2. 1. The objectives of the community will be exclusively defensive.
2. Therefore, under the conditions provided for in this treaty, it will guarantee the safety of the Member States against all aggression through participation in Western defense within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty and the realization of the integration of the defense forces of the Member States and the rational and economic employment of their resources.
3. Any armed aggression directed against any of the Member States in Europe or against European Defense Forces will be considered as an attack directed against all Member States.
4. The Member States and European Defense Forces will provide the State with the forces thus attacked all military and other assistance and assistance that are within their reach. (…)
Chapter II
Of European Defense Forces
Art. 9. The Armed Forces of the Community, hereinafter called “European Defense Forces”, contingent will be made available to the Community by the Member States, for their merger according to the conditions provided for in this Treaty. (…)“
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References
- Fernández Navarrete, D. (2022). History of the European Union: from the origins to post-overxit. Autonomous University of Madrid Editions.
- Gabel, MJ (2022). European Union. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Constitutive Treaty of the European Defense Community, May 27, 1952, in: Archive of European Integration. https://aei.pitt.edu/
- European Union (SF). Principles, countries, history. Official Portal of the European Union. https://european-union.europa.eu/
