Why has the historical development of the EU been so uneven?

Résumé du document

On 28th March 2001, Lionel Jospin, the French Prime Minister, made an interesting declaration. He said that: 'Europe is more than a market. It stands for a model of society that has grown historically'. This statement refers to the development of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) of 1951, into the European Union (EU) that we know today. This development has been far from easy and steady, and has depended on various factors such as international relations and international issues, as well as the performances of the European Community, the member states and the leaders of the member states and the Community. Each of these factors have either accelerated and facilitated the development of the EU or hindered it.

Extraits

[...] The power of the USA, especially its military power, also helped Western Europe a lot because during the Cold War, Europe was given a protective framework by NATO allowing it to develop . Since its establishment , the European Union has been struck by other international events. One of the most known events is the collapse of the Bretton Woods System in 1971 (which had assured a relative economic stability since 1945 up to the end of the 1960s). When President Nixon suspended the convertibility of the dollar , this led to economic instability. [...]

[...] When the Berlin Wall fell on the 9th of November 1989, the EC was expected to take on international responsibilities. Those responsibilities were made even clearer by the withdrawal of US troops from Western Europe . From then on, the Common Foreign and Security Policy was created (second pillar of the Community), its role extended. Peacekeeping missions were launched such as the operation Artemis (in the Democratic Republic of Congo) or the operation Althea (which aims at ensuring a seamless transition from NATO- led forces to EU forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina Linked to the end of the Cold War is the issue of enlargement. [...]

[...] 'EU Enlargement' in Cini, M European Union Politics. Oxford : Oxford University Press, pp. 211-228. Habermas, J 'Why Europe Needs a Constitution'. New Left Review : 5-26 Hudson, R 'One Europe or Many ? Reflections on Becoming European'. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. New Series, Vol No Junge, K. 'Differentiated Integration' in Cini, M European Union Politics. Oxford : Oxford University Press, pp. [...]

[...] It has been more or less the case since the Maastricht Treaty, which basically set up today's EU. Even if integration has occurred, it has not radically changed the EU. Because this treaty institutionalised many changes, the EU has had to recover from and implement all those changes (the second and third pillars and the institutional changes to prepare the EU for enlargement) The development of the EU does not depend only on its achievements. In fact, it naturally largely depends on its constituents, the states. States can either accelerate or impede the development of the EU. [...]

[...] Why has the historical development of the EU been so uneven? On the 28th of March 2001, Lionel Jospin, the French Prime Minister made an interesting declaration: 'Europe is more than a market. It stands for a model of society that has grown historically.' . This statement refers to the development of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 into the European Union that we know today. This development has been far from easy and steady and has depended on various factors such as international relations and international issues, the performances of the European Community, the member states and the leaders of the member states and the Community. [...]