European integration theories

Résumé du document

There is an increasingly accepted agreement that the EU and the process of European integration are just too complex to be captured by a single theoretical approach. Hix holds to this point: "We do not have a general theory of American or German politics so why should there be a general theory of the EU?" The political scientists worked from 1950s on with such theories as functionalism, neo-functionalism, realism, neo-realism, rationalism, liberalism. Other theories such as liberal inter-governmentalism, constructivism, institutionalism, and neo-institutionalism are more recent ones. First, the unique phenomenon of European integration was explained by functionalism, or as Mitrany argued, the "functional alternative" as the alternative method to federalist proposals. The integrative dynamic of functionalism is the establishment of successive functional depoliticized organizations, which drain the power from the nation-state.

Extraits

[...] the crisis of the Santer European Commission in 1999. It was not only the resignation of the Commission, but additionally a chance to change the rules and an opportunity for the Commission to regain its legitimacy and citizens' confidence); socialization and learning process in a community - the process of social learning is very important for norms' extension, as well as for their implementation for a long period of time. Governmental elites, for example, choose specific policies, strategies, and concrete interests because they are consistent with more general, deeper, collectively held ideas or discourses. [...]

[...] The reality shows that the costs will exceed the benefits. That is why a priori the EU has no interest to enlarge. Therefore, is enlargement possible? The answer is that the enlargement will, however, take place. Liberal intergovernmentalism gives supranational institutions and officials less attention than other approaches. This could have been justified if supranationalism today would play the same insignificant role it had at the beginning of the European integration process, but the last institutional and constitutional developments made many changes in this respect. [...]

[...] The weaknesses of the neo-functionalist theorizing on European integration are as follows: 1. they concentrate on the dialectic between nation-state and supranational integration ignoring the impact of decision- making rules on the integration process They analyze primarily the spillover effect and the linear evolution from the nation-state to the “United States of Europe” “Business as usual” can no longer help to understand the integration process. The “Jean Monnet method” is not successful. It was easy to implement it with few members, but not now with 25 members. [...]

[...] How do they emerge and how are they transferred from the national to the European level? Scholars on constructivism argue themselves that constructivism cannot serve as a “substantive theory of European integration”[14]. The institutionalist turn in political sciences has increasingly challenged the rationalist paradigm of European integration[15]. This approach emphasizes that institutions are important, because they shape the points of reference for various actors. Institutionalists argue that sustained cooperation is possible under some fairly well-defined conditions. Which are these conditions? Are they enough defined in the EU? [...]

[...] Social Learning and European Identity Change, International Organisation, Vol no.3 (2001), S. 553-588. Moravcsik, Andrew, Constructivism and European Integration, Journal of European Public Policy, 6:4 (1999), S. 669-681. For constructivism in European integration see: Eriksen, Erik O., The Question of Deliberative Supranationalism in the EU, ARENA Working Paper WP 4 (1999), www.sv.uio.no/arena/publications/wp99-4.htm. Diez, Thomas, Speaking the Politics of Integration Discourse, Journal of European Public Policy (1999), S. 598-613. Jørgensen, Knud Erik, The Social Construction of the Acquis Communautaire: A Cornstone of the European Edifice (1999) - http://eiop.or.at/eiop/1999- 005.htm. [...]