Theories Of European Integration I - CAESAR

Theories of EuropeanIntegration IFederalismvs.Functionalismand beyond

Theories and Strategies ofEuropean Integration:Federalism &(Neo-) Federalismor Function follows Form

Forefathers Immanuel KANT“ But peace can neither be inaugurated nor secured without ageneral agreement between the nations; thus a particular kind ofleague, which we might call a pacific federation (foeduspacificaum), is required.”Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (1795)Alexander HAMILTON“To look for a continuation of harmony between a number ofindependent unconnected sovereignties situated in the sameneighbourhood, would be to disregard the uniform course of humanevents and to set at defiance the accumulated experience of ages.” Federalist Papers, Federalist n 6, Concerning the Dangers fromDissensions between States.

and successors Winston CHURCHILL: Speech to the academic Youth, Zurich,19.9.1946)“We must build a kind of United States of Europe freely joined together for mutual convenience in a federalsystem. We must re-create the European Family in a regionalstructure called, it may be, the United States of Europe. ”Therefore I say to you: let Europe arise!Altiero SPINELLIFor a Free and United Europe. A draft manifesto (1944)(Ventotene Manifesto)“The question which must be resolved first [ ] is the definitiveabolition of the division of Europe into national, sovereignStates.““All problems would find easy solutions in the EuropeanFederation.““MOVEMENT FOR A FREE AND UNITED EUROPE“

Assumptions power-seeking people andstates; security dilemma anarchy as centralproblem discredited nation-state one European people division of authoritybetween levelsTHEORY

Logics peace, welfare and power onlyvia federalism creating a European State withstate-like structures United States of Europe by‘saut qualitatif’ European people possessovereignty subsidiarity clause Neo-Federalism: step by stepstrengthening of the EP,(process character)THEORY

THEORYInstitutions European Parliamentrepresentative of the people Legitimacy through directelections Council of Ministers as secondchamber, Neo-Federalism: step by stepstrengthening of the EP,(process character)

THEORYStrategies first deepening, then widening avantgarde, Core-Europe,“Fédération d’Etat-nations”,pioneer Europe

(Neo-) Federalism in the ALIS-schemeLogics peace, welfare and power only viafederalism creating a European State with state-likestructures United States of Europe by ‘saut qualitatif’ European people posses sovereignty subsidiarity clause Neo-Federalism: step by step strengthening ofthe EP, (process character)Assumptions power-seeking people and states; security dilemma anarchy as central problem discredited nation-state one European people division of authority between levelsTHEORYStrategies first deepening, then widening avantgarde, Core-Europe,“Fédération d’Etat-nations”, pioneerEuropeInstitutions European Parliament representative ofthe people Legitimacy through direct elections Council of Ministers as second chamber, Neo-Federalism: step by step strengtheningof the EP, (process character)

Institutional diagram: (Neo-) FederalismEuropean CouncilECJ(collective dignified institution)European Commission(government)Council of the EU(second chamber)European Parliament(full Parliament: „demos“)

Pious hopes John PINDER The European Union: A very shortIntroduction, Oxford, 2001 „ either the federal elements in theinstitutions will be strengthened until theUnion becomes an effective democraticpolity, or it will fail to attract enoughsupport from the citizens to enable it toflourish, and perhaps even to survive.“

Theories and Strategiesof European IntegrationFunctionalism andNeofunctionalismor Form follows Function

Forefathers David MITRANY “One might say indeed that the true taskof peaceful change is to remove theneed and the wish for changes offrontiers.“ A Working Peace System, Chicago, 1943

Assumptions:Human nature: - rational and cooperative behaviour State: - need-centric rather than state-centric perspective - human needs and public welfare rather than powerpolitics International system: - transnational problem solving - interdependence - globalisation

Assumptions II International agencies: render war irrational / impossible throughcollective transnational problem solvingand mutual dependence. more conducive to the maintenance ofinternational peace and stability transcend any anarchical structures inworld politics

The Logic of transborder cooperation

Assumptions! rejection of the state andpower concept! human beings areessentially cooperative andact rationally! same (transnational)problems! interest in joint problemsolvingTHEORY

Logics form follows function spill-over “Sachlogik” from single market to politicalunion problem-solving byemphasising expertise epistemic communities transfer of loyalty andsovereigntyTHEORY

THEORYInstitutions technocracy European Commission asengine of integration,produces consensus technocratic knowledge assource of legitimacy (ECB) close interaction betweenadministration and interestgroups

THEORYStrategies functional governance self-perpetuating processwith open finalité cultivated spill over

(Neo-) Functionalism in the ALIS-schemeLogicsAssumptions! rejection of the state andpower concept! human beings are essentially! cooperative and act rationally! same (transnational)problems! interest in joint problemsolving form follows function spill-over “Sachlogik” from single market to political union problem-solving by emphasisingexpertise epistemic communities transfer of loyalty and sovereigntyTHEORYStrategies functional governance self-perpetuating process with open finalité cultivated spill overInstitutions technocracy European Commission as engineof integration, produces consensus technocratic knowledge as sourceof legitimacy (ECB) close interaction betweenadministration and interest-groups

functional and technical fields“ In a like manner the function determinesits appropriate organs.”e.g. Coal and Steel,Railways,Telecommunications

Institutional ncil of the EUEuropeanCommissionECBEuropean Parliament(forum)

Recommended Reading Michael O‘Neill: The Politics of European Integration.A Reader. London: Routledge 1996 Ben Rosamond: Theories of European Integration.Basingstoke: Macmillan 2000 Antje Wiener/Thomas Diez (eds.): European IntegrationTheory. Repr. Oxford: OUP 2005 Hans-Jürgen Bieling/Marika Lerch (eds.): Theorien dereuropäischen Integration. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag 2005 Anne Faber: Europäische Integration und politikwissenschaftliche Theoriebildung. Neofunktionalismusund Intergouvernementalismus in der Analyse.Wiesbaden: VS Verlag 2005

Variants of Integration Theory

Federalism The integration of several national actors takes placeas a consequence of willful political decisions takenby politicians and nations and based on commonpolitical and socio-economic norms and objectives.At the beginning of the integration process acommon constitution for the newly integrated actorwill be formulated. This actor usually takes the formof a federal state with horizontal and verticalseparation of powers; the formerly autonomousunits give up their claim to sovereignty and submitto a common will. Distinctive feature: Solutions of economic and socialproblems fill a previously established (institutional)framework; pooling of sovereignty of individualactors. Catchword: Function follows form

Functionalism Emergence and growth of international organization is aconsequence of the autonomy of industrial societies,characterized by the progress of the forces of production , andthe internationalization of socio-economic problem complexes,which can only be resolved by means of inter-state or suprastate cooperation. Thus, international organizations can becompared to administrative/ executive unions or a Zweckverband, active in primarily technical nonpolitical issue-areas.They simultaneously relieve states of some of their tasks anddeprive them of some of their power without incorporatingthem in a superior political entity. The internationalization ofproblem complexes is governed by the logic of functionalnecessity; functional necessities thus produce on theinternational level mechanisms of collective problem resolutionand the concomitant adequate organisational forms.Distinctive feature: Economic and social problems producetheir own (framework of) respective solutions; internationalcooperation is legitimized by the usefulness and efficiency ofconcrete, issue-specific (technical) cooperation and itsoutcomes.Catchword: Form follows function.

Neofunctionalism As socioeconomic problems of highly industrialized societies, dueto their border-transgressing causes and consequences, cannot beresolved any longer by individual state action but require comprehensive solutions that encompass all actors, the integration ofseveral actors arises out of purely functional necessities.At the beginning of the integration process actors formally agree(contractual arrangements) to solve problems within technical,functional, non-political and small sector-based issue areas (lowpolitics) in a technocratic and non-ideological way. As cooperativemanagement and problem solving approaches prove to be successful, they expand to other related functional task-areas and will finallyspill over into genuinely political (high politics) issue areas, wherethey also inititate a gradual process of integration (logic of integration by sectors: supranational communitization of state functionsin a succession of neighbouring policy areas produces quasiautomatic integration by means of spillover effects)Distinctive feature: Political actors play a decisive role in the process of combining the requirements of problem solutions andadequate institutional provisions; they transfer their loyalties andbenefit expectations in an ever-intensifying manner to the supranational level, thereby legitimizing and stimulating the integrationprocess.

Hegemonic Stability Theory The free-rider problem inherent in the managementof the global economy requires a hegemonic powercapable of providing collective/ public goods.Motivated by its own (enlightened) self-interest, themost powerful state existing in an internationalsystem in a given period in time creates specificinternational regimes in order to defend / pursue itsself-interest throughout the system. Though set upby a hegemonic power, these regimes occasionallycontinue to exist even after the decline of thehegemon, because nation states assumed to berational, egoistic utility-maximisers develop aninterest in the regime’s persistence.

Interdependence Theory Within the context of growing interdependence andintegration, the modernization/ industrialization/internationalization of the exchange of commoditiesand services does increase the sensitivity of actorsto developments within other actors. Mutualinterdependence and changes in the interdependence structure entail - often unequally distributed costs and benefits. Whereas sensitivity describesthe costs of the actor’s reaction towards changeswithin the system, the term vulnerability denotes thecostliness of a substantial change within the systemstructure. cobweb model of international politics (JohnBurton)

Complex Interdependence International relations are characterized by acomplex conglomerate system of inter- andtransnational interrelationsships between a widerange of governmental and nongovernmentalnational as well as international actors. Thetraditionally given hierarchy of security issues overwelfare/ socio-economic issues is replaced byvariable sets of themes and preferences dependingon the specific policy area. As national actors areintegrated into a complex network of mutualinterdependencies, the importance of the resort toforce/organized violence as an instrument of foreign/state policy is likely to be diminished.