European Integration Theories PDF

European Integration Theories Prof. dr. Kolja Raube European Integration, Module 4 Winter 2023, Session 2 European Integration Theory • “Functionalist like Mitrany foresaw a proliferation of flexible task-oriented international organizations as the means to address the priorities dicatetd by hum...

European Integration Theories Prof. dr. Kolja Raube European Integration, Module 4 Winter 2023, Session 2 European Integration Theory • “Functionalist like Mitrany foresaw a proliferation of flexible task-oriented international organizations as the means to address the priorities dicatetd by human need.” (Rosamond 2000, p.35) • Integration by function rather than politics? • Who selects the functions, who selects the bureaucracies? Who holds them accountable? • In short: can there be a working peace system? 2 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory • Does the federalist idea that a European integration process should be settled on fixed constitutional norms which divide authority between MS and the EU make sense? • Can we confirm that the EU is a federal organization and that enlargement will always push the EU to be federal? • Is federalism a mere ideology of a European superstate? Cartoon by the ‘Economist’ 3 European Integration Theory 4 European Integration Theory • “Communication is the key variable determining the social engagement in communities (security communities).” (Saurugger 2014, p.17) • Under which conditions form people security communities and diminish the prospect of war? • Security communities were groups of people that had become ‘integrated’. (Rosamond 2000, p.43) • Pluralist • Amalgamated 5 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory • Variety of different historical cases? How applicable are they? • Unclarity how processes of transnational transactionalism translated into community-building • Would increase of communication really lead to more a mind-shift and more integration? Bachelor of European Studies 6 European Integration Theory • Functionalism: “International organizations, governed by experts, are needed to guarantee peace. National elites are too interested in re-election to make efficient and good decisions.” (Saurugger 2014, p.17) • Federalism: “The theory or advocacy of federal principles for dividing powers between member units and common institutions.” (Ibid.) • Transactionalism: “Communication is the key variable determining the social engagement in communities (security communities).” (Ibid.)) 7 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory • Do we need theories of European Integration? And if so why? • Which of the three “older” traditions do you find interesting? Why? • Which examples come to mind where these theories can/ could be useful to explain specific events/social phenomena around European integration? Bachelor of European Studies 8 European Integration Theory • The big ‘rivalry’ between neofunctionalists and liberal intergovernmentalists • The ascending formula ‘form follows function’ and the role of supranational institutions • The pertinent role of Member States and domestic politics • The pertinence of crises in European Integration: obstacle or blessing? Bachelor of European Integration 9 European Integration Theory 10 European Integration Theory • “Neofunctionalism: A theory of regional integration that places major emphasis ont the role of non-state actors – especially, the ‘secretariat’ of the regional organization involved and those interest associations and social movements that form at the level of the region – in providing the dynamic of further integration.” (Schmitter 2004, p.46) • “Member states remain important actors in the process… [but] regional bureaucrats [….] seek to exploit the inevitable ‘spill-overs’ and ‘unintended consequences’ that occur when states agree to assign some degree of supranational responsibility….” (Ibid.) 11 Master of European Studies: Transnational and Global Perspectives European Integration Theory Low Politics Political Integration Loyalty Shifts 12 High Authority Spill over Rosamond 2000, p.51-52 Bachelor of European Integration European Integration Theory • “World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it. The contribution which an organized and living Europe can bring to civilization is indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations….” • “Europe will not be made all at once or according to a single plan….It is proposed that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority….The pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of a common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe…[this] will lay a true foundation for […] economic unification.” Schuman Declaration, 1950, see: https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/the_schuman_declaration_paris_9_may_1950-en9cc6ac38-32f5-4c0a-a337-9a8ae4d5740f.html 13 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory ▪ Transnational Society impacts on EC’s organizations to proceed with deeper integration (see Stone Sweet/Fligstein 2002: 1209) New Demands Firms Supranationalism’s transnational feedback loop “The underlying logic of our model can be stated simply: as problems and new circumstances arise, firms and other market actors will press governmental organizations, including legislators and courts, for rules to govern markets. To the extent that these organizations respond to the demands, new opportunities to expand markets will emerge. If market actors adapt their activities to exploit these new opportunities, then the feedback loop will be completed, and the cycle will begin anew. One mechanism through which the “market-as-field” and the “political domain-asfield” is constituted dynamically, over time, is through the interplay between these and other feedback loops.” (Stone Sweet/Fligstein 2002: 213) Exploitations Organizations Response European Integration Theory Key building blocs of neofunctional reasoning • Pluralism of actors • Transformation into a new political system • Actors and actor strategies (e.g. spillover, spill-back, encaspsulate, etc.) • Actors and loyalty shifts • Comparative regional integration (See Rosamond 2000, 54-69) 15 European Integration Theory European Integration Theory Post-Functionalism • L. Hooghe and G. Marks 2006 • European integration has become politicized through elections and referendums (contestation) • Role of political parties (strategic competition) • Role of identity (public opinion) • End of permissive consensus on the European level • ‘difficult to believe that politicization itself could be stuffed back in the bag’ (Hooghe and Marks 2006: 22) • Constraining dissensus of European Integration Bachelor of European Integration 17 European Integration Theory • “Neo-functionalists and supranationalists argue that every crisis of European integration can eventually be turned into an opportunity or will, at least, not necessarily have a negative effect.” (Raube/Costa Reis 2020; see also: Webber 2019, p.30). • “Their optimism is rooted in the institutionalization of supranational and autonomous actors, such as the European Commission or the Court of Justice of the European Union, the sheer endless stream of transnational interactions that re-creates demands for supranational integration and, finally, path-dependency of institutional responses (Raube/Costa Reis 2020; see also: Schimmelfennig 2017; Webber 2019). • In other words, if the European Commission and the Court proof to be autonomous institutions, engines and safeguards of integration, then crises can find effective responses at the European level, allowing the EU to head forward with integration. (Raube/Costa Reis 2020 European Integration Theory • Post-functionalist theories tend to share this pessimistic outlook and the negative expectations regarding European crises (Raube/Costa Reis 2020; Schimmelfennig 2017). • “Championed by Hooghe and Marks (2009; see also this volume), postfunctionalist theory sees domestic Euroscepticism as an endogenous crisis origin. Rooted in the idea of an overall politicization of European integration (De Wilde 2011), Hooghe and Marks see a looming Euroscepticism within Member States which limits governments’ room for manoeuvre to take (necessary) integration steps. In other words, Hooghe and Marks expect “a mismatch of functionally efficient and politically feasible solutions” (Raube/Costa Reis 2020; see Hooghe and Marks 2008, pp.21-23). European Integration Theory 20 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory • Empty chair crisis and intergovernmental critique of neo-functionalist assumptions • Contradictions of diversity and integration • “Nations prefer certainty, or the self-controlled uncertainty” (Hoffman in Rosamond 2000, p.77) • Integration in areas of ‘low’ and ‘high politics’ – or areas of cooperative activity and areas of uncompromised sovereignty • Example: foreign, security and defence policies – cooperation but noncompromised sovereignty? 21 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory • Liberal intergovernmentalism beyond conceptions of the state as unitary actors • Breaking open the domestic sphere of politics • Governments as rational actors between domestic and European politics (Moravcsik 1993) • Two-level game and games executives play on two levels • Government in the domestic political context • Government in the context of international negotiations • Bargaining power in the European context 22 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory International Level and interest negotiations Domestic Level and political competition 23 Bachelor of European Studies European Integration Theory European Integration Theory • “Intergovernmental theories would not necessarily fall into the break-down scenario and project an overall negative crisis outlook.” (Raube/Costa Reis 2020; see also: Schimmelfennig 2017, p.320; this volume). • “crisis outcome depends on the intergovernmental constellation of integration preferences and bargaining power” (Schimmelfennig 2017, p.317) • “In the case of a looming democracy and rule of law crisis, we would, for example, expect Member States to carefully weigh their interests in maintaining ‘good relations’ on the European level and the negative impact that an ‘intervention’ in domestic matters of drifting Member States could have. In terms of the EU actors involved and measures taken, we expect a preference for intergovernmental collective actors, such as the Council, and measures that represent the lowest common denominator rather than far-reaching sanctions.“(Raube/Costa Reis 2020) European Integration Theory New Intergovermentalism ―Bickerton, Hodson and Pütter (2015) ―Lack of (expected) supranational integration ―“Challenges theories that associate integration with transfers of competences from national capitals to supranational institutions and those that reduce integration to traditional socioeconomic or security-driven interests” (Bickerton, Hodson and Pütter 2015) ―Deliberation and consensus-seeking politics ―Delegation to de-novo new (including ‘the ECB, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the ESM, regulatory and executive agencies) ➔New supranationalism overlooked and downplayed? (Dehousse 2015) 26 European Integration Theory • “Intergovernmental theories would not necessarily fall into the break-down scenario and project an overall negative crisis outlook.” (Raube/Costa Reis 2020; see also: Schimmelfennig 2017, p.320; this volume). • “crisis outcome depends on the intergovernmental constellation of integration preferences and bargaining power” (Schimmelfennig 2017, p.317) • “In the case of a looming democracy and rule of law crisis, we would, for example, expect Member States to carefully weigh their interests in maintaining ‘good relations’ on the European level and the negative impact that an ‘intervention’ in domestic matters of drifting Member States could have. In terms of the EU actors involved and measures taken, we expect a preference for intergovernmental collective actors, such as the Council, and measures that represent the lowest common denominator rather than far-reaching sanctions.“(Raube/Costa Reis 2020) Conclusion What are the critiques against neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, etc.? Can one theory possibly be enough to explain European Integration (possibly not)? Which theory holds the key to describe and explain integration and the impact of crisis on European Integration? Selected Literature • Bickerton, C.; D. Hodson; U. Puetter (2015): The New Intergovernmentalism: European Integration in thePost-Maastricht Era, JCMS 2015 Volume 53. Number 4. pp. 703–722 • Dehousse, R. (2015): The New Supranationalism, European Consortium of Political Research, Montreal, August 26-29, 2015. • Deutsch, K. W. et al. (1957): Political Community and the North Atalantic Area: International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience, Princeton University Press • Elazar D. T. (1996): From Statism to Federalism: A Paradigm Shift, International Political Science Review,. Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 417-429 29 Master of European Studies: Transnational and Global Perspectives Selected Literature • Haas, E. (1961): International Integration: The European Union and the Universal Process, International Organization, Vol. 15, No.3, 366-392 • Hoffmann, S. (1966): Obstinate or Obsolete? The Fate of the Nation-State and the Case of Western Europe, In: Daedalus, Vol. 95, No. 3, pp. 862-915 • Marks, G., Hooghe, L, and K. Blank (1996): European Integration from the 1980s: State-Centric v. Multi-level Governance, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3, 341–378 • Mitrany D. (1994): A Working Peace System. In: Nelsen B.F., Stubb A.CG. (eds) The European Union. Palgrave, London • Moravcsik, A. (1993): Preferences and Power in the European Community: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Approach, Journal of Common Market Studies, VoL. 31, No.4, 473-524. 30 Selected Literature • Raube, K., F. Costa-Reis (2020), "The EU’s Crisis Response Regarding the Democratic and Rule of Law Crisis“, in: Marianne Riddervold et al. (Eds): The Palgrave Handbook of EU Crises, (Chapter 37) • Rosamond, Ben (2014): Theorizing the EU after integration theory, in: Michelle Cini, Nieves Pérez-Solórzano Borragán: European Union Politics. Oxford University Press. • Rosamond, Ben (2020): Theories of European Integration. Palgrave. • Sandholtz, W, and A. Stone Sweet (1997), European Integration and Supranational Governance, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol. 4, No.3 September 1997:297-317 • Saurugger, Sabine (2017): Theoretical Approaches to European Integration. Palgrave 31