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A Study on Controversial Issues and Resistance Factors in European Integration (1952-1992)

Author: WangJuan
Tutor: YuWeiMin
School: East China Normal University
Course: World History
Keywords: European Integration controversy resistance nationalism common policy two-tier democratic frameworks
CLC: K505
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2006
Downloads: 417
Quote: 2
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Abstract

European Integration is an important subject of European contemporary politics. From early 50s to 90s in the last century, aiming to establish a European Union, many attempts were made horizontally and vertically in European Integration process but the process also came across lots of serious setbacks and strong resistances. Choosing such resistances and disputes as the study object, the author intends to have a general backward reflection on European Integration, thus enhancing the overall recognition for European Integration.There are five chapters in the thesis.Chapter One deals with the ideological origin of European Integration, its historical background from theory to reality and displays the intrinsic differences within various notions of integration thought. The thoughts which exerted significant impacts on European Integration were federalism and confederalism, both of which agree with European Union but divide in specific operation. Federalism, which emphasized supranational political configuration and held up that national power should be transferred to and implemented by the supranational institutions, is an ideal optimistic theory, while confederalism, which thought of sovereignty preservation of member states and advocated that the integration is restricted to loose cooperation between member states, is an passive theory. The theoretical divisions play their role in various ways during the integration process.Chapter Two to Chapter Four, the focus of this thesis, has a study on the controversies and resistances in European Integration from the perspectives of nationalism, objective geographical divergences and two-tier democratic frameworks.Chapter Two analyzes influence of nationalism on the Great European Goal from case studies of European Defense Community, Empty Chair Crisis and non-tax trade barriers. As a try on military union, the European Defense Community certainly would have promoted European political union, but it failed largely due to rejuvenation of French nationalism. At a thought of an interactive nationalist road taken by European Union instead of a supranational road, President Charles De Gaulle fulfilled his aim so extremely at the expense of withdrawal of French representatives from the Community. In the common market, the non-tax trade barrier almost gulfed the fruits of the Customs Union with the protection of nationalism, which is the major cause for integration stagnation from 70s to 80s in the 20th century. As a conception objectionable to the Great European Goal, nationalism hindered the rapid development of integration in its initiative phase, thus changing the concrete form and nature of integration to a considerable extent.Chapter Three beings with the Common Agricultural Policy and the Monetary Union and expounds the conflicts between the common policy in the European Community and regional differences between member states. Britain had been demanding for reform of the CAP since its entry negotiation with the European Community. From late 70s to early 80s, the British budgetary problem had always been the major topics of annual budgetary conferences. The economic development imbalance between the member states was obviously worsened owing to the economic crisis in 70s. Therefore, the economic and monetary union plan, which aimed to stabilize exchange rates and gradually realize single currency within the Community, collapsed in such an adverse plight. It can be seen that the divergences between the member states has become

A Study on Controversial Issues and Resistance Factors in European Integration (1952-1992)

Abstract

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