Europe at the service of peace and democracy
Community Europe has
celebrated its 50th anniversary.
On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman made history
by putting to the Federal Republic of Germany, and to the other European countries,
the idea of creating a Community of pacific interests. He
began a completely new process in international
relations by proposing to old nations to together recover, by exercising
jointly their sovereignty, the influence which each of them was incapable of
exercising alone.
The construction of Europe has since then
moved forward every day. It represents the most significant undertaking of the
20th century and a new hope at the dawn of the new century. It
derives its momentum from the far-sighted and ambitious project of the founding
fathers who emerged from the second world war driven by the resolve to
establish between the peoples of Europe the conditions for a lasting peace.
A
historic success
As Europe approaches the dawn of the third millennium, a look back over the 50
years of progress towards European integration shows that the European Union is
a historic success. Countries which were hitherto enemies, today share a common
currency, the euro, and manage their economic and commercial interests within
the framework of joint institutions.
Europeans now settle their differences
through peaceful means, applying the rule of law and seeking conciliation. The
spirit of superiority and discrimination has been banished from relationships
between the Member States, which have entrusted to the four Community
institutions, the Council, the Parliament, Commission and the Court of Justice,
the responsibility for mediating their conflicts, for defining the general
interest of Europeans and for pursuing common policies.
Economic integration every day highlights
the need for and takes people closer to political
union. At international level, the European Union is wielding increasing
influence commensurate with its economic importance, the standard of living of
its citizens, its place in diplomatic, commercial and monetary forums.
The European Community derives its
strength from common values of democracy and human rights, which rally its
peoples, and it has preserved the diversity of cultures and languages and the
traditions which make it what it is. Its transatlantic solidarity and the
attractiveness of its model has enabled a united Europe to withstand the
pressure of totalitarianism and to consolidate the rule of law.
The European Community stands as a beacon
for the expectations of countries near and far which watch the Union’s progress
with interest as they seek to consolidate their re-emerging democracies or
rebuild a ruined economy.
Today, the Union of the 15 Member States
is negotiating the next wave of membership with 10 countries of central and
eastern Europe, and with Malta and Cyprus. At a later stage, other countries of
former Yugoslavia or which belong to the European sphere will in turn ask to
join. The taking on board by the applicant countries of the acquis
communautaire, and more generally of the major objectives of the European
Union, is central to enlargement negotiations. For the first time in its long
history, the continent is preparing to become reunified in peace and freedom.
Such developments are momentous in terms
of world balance and will have a huge impact on Europe’s relations with the
United States, Russia, Asia and Latin America.
The
key dates of the European Enlargement
1945 – After
the Second World War Europe was destroyed. The main problems facing european
states were security and economic reconsrtruction. That’s where the discussion
on any integration of Europe started. The ideas of Kudenhove-Calergi were
recollected.
1950 – R.
Schuman proposed to pool coal and steel resources of France and FRG.
1951 – The Paris treaty was
signed: France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands
and Luxembourg established the European Coal and Steel Community. This
organization could regulate the European market. It was the first step of
European integration and in terms of the enlargement – it was the
original platform to enlarge.
1961 – Ten
years later, after the EEC and the Euroatom were created (1957), the UK – the
leader of EFTA (1960) – applied to enter the EEC.
1963, 1965 –
the situation was not that favourable for the UK. On the initiative of De
Gaulle, the French leader at that moment, France twice vetoed the UK’s
accession to the Community.
1967 – A new
application for Community membership from the UK (the fourth attempt), Denmark
and Ireland.
1972 – Here we have the first
enlargement: The Treaty on the accession of Denmark, Ireland, Norway, the UK
was signed in Brussels. In Denmark and Norway the referendums were hold and
Norwegian people decided not to join the Community (they will change their mind
only in 1996). So, in 1973 the agreement on accession entered in force only for
three applicants: the UK, Denmark and Ireland.
1973 – Greece
applied to enter the Community. During the 70-ties the EC was discussing the
situation with Mediterranean states. Greece, spain and Portugal were not able
to join the Community because of dictatural governments ruling there.
1981 – Finally, after the
dictature collapsed, Greece entered the EC.
1986 – Five years later Spain
and Portugal joined the Community.
1993 – After a
long pause the enlargement was continued – the negotiations on Austria, Sweden
and Finland accession were opened.
Soon after the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989, the European Community quickly established diplomatic
relations with the countries of central Europe. During
the 1990s, the European Community and its Member States progressively concluded
Association Agreements, so called 'Europe Agreements', with
ten countries of central Europe. The Europe Agreements provide the legal basis
for bilateral relations between these countries and the EU. The European
Community had already established similar Association Agreements with Turkey
(1963), Malta (1970) and Cyprus (1972). In the case of Turkey, a Customs Union
entered into force in December 1995.
1995 – Sweden, Finland and
Austria joined the European Union.
1996 – Malta
applied to enter the EU. This application was soon frozen till 1998.
1997 – At its summit in Luxembourg in December 1997, the
European Council decided that the enlargement process should encompass:
•
the European Conference, a multilateral framework bringing together ten
central European countries, Cyprus and Turkey, which was launched on 12 March
1998;
•
the accession process, covering ten central European countries and Cyprus,
which was launched on 30 March 1998;
•
the accession negotiations, which the European Council decided to open
on 31 March 1998 with six countries, as recommended by the European Commission:
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.
1998 – Malta
reactivated its application for Community membership made in 1996.
1998 – The EU formally launched the
process that will make enlargement possible. It embraces the following thirteen
applicant countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic,
Slovenia and Turkey.
1999 – The
Commission adopted its reports and a general composite paper on the progress
made by each of the candidate countries (ten central European countries,
Cyprus, Malta and Turkey) towards accession. They show that all countries
except Turkey fulfil the political criteria for accession and that only Cyprus
and Malta fully meet the economic criteria. Based on these regular reports, the
Commission has recommended to open negotiations with Malta, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovakia and also with Bulgaria and Romania but subject to certain conditions
for the latter two. The Commission has also recommended to conduct accession
negotiations through a differentiated approach taking account of the progress
made by each candidate.
1999 – A new institutional process was put in train by the
decision taken by the European Council meeting in Helsinki to convene an
intergovernmental conference with the aim inter alia of adapting the treaties
to the conditions whereby a Union enlarged to over 20 members can function
smoothly.
2000 – Negotiations with Romania, Slovakia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta on the conditions for their entry into the Union
and the ensuing Treaty adjustments started. As for Turkey - The European
Council welcomed recent positive developments in Turkey, as well as its
intention to continue its reforms towards complying with the Copenhagen
criteria. In doing so, Turkey is considered as a candidate State to join the
Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate
States.
December, 2000 – By agreeing
- on a Treaty of Nice, the EU member states also removed the last formal
obstacle to moving ahead with the EU enlargement process. The conclusions go on
to say that "the time has now come to lend fresh impetus to the
process". The summit broadly endorsed the enlargement strategy proposed by
the Commission, and emphasised "the principle of differentiation, based on
each candidate country's own merits", and "allowance of scope for
catching up". The road map for the next 18 months will ease the way for
further negotiations, bearing in mind that those countries which are the best
prepared will continue to be able to progress more quickly, the summit
concluded.
Meanwhile,
the summit expressed appreciation for the efforts made by the candidates, and
requested them "to continue and speed up the necessary reforms to prepare
themselves for accession, particularly as regards strengthening their
administrative capacity, so as to be able to join the Union as soon as
possible". And it welcomed the establishment of economic and financial
dialogue with the candidate countries.
2003 – The
Union has declared that it will be ready to welcome new
countries from the start of 2003.
The
weighting of votes in the future council
The Treaty of Nice signed
at the summit decided not only on voting rights for the current fifteen member
states, but also on the votes that the candidates will have as they become
member states. The full list is as follows:
Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy –
29
Spain and Poland – 27
Romania – 14
Netherlands – 13
Greece, Czech Republic, Belgium, Hungary,
Portugal – 12
Sweden, Bulgaria,
Austria – 10
Slovakia, Denmark, Finland,
Ireland, Lithuania – 7
Latvia, Slovenia,
Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg – 4
Malta – 3
Total – 342
A
qualified majority in the new voting system will be 255 (74.56%).
The enlargement facing the EU today
poses a unique challenge, since it is without precedent in terms of scope and
diversity: the number of candidates, the area (increase of 34%) and population
(increase of 105 million), the wealth of different histories and cultures.
Third countries will significantly benefit from an enlarged Union.
The challenges of the future
After a half century of Community history,
Europeans still have a lot of soul-searching to do: How far could and should the Union be
taken in order to maximise the strength which derives from unity, without at
the same time eroding identity and destroying the individual ethos which makes
the richness of our nations, regions and cultures? Can they
move forward in step, thanks to the natural harmony which favours consensus
between 15 countries, or should they recognise
divergences of approach and differentiate their pace of
integration? What are the limits of Community Europe, at a time when so many
nations, starting with the new democracies of central and eastern Europe and
the Balkans, along with Turkey, are asking to join the process of unification
in progress? How can the people of Europe get everyone
involved in the Community undertaking and give them the feeling of a European
identity which complements and goes beyond fundamental solidarity?
All these are questions of principle, fundamental questions the answers to which will themselves
determine the specific and technical matters addressed daily by those who have
the task of taking this Community undertaking forward.
