Europe’s foundations: federalism or intergovernmentalism?

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Tables of contents

Europe’s foundations: federalism or intergovernmentalism?        1

Decision-making: why we don’t talk about communitarism?        3

In practice: what is the role of each part?        4

The French-German relationship: what impulses and what limitations?        5

Conclusion        7

Europe’s foundations: federalism or intergovernmentalism?

1946, early post war period, this is a pivotal year for Europe. On September 19, 1946, the British Conservative leader, Winston Churchill^[1], delivered a speech at the University of Zurich in which he posed the Franco-German reconciliation and the creation of a European organization as conditions for peace and freedom on the continent. He spoke of “The United States of Europe”. Most expected "European Union of Federalists". However, as early as the 1960s, theories on European integration sought above all to understand what explains cooperation within Europe and what is the nature of this specific system. The European construction was commonly called UPO, an unidentified political object. It is an original dynamic that does not correspond to known political trajectories (national, federal or confederal). It is probably more of a post-federal system not entirely consistent with traditional federalism.

What is intergovernmentalism? Which is common to several governments. In a case of intergovernmentalism, decisions are taken following a diplomatic process and adopted by consensus, after diplomatic negotiations and unanimously. These are government-to-government discussions, in which the collective bodies (Commission, Parliament ...) are marginalized: they have no role of proposal, they have a simple advisory role. It is a method advocated by some European governments, like the United Kingdom, before Brexit because it is not easy to agree. Thus, these governments are certain that nothing will be decided without them. Intergovernmentalism was the method pampered by Charles de Gaulle^[2]. Indeed, it is a method whose proponents are hostile to enlargement. It should be noted that the Maastricht (1992), Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2001) Treaties progressively reduced the scope of the intergovernmental method to the benefit of the Community method.

What is federalism? Mode of organization in which each member has a large autonomy and delegates some of its powers to a central body, called federal. Members participate collectively and not individually in decisions. There are several federal methods: American federalism is different from German federalism, which is also different from Swiss federalism. In a federation, there are areas that are exclusively federated (e.g., diplomacy), there are areas of federal cooperation, such as the federated states in Germany, not in USA, and other areas which fall within federal states and where the federation has no right to intervene. So, Europe is very far from a federal model. The member states play a fundamental role, the commission does not ensue directly from the parliament. The competences of Europe are very extensive. Nevertheless, some politicians are fervent supporters of federalism. The Ventotene Manifesto, written in June 1941 by Altiero Spinelli^[3] and entitled "For a Free and United Europe", is a precursor to the idea of European federalism. In 1943, Altiero Spinelli founded the European Federalist Movement and then co-founded the Union of European Federalists. This idea of a federal Europe is also supported by Aristide Briand, and Louis Loucheur. On December 10, 1951, Alcide de Gasperi^[4] defended a program of federalist political unification in front of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, however chaired by Paul-Henri Spaak^[5], Social-Democrat. The project is supported by Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman, but it is rejected by the Belgian 1st minister Paul Van Zeeland and the French 1st minister Georges Bidault.

In June 1958, Charles de Gaulle became President of the French Republic only six months after the signing of the Treaties of Rome. Its goal is to advance French power and leadership, but it is reluctant to federalism. That is why he refused Euratom. On 14 January 1963, General de Gaulle made a press conference in which he declared himself opposed to the application for accession of the United Kingdom. He referred to the incompatibility between continental and island economic interests. It demands that Great Britain accept all the conditions of the Six and abandon its commitments vis-à-vis the countries included in its free trade area.

On several occasions the German, Belgian, Dutch and Italian governments have been federalists, such as the Commission and the European Parliament, based on certain treaties. Therefore, these countries particularly appreciated Jean Monnet^[6]'s approach. In 1976, Jean Monnet declared in his memoirs: "The sovereign nations of the past are no longer the place where the problems of the present can be solved, and the Community is only a step towards the forms of organization of the world of tomorrow. " As a promoter of Atlanticism, of free trade and of the disappearance of nation-states in favor of a federal Europe on the model of the United States, he is considered one of the fathers of Europe.

Decision-making: why we don’t talk about communitarism?

To summarize, there would be two strands of European integration: federalism with supranational institutions and intergovernmentalism, with nations retain all sovereignty. Several initiatives stem from the intergovernmental method:

• OEEC, Organization for European Economic Co-operation (1948) transformed in OECD, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1960;
• Council of Europe (1949);
• EFTA, European Free Trade Association (1960).

Federalism is at the root of other initiatives:

• ECSC, European Coal and Steel Community (1951)
• EEC, European Economic Community (1958)

However, during the construction of Europe, the Community method has been used: States play a more important role than in a federal model, but supranational entities (European Parliament and Commission) also play a fundamental role.

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