What are the factors and processes that have helped or hindered European Integration?
What are the main issues that are likely to shape the European Union’s development in the next five years?
Introduction
The idea of a united Europe was not a contemporary one, born from the willing of weaken governments which had experienced the Second World War. Actually, the dream of a European continent in which all nations would join and work together is an old seed that has germinated in the mind of numerous men as Henri IV, Sully or Saint-Simon. Many attempts were made in this way, as the Concert of Europe (also known as the Congress System) in 1815, but the current political environment did not allow them to perpetuate while facing nationalism and the fear to lose national sovereignty. Despite an overall failure which was really decided by the First World War, the Congress System marked a first step in European and World diplomacy, which will be latent until the Interwar period. Since then, European integration has developed its own rules and concepts, allowing Western European countries to develop and prosper in a peaceful environment. The experience has shown that the most the European Union has grown, the deeper integration has become, and most economists agree with the common idea that economical integration goes on par with political one. However, the concept of integration remains difficult to explain clearly, but could be interpreted trough the EU’s history and the main processes that have participated to make it.
The failure of the Congress System and the disastrous consequences of the First World War marked a significant change in the international order and many men were thinking of a new future for Europeans. During the 1920’s, Richard Co ...