How do the years 1969-1992 mark a real breakthrough for political Europe?
1. The 1970s: Europe of the Nine
- A new dynamic. De Gaulle withdrew from power in 1969. This enabled the Six Member States to decide on the further development of the EEC and its enlargement to Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark on January 1st 1973.
2. The 1980s: The Europe of the Twelve
- The Europe of democracies. In the 1980s, the EEC expanded to the south: to Greece in 1981, to Spain and Portugal in 1986. These three states consolidated their anchoring in democracy after the fall of the dictatorial regimes of the Greek Papadhopoulos, The Spanish Franco and the Portuguese Salazar.
- The Single European Act. In February 1986, it brought together in a single treaty the political and economic deepening of Europe. It plans to create a single large market for 1993. It establishes a qualified majority in the Council for decisions relating to the internal market. It strengthens the powers of the European Parliament and provides for increased cooperation in foreign policy.
3. The birth of the European Union
- The end of the Cold War. With the collapse of the communist regimes in 1989 and the disappearance of the USSR in 1991, European integration can now be envisaged on a continental scale. Eastern Europe wants to participate by democratizing itself.
- A major step, MAASTRICHT. It is in this context that the European Union is created by the Treaty of Maastricht. It establishes judicial and police cooperation and European citizenship. It revived the process of economic and monetary union which led to the creation of the euro in 1999.
- A difficult ratification: the rise of eurosceptism. Consulted for the first time on Europe, the French approved the treaty by a short majority (51.04%) in September 1992. The "no" camp denounced a treaty too federalist and imputes to the EEC the economic difficulties and the rise of unemployment. The Danish rejected the treaty in the first referendum, and then approved it in a second vote after obtaining derogations. For example, they did not adopt the single currency.
Vocabulary:
-Eurosceptism: suspicious attitude towards the European construction.
- Single market: name given to an economic area that is even more unified than the common market. In addition to the free movement of goods, persons, capital and services, there is a harmonization of the laws of the Member States.