Part 3: Decisive years for political Europe (1969-1992)
How the years 1969-1992 mark a breakthrough for European politics?
1. The 1970’s : Europe of nine
- A new dynamic. De Gaulle withdrew from power in 1969. This allows the Six Member States to decide the depth of the EEC and its expansion to Britain, Ireland and Denmark on 1 January 1973.
2. The 1980s: The Europe of twelve
- The Europe of Democracies. In the 1980s, the EEC widened towards the South with Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986. These three states consolidated their foothold in democracy after the fall of the dictatorial regimes in the Greek Papadhopoulos, the Spanish Franco and Portuguese Salazar.
- The Single European Act. In February 1986, it brought together in a single treaty deepening political and economic mainstream of Europe. It programed the realization of a large single market for 1993. It established a qualified Board for decisions relating to the internal market majority. It strengthened the powers of the European Parliament and provided for greater cooperation in foreign policy.
3. The birth of the European Union
- The end of the Cold War. With the fall of communism in 1989 and the collapse of the USSR in 1991, European integration could now look across the continent. The Eastern Europe wanted to participate by democratizing.
- A major step MAASTRICHT. It was in this context that the European Union created by the Treaty of MAASTRICHT. It established a judicial and police cooperation and European citizenship. It restarted the process of economic and monetary union which led to the creation of the euro in 1999.
- A difficult ratification: the rise of euroskepticism. Consulted for the first time in Europe, the French approved the treaty by a narrow majority (51.04%) in September 1992. The “No” camp ( the opponents) denounced a too federalist Treaty and blamed the EEC economic difficulties and rising unemployment. The Danes rejected the Treaty in the first referendum and approved it in a second vote, after obtaining waivers. For example, they did not adopt the single currency.
Vocabulary:
-Euroskepticism: suspicious attitude towards European integration.
-Single-market: name given to a more unified than the common market economic space. At the free movement of goods, persons, capital and services, add a harmonization of legislation of Member States.