European Integration. Mark Gilbert
2010 I moved to the Johns Hopkins Center for Advanced International Studies in Bologna (SAIS Europe) as a visiting professor and stayed. European Integration: A Concise History, the previous edition of this book, was prepared and written during the first two years of my time at SAIS. I would particularly like to thank the two directors of the Center since 2010, Kenneth H. Keller and Michael Plummer, for much friendship and support. The presence on the faculty of Raffaella Del Sarto, Erik Jones, Michael Leigh, and Filippo Taddei ensures that SAIS retains its place as an important center for research and teaching on all aspects of European studies.
Two other colleagues at SAIS have contributed more than they may realize to the development of this volume. Justin Frosini and I have taken our “roadshow” on Brexit all over Italy and have also collaborated on teaching and on a research article in the Journal of European Public Policy. Justin is as generous as the day is long and is much wiser than I am: I tend to take his advice. Christopher Hill has been an endless intellectual stimulus on matters European and a sympathetic friend.
This new edition owes much to discussions with scholars and friends who work on contemporary European political history, law, and politics: Lucia Coppolaro, Piers Ludlow, Agustin Menendez, Daniele Pasquinucci, Kiran Patel, Federico Romero, and Antonio Varsori are just a few of the scholars who have greatly influenced my thinking on EU history.
I began writing this book in January 2019 while on a sabbatical from SAIS as Visiting Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University. The nine weeks I spent in Cambridge were remarkably stimulating and productive: I can only thank the Master and Fellows of the College for making me feel so welcome. During my sabbatical, I also edited the German Yearbook of Contemporary History, the annual English-language publication of the IfZ in Munich. Eva Oberloskamp and Thomas Raithel, the co-editors, were a pleasure to work with and became friends.
This book is the fifth I have written in conjunction with Susan McEachern of Rowman & Littlefield. As always, she has been a monument of patience and good sense.
I am tempted to thank Boris Johnson, for “getting Brexit done” and enabling me to finish a manuscript that was scheduled to go to press in June 2019. My brother, Martyn, certainly approves of Mr. Johnson. Martyn is an ardent Euroskeptic, and I have passed many hours arguing with him about Brexit and, before that, Britain’s role within the “European superstate.” Ultimately, I don’t agree with most of his views, but there is no denying that he was a shrewder interpreter of the public mood in 2016 than most scholars of politics.
Most of all, I would like to thank my wife, Luciana, and son, Francisco. Francis was an infant when the original edition came out and is now a student of medicine at Bologna University. Time flies. This book is rededicated to him and to the rest of our family in England and in Italy.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
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ACP African, Caribbean, and Pacific (countries)
BIS Bank of International Settlements
CAP Common Agricultural Policy
CDU-CSU Christian Democrats (Germany-Bavaria)
CEEC Committee on European Economic Cooperation (1940s)
Central and Eastern European Countries (1990s)
CFM Council of Foreign Ministers
CFSP Common Foreign and Security Policy
COREPER Committee of Permanent Representatives
CSDP Common Security and Defence Policy
DC Christian Democrats (Italy)
DCFTA Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas
DM Deutsche Mark
EBRD European Bank of Reconstruction and Development
EC European Community
ECA Economic Cooperation Administration
ECB European Central Bank
ECJ European Court of Justice
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
ecu European Currency Unit
EDC European Defense Community
EDF European Development Fund
EEA European Economic Area
EEC European Economic Community
EFSF European Financial Stability Facility
EFTA European Free Trade Agreement
EIB European Investment Bank
EMI European Monetary Institute
EMS European Monetary System
EMU Economic and Monetary Union
ENP European Neighbourhood Policy
EP European Parliament
EPC European Political Community (1950s)
European Political Cooperation (1970s–1990s)
EPP European People’s Party
EPU European Payments Union
ERDF European Regional Development Fund
ERG European Research Group
ERM Exchange Rate Mechanism
ERP European Recovery Program
ERRF European Rapid Reaction Force
ESCB European System of Central Banks
ESDP European Security and Defense Policy
ESM European Stability Mechanism
EU European Union
EUA European Unit of Account
Euratom European Atomic Energy Community
FPÖ Austrian Freedom Party
GATT General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs
IGC Intergovernmental Conference
IISS International Institute for Strategic Studies
IMF Stability and Growth Pact
MCAs Monetary Compensatory Amounts
MEPs Members of the European Parliament
MFE Movimento federalista europeo
MPs Members of Parliament (Britain)
MRP Mouvement Républicain Populaire
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OEEC Organisation for European Economic Co-operation
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
PPP Purchasing Power Parity
PSF Socialist Party (France)
PSI Socialist Party (Italy)
PSOE Socialist Party (Spain)
QMV Qualified Majority Voting
SEA Single European Act
SGP Stability and Growth Pact
SPD Social Democrats (Germany)
TEU Treaty on European Union
TSCG Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance
UEF Union Européenne des Fédéralistes
UEM United Europe Movement
UKIP United Kingdom Independence Party
UOA Unit of Account
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
VAT Value-added