Political European Integration: Integration Requisites

Abstract

Examines the political strategies that have led to the continuing integration of the European Union (EU) during the 1980s & 1990s. A prerequisite to these efforts is found in a series of institutional & procedural reforms -- eg, the majority voting procedure, the structure of the resource system, & the Court of Justice -- undertaken within EU institutions in the early 1980s. It is suggested that these reforms led to the passage of the Single European Act, in whose success the strategy of equivalence, the return of a majority voting procedure, & the principle of mutual interests played important roles. These successes, however, were only partly reflected in the Treaty of Maastricht, which has been plagued by a crisis of confidence in the concept of multilateralism & a resurgence of renationalization of policy making. Positive & negative assessments of the new process of complex integration in light of this climate are made. Finally, it is asserted that future integration will take the form of one of two scenarios: either a consolidation of Maastricht, or its quick & sharp revision. D. M. Smith