Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Preface
- 1 History of European integration
- 2 The institutional framework
- 3 The making of Community law
- 4 The effect of Community law
- 5 Judicial control within the Community
- 6 Protecting fundamental rights within the Community
- 7 The free movement of goods
- 8 The free movement of persons
- 9 EC competition law
- 10 Selected Community policies
- 11 The EC and the EU as international actors
- Index
1 - History of European integration
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Preface
- 1 History of European integration
- 2 The institutional framework
- 3 The making of Community law
- 4 The effect of Community law
- 5 Judicial control within the Community
- 6 Protecting fundamental rights within the Community
- 7 The free movement of goods
- 8 The free movement of persons
- 9 EC competition law
- 10 Selected Community policies
- 11 The EC and the EU as international actors
- Index
Summary
For centuries, the history of the small continent, or quasi-continent, of Europe has been a history of war and peace, where rival political entities, predominantly in the form of nation-states, have tried to dominate each other. The terrible twentieth-century experience of two World Wars, fought mainly on European territory, provided the necessary impetus to seek alternative ways of political survival, co-existence, or even cooperation. In its historic context, European integration must be understood as an attempt primarily motivated by the desire to secure peace and stability through establishing appropriate institutions. The institutions created in post-war Europe were based on ideas, partly dating back to the Middle Ages. However, it was the situation after 1945 which made it possible to think about actually setting up new structures which would make war in Europe, if not impossible, then at least less likely. The creation of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, by which two strategically important industry sectors of rival nations like France and Germany were pooled, was such an important and highly pragmatic first step. It was soon followed by the establishment of two further organisations, the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) in 1957, which were designed as open regional organisations with a long-term goal of a yet undefined European unity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Essential Questions in EU Law , pp. 1 - 12Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009