History of the European Union (1993-1999)
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| European Union | |
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| Pre-1945 | |
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1993–1999
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| See also | |
| History of Europe Enlargement - Treaties Timeline - Presidency |
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On 1 November 1993 the European Union came into being. It expanded the scope of European integration and in the coming years would see the creation of the euro. Three new members would join, however Norway would once again fail to get the approval of her people - instead joining the ranks of the new European Economic Area which further expanded the EU's markets.
However the Union would face criticism with its inability to deal with the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and allegations of fraud in the European Commission which led to its mass resignation in 1999. Although the Commission's fall was seen as a victory for the European Parliament, it would further entrench the euroscepticism of the post-Delors era and lead to the Socialists loosing their status as largest party held since elections began.
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[edit] Formation of the European Union
On 1 November 1993, under the third Delors Commission, the Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on the European Union) became effective, creating the European Union with its pillar system including foreign and home affairs alongside the European Community.[1][2] Under Maastricht, the Committee of the Regions held its inaugural session on 9 March to 10 March 1994 with the election of Jacques Blanc as its President. On 25 May, the European Investment Fund was established by the EIB. The European Police Office was created on 26 July 1995 with the signing of the Europol convention.
[edit] Elections and Santer
- Further information: European Parliament election, 1994 and Santer Commission
On 9 June to 12 June 1994, the fourth European elections were held resulting in a Socialist victory. During its first session, 19 July to 26 July, Parliament elected Klaus Hänsch as its President and approved Jacques Santer as Commission President. His Commissioners were approved on 18 January 1995 and took office on the 23rd. On 19 July 1997, José María Gil Robles was elected President of the Parliament.
| European Parliament election, 1994 - Final results at 18-21 July 1994 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | Description | Chaired by | MEPs | |||
| PES | Social Democrats | Pauline Green | 198 |  |
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| EPP | Conservatives and Christian Democrats | Wilfried Martens | 157 | |||
| ELDR | Liberals and Liberal Democrats | Gijs De Vries | 43 | |||
| EUL | Communists and the Far Left | Alonso José Puerta | 28 | |||
| FE | Conservatives and Christian Democrats | Giancarlo Ligabue | 27 | |||
| EDA | National Conservatives | Jean-Claude Pasty | 26 | |||
| G | Greens | Alexander Langer Claudia Roth |
23 | |||
| ERA | Liberals and Liberal Democrats | Catherine Lalumière | 19 | |||
| EN | Eurosceptics | James Goldsmith | 19 | |||
| NI | Independents | none | 27 | Total: 567 | Sources: [1][2] | |
Due to concerns over the proposal of Jean-Luc Dehaene as President of the European Commission, with the United Kingdom not wishing another Jacques Delors, Jacques Santer (then-Prime Minister of Luxembourg) was proposed as a less federalist option. However due to this. he was seen as being the "second choice" which weakened his position, with the European Parliament approving him only by a narrow majority. He did however flex his powers over the nominations for the other Commissioners. The President gained this power under the Maastricht Treaty that came into force the previous year. On 1995-01-18 managed to get his Commission approved by Parliament by 416 votes to 103 (a larger majority than expected) and they were appointed by the Council on 23 January.[3]
[edit] Free movement
On 1 January 1994 the European Economic Area (EEA) entered into force, allowing EFTA members Norway and Iceland to enter the Single European Market (created the previous year) without joining the Union, in exchange for financial contributions and taking on of relevant of EU law. Switzerland had rejected membership and Liechtenstein joined the following year on 1 May.[4] On 23 February 1995 the ECJ gave the "Bordessa ruling": citizens may export banknotes without prior authorisation (free movement of capital). Later that year on 15 December, it gave the Bosman ruling, ruling that restriction on number of (EU) foreign players in football teams is illegal (free movement of people).
The Schengen Agreement (signed in 1985) came into effect on 26 March 1995 between Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Austria signed up on 28 April followed by Denmark, Finland and Sweden, alongside non-EU members Norway and Iceland, on 19 December 1996. The EU-Turkey customs union entered into force on 1 January 1996.
[edit] Breakup of Yugoslavia
- Further information: Yugoslav wars and Breakup of Yugoslavia
During the 90s, the development EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was given a strong impetus by the conflicts in the Balkans. The EU failed to react during the beginning of the conflict, and UN peacekeepers from the Netherlands failed to prevent the Srebrenica massacre (July 1995) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest mass murder in Europe since the second world war. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) finally had to intervene in the war, forcing the combatants to the negotiation table. On 14 December 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris, ending the conflict in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On 24 March 1999, the situation on Kosovo led to an EU CFSP declaration on Kosovo and prompted a NATO intervention in Kosovo and Serbia. While there was greater EU involvement in the Kosovo conflict than in the Bosnian conflict, the failure of the EU to prevent the conflicts in former Yugoslavia, or to bring them to a quick close, heightened the desire for greater EU effectiveness in foreign affairs.[5]
[edit] Economic and Monetary Union
- Further information: Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
On 1 January 1994, the second stage of the EMU began with the establishment of the European Monetary Institute. On 16 December 1995, the introduction of the euro was decided for 1 January 1999. On 3 May 1998, the Council decided 11 members shall adopt the euro in 1999 and laid down specifications and conversion rates. On 1 June the European Central Bank was established. Final meetings are held in December with irrevocable conversion rates being set on the 31 December. It was successfully introduced on time, but would be another few years before it became the sole official currency in the 11 members.
- Finnish mark entered the ERM on 14 October 1996
- Italian lira re-entered the ERM on 25 November
- Greek drachma entered the ERM on 16 January 1998
[edit] EFTA enlargement
- Further information: Enlargement of the European Union
On 30 March 1994, accession negotiations concluded with Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Sweden and Finland had applied since the fall of the iron curtain; allowing them, as Cold War-neutral countries, to now align themselves with the Union. Their accession treaties were signed on 25 June of that month. Each country held referendums on entry resulting on entry for all except Norway (its second failed referendum);
- Austria - 66.6% in favour (June 12); application submitted in July 1989
- Finland - 56.9% in favour (October 16); application submitted in March 1992 (separate referendum held in Åland)
- Sweden - 52.8% in favour (November 13); application submitted in July 1991
- Norway - 47.8% in favour (November 28); application submitted in December 1992
Austria, Finland and Sweden became EU members on 1 January 1995. Sweden held their elections to the parliament later that year on 17 September. The following year, Austria held its elections on 13 October and Finland on 20 October. Until 2004 the fifteen member countries were: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
[edit] Amsterdam Treaty
The intergovernmental conference leading to the Treaty of Amsterdam opened on 29 March 1996 in Turin. On 22 July 1997, leaders of the Western European Union met and adopted a declaration, to be added to the treaty, defining its role with the EU and NATO. The Treaty was signed by foreign ministers on 2 October. The treaty entered into force on 1 May 1999.
The treaty sought to create an "area of freedom, justice and security" as well as strengthen the CFSP. There would also be institutional reforms to make the Union more democratic and adjust it to enlargement.[6]
Amsterdam also incorporated the conclusions of the 1992 Edinburgh European Council which set out the current arrangements in regards to the seat of the institutions; the Parliament would thus be based in Strasbourg, where it must hold "twelve periods of monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session". However additional sessions may be held in Brussels, which is where committees must also meet while the secretariat must remain in Luxembourg. The Commission and Council would be based in Brussels however some Council meetings and some departments of the Commission would be in Luxembourg which would also host the judicial and financial bodies of the EU. However the Central Bank would be in Frankfurt and Europol in The Hague.[7]
[edit] Budget crisis
Towards the end of 1998 a crisis developed around the community's budget for 1996. There had been allegations of financial miss-management in the Commission. The Parliament decided to refuse to give its approval to the budget, throwing the Commission into crisis. The People's Party attempted to force the resignation of the Commissioners Édith Cresson and Manuel Marín (both members of the Socialists) while the Socialist group still supported the Commission though and attempted a vote of confidence. Eventually a PES proposal based on collective responsibility (not singling out the two socialist Commissioners) was approved and a committee of independent experts was established to investigate.[8].[9]
The committee produced its report on 15 March 1999 and was presented to the Commission and Parliament. It largely cleared most members, aside from Cresson, but concluded that there was growing reluctance of the Commissioners to acknowledge responsibility and that "It was becoming increasingly difficult to find anyone who had the slightest sense of responsibility." In response to the report, PES withdrew their support from the Commission leading to a collapse of support for the Commission. Santer announced on evening of the reports publication that the entire Commission had resigned.[8] Édith Cresson went before the European Court of Justice and, in July 2006, was found guilty but was not stripped of her pension.[10] Cresson today is largely held accountable for the fall of Santer, who went on to serve time as an MEP and never fully recovered, and the rest of his Commission.[11]
The immediate effect on the Commission was that it became politically weakened and unable to react to the beginning of the Kosovo War and the close of the Agenda 2000 negotiations. The crisis had compounded the already reduced powers of the Commission in favour of the Parliament's legislative power, the Council's foreign policy role and the ECB's financial role. However the change with Parliament was the most profound, the previous permanent cooperation between the two bodies came to an end with the shift in power.[12] Due to the crisis, the following Commission rapidly established the anti-fraud watchdog OLAF.[13] and seen as having failed in its duty.[3]
The Commission itself suffered from a loss of trust and reputation, only compounded by the post-Delors mood. Prodi had to deal with increased euroscepticism which helped bring down the Santer Commission. Since the end of the Delors era, pro-intergrationism had given way with greater concern about the Commission's powers. By just 2000 the Council curbed the Commission's powers once more when they believed Prodi overstepped his remit.[12] Meanwhile, Parliament gained the publicity it sought and by exercising its power the Council was forced to take increased heed of its views in the appointment of the next Commission.[9] It also showed a Parliament operating with a greater government-opposition dynamic of the two main parties than before.[8] In the following 1999 parliamentary elections turnout did not increase as hoped, but the People's Party did defeat the Socialists, for the first time since elections began, becoming the largest party in Parliament.
[edit] References
- ^ 1993 europa.eu
- ^ Characteristics of the Treaty on European Union ena.lu
- ^ a b The crisis of the Santer Commission. European NAvigator. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ European Economic Area ena.lu
- ^ Chris Patten: Towards a Common Foreign Policy ec.europa.eu
- ^ The Treaty of Amsterdam ena.lu
- ^ European Council (1992-12-12). Decision taken by Common Agreement between the representatives of the governments of member states on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities.. European Parliament. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ a b c Ringer, Nils F. (February 2003). The Santer Commission Resignation Crisis (PDF). University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ a b Hoskyns, Catherine; Michael Newman (2000). Democratizing the European Union: Issues for the twenty-first Century (Perspectives on Democratization. Manchester University Press, 106-7. ISBN 978-0719056666.
- ^ Court rules against ex-French PM. BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ Harding, Gareth (1999-03-18). Unfolding drama of the Commission's demise. European Voice. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ a b Topan, Angelina (2002-09-30). The resignation of the Santer-Commission: the impact of 'trust' and 'reputation'. European Integration online Papers. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ EU Budget Fraud. politics.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
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