EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS

European Union Politics

EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS

From the beginnings of its development, there have many causes for the development of what is now the European Union (EU). This essay examines theories of integration and evaluates their validity in explaining the development of the EU. Then, by scrutinising these theories, this essay will seek to establish which, if any provide a comprehensive explanation for the development of the EU (Anestiev, 1999, 4008-17).

Geographical proximity is still a key feature of cross-border migration. Most Mexican emigration is to the USA. More than half of all migrants from outside Europe, and in particular from Asia, gravitated to non-European OECD economies. Interestingly, with the exception of Australia, immigrants tend to earn less than the native-born. This may reflect the fact that labour markets strongly value local qualifications and experience, perhaps as proxied by years of residence. This might explain the high propensity of many migrants to choose self-employment: difficulties in accessing appropriate employment opportunities may encourage them to start their own businesses (Carson, 2004, 121-6).

The overall conclusion from this brief overview is that the labour markets of OECD economies appear, in recent years, to have become more accessible to international migrants, particularly the highly skilled. The Hudson Institute, a global think-tank, has referred to this phenomenon as “global workforce 2000” that has been made possible by the general reduction in immigration and emigration barriers to the movement of people worldwide, the general ageing of the workforce in the industrialized West, and the rising education levels in the developing countries have contributed to this growth in labour mobility on a worldwide basis (Carson, 2004, 121-6).

Theories of integration offer explanations of how and why supranational governance has developed. Whilst there are undoubtedly many different causes and factors which have contributed to the development of the EU, this essay primarily focuses on neo-functionalism and intergovernmentalism as well as some new theories of integration which seek to explain the development (Anestiev, 1999, 4008-17). Although federalist and functionalist theories provide an interesting normative account of integration, their use in explaining the development of the EU is limited as they have been superseded by newer, more comprehensive theory. The 'development of the EU' is in itself a contentious term; for what constitutes development? For the purposes of this essay, development will be understood to mean the rise of supranational institutions combined with the deepening and intensification of inter-state relations within the EU (Higgs, 2005, 227-50).

Neo functionalism was developed in the mid 1950's by American scholars who first tried to theorise the new forms of regional co-operation in the wake of the Second World War. The theory was initially developed as a 'grand' theory of international relations in an effort to explain regional integration processes. However, European political and economic integration was more suited to the study and so the approach became increasingly Eurocentric and less relevant to other areas of regional integration. Neo-functionalism mainly concerns itself with the process rather than the end result of integration (Fink, 1968, ...