Theories and Strategies

of European Integration

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

General organisational remarks:

1) A few copies of the ‚teaching companion‘ can be found in

the library
2) Photocopies of the companion will be available at
„Copystar“, Zülpicher Str. 184 in two weeks - at the latest
3) There will be a written examination offered specifically for
ERASUMUS students;
end of January (exact date to be announced)
4) The lecture will be relevant for the next semester
(Magister)

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 The ‚grand triangle‘ of integration theories

intergovernmentalism

(Neo-) Realism (Neo-) Federalism

(Neo- ) Functionalism

supranationalism
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

(Neo-) Realism and

Intergovernmentalism

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 Explaining Realism through ALIS

Assumptions Logics

THEORY

Strategies Institutions

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Realist assumptions of Man

anthropological pessimism: “all men are evil”

ancient:

Thucydides (460 - ~ 400 BC):

“Identity of interests is the surest of bonds whether between states or

individuals.”
Thucydides: History of the Peleponnesian War.

St. Augustinus (354 – 430 AD):

„original sin“

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 Realist assumptions of Man
medieval:

Niccoló Machiavelli:

“…the end justifies the means…”

The Prince. 1532.

Thomas Hobbes on the state of nature:

“homo homini lupus (est)” (man is a wolf to man)

“bellum omnia contra omnes” (the war of all against all)

Leviathan or the Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil. 1651.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Realist assumptions of Man

modern:
Hans J. MORGENTHAU

“Conflict and war [is] rooted in human nature.”

“International politics is, as all politics, the struggle for power. (…)
Wherever the final goals of international politics are, the short-term
goal is always power.”

Politics Among Nations: The struggle for power and peace. 1948.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 Realist assumptions of the State

“TREATY OF WESTPHALIA” (1648)

- peace treaty indicating independence of the states against the power

of the Pope/Emperor

- equality of states in the international system; sovereignty not only

inside, but also external

- principle of non-intervention in the internal order of a state

(especially in matters of religion)

- Westphalian territorial state

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Realist assumptions of the State

States are (the only) rational actors (in the international system) and gain
their legitimacy from their power monopoly derived from:

1) territory

2) population

3) legitimate use of violence

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 Realist assumptions of the State

From a Realist perspective, states are:

- “real actors” (Scharpf)

- principals, while international organisations are agents

(principal – agent theory)

- „Masters of the Treaties“

(German Federal Constitutional Court,
Bundesverfassungsgericht, 1992 Maastricht decision)

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Realist assumptions of the international system

The billiard-ball-model:

The ball exemplifies the state as a unitary, closed actor without

internal dynamics (impermeable and invincible border).

state C

state B

state A

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 (Neo-) Realism in the ALIS-scheme

Assumptions
• homo homini lupus
• bellum omnia contra omnes
• evil egocentric mankind
• original sin idea
• security dilemma
• escalation ladder
• zero-sum-game
THEORY
Logics
• alliance building
• balance of power
•‘balance your neighbour’
• anarchical international system
• no enforcement structures in
case of non-compliance

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

The Institutional Architecture

Institutional diagram: (Neo-) Realism

ECJ European Council

European Commission Council of the EU

European Parliament

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 The European Council from a Realist perspective

- de-facto-decision-maker
- top level of state hierarchy
- represents the countries’ interests
- legitimated by national parliaments and elections

- main forum of bargaining and arguing

- style is intergovernmental

- states are unitary actors

- prestige and symbolism

- dominance of the nation-state becomes once again visible

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

From a Realist perspective…

… the Council of Ministers is subservient to the European

Council

… the European Parliament serves only as a forum for the

exchange of different views, without any real power, no
legitimacy, no identity and no democracy

…the Commission is a kind of a secretariat general, no equal

to the Council of Ministers, but only civil servants, no legitimacy
of its own.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 (Neo-) Realism in the ALIS-scheme

Assumptions Logics
• alliance building
• homo homini lupus • balance of power
• bellum omnia contra omnes •‘balance your neighbour’
• evil egocentric mankind • anarchical international system
• original sin idea • no enforcement structures in
• security dilemma case of non-compliance
• escalation ladder
• zero-sum-game
THEORY
Institutions
• do not matter, states only ‘real’ actors
• institutions only as a tool to power
• no autonomous power of their own
• European Council as most important
institution, de-facto decision-maker
• Parliament = exchange of views
• Commission = secretariat
• Council = subservient
to E.Council

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Neo-Realism

Kenneth WALTZ

“Neo-realists, rather than viewing power as an end in itself see power as

a possibly useful means, with states running risks if they have either too
little or too much of it.

In crucial situations, the ultimate concern of states is not for power but for
security. This is an important revision of realist theory.“

Theories of International Relations, 1979; Realist Thought and Neorealist Theory. 1990.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 EU- specific Modifications to Realism:
Intergovernmentalism

Stanley Hoffmann (1966)

Obstinate or Obsolete? The Fate of the Nation-State and the Case of Western Europe.

1) the EU does not constitute a new base of sovereignty transcending the

sovereignty of its component parts;

2) nation states and national interests remain the key agents and factors
driving European integration;

3) the historical context needs to be taken into account as an explanatory

factor.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Liberal Intergovernmentalism: Opening up the ‘black box’

Andrew MORAVCSIK

“An understanding of domestic politics is a precondition for, not a

supplement to, the analysis of strategic interaction among states.”

Preferences and Power in the European Community:

A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Approach. 1993.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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Liberal Intergovernmentalism: Opening up the ‘black box’

- European institutions are viewed as necessary for

administrative functions and facilitators for intergovernmental
bargains only

- ‘strong’ supranational institutions are ultimately understood

as ‘threats’ to national sovereignty, national interests and
hence legitimised outcomes

- Institutions are consequently understood to rely on

‘borrowed’ legitimacy, i.e. the legitimacy passed on via the
member states

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

(Neo-) Realist Strategies of Integration

“The EU should be a superpower,

but not a superstate!” (Tony Blair)

“ever closer union among the peoples of Europe“

“directoire”

“some countries are more equal than others“

“Europe à la carte”

“L´Europe des patries” or “Europe of nation-states”

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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 (Neo-) Realism in the ALIS-scheme

Assumptions Logics
• homo homini lupus • alliance building
• bellum omnia contra omnes • balance of power
• evil egocentric mankind •‘balance your neighbour’
• original sin idea • anarchical international system
• security dilemma • no enforcement structures in
• escalation ladder case of non-compliance
• zero-sum-game

THEORY
Strategies
•“ever closer union of the peoples”
• EU legitimacy based on nation state
• limited sovereignty transfer to I.O.
• allow veto structures to safeguard
national interests
Institutions
• do not matter, states only ‘real’ actors
• institutions only as a tool to power
• no autonomous power of their own
• European Council as most important
institution, de-facto decision-maker
• Parliament = exchange of views
• Commission = secretariat
• Council = subservient
to E.Council

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

(Neo-) Realist and Intergovernmental Integration Strategies

supranational integration + deepening
Constitution
VI I TCE+
TCE
TCE-
TEU+++
TEU++
TEU+
‘2’ EU ’30’ EU
shrinking enlargement

TEU 25
TEU -
(a) TEU - -
(c)

(b)
III II TEU - - -

intergovernmental disintegration + dissolution

EU 25: 25 Member States

• a) Intergovernmental approach: widening in order and dissolution in a vicious spiral

• b) Europe à la carte: parallel groups of Member States for limited functional or
sectoral co-operation among interested states (outside EU framework)
• c) Directoire: intergovernmental co-operation among the three biggest member
states

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Bibliography and slides available on the homepage:

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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Essential readings on Realism, Neo-Realism and Intergovernmentalism:

Primary (classical) literature:

Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War [431 BC]. “Pericles’ Funeral Oratio”. Book 2, 34-46, 50-54 and
“The Melian Dialogue”, Book 5, 84-116. Source: Chris Brown, Terry Nardin and Nicholas Rengger (eds.).
International Relations in Political Thought. Texts from the Ancient Greeks to the First World War. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 2002.

Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince [1532]. “The Things for Which Men, and Especially Rulers, Are Praised or
Blamed”, Chapter 15. Source: Chris Brown, Terry Nardin and Nicholas Rengger (eds.). International Relations
in Political Thought. Texts from the Ancient Greeks to the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002.

Treaty of Westphalia [1648].

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan [1651]. “Of the Natural Condition of Mankind, as Concerning Their Felicity, and
Misery”, Chapter 13 and “Of the First and Second Natural Laws and of Contracts”, Chapter 14. Source: Chris
Brown, Terry Nardin and Nicholas Rengger (eds.). International Relations in Political Thought. Texts from the
Ancient Greeks to the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002.

Hume, David. Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary [1752]. “Of the Balance of Power”, Part II, Essay VII.
Source: Chris Brown, Terry Nardin and Nicholas Rengger (eds.). International Relations in Political Thought.
Texts from the Ancient Greeks to the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002.

MORGENTHAU, Hans J. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Knopf, 1973
[1948]. “A Realist Theory of International Politics”.

Waltz, Kenneth N. Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis. ‘Introduction’, New York: Columbia UP,
1959.

THATCHER, Margaret. “Britain and Europe”. Bruges, 1988.

Online at http://www.eurocritic.demon.co.uk/mtbruges.htm#Speech .

Academic sources:

BIELING; Hans-Jürgen / Lerch, Marika (Hrsg.): Theorien der europäischen Integration, Stuttgart 2005, p. 91-116.

BUZAN, Barry (1996) The Timeless Wisdom of Realism? In: Steve Smith, Ken Booth and Marysia Zalemski
(eds.). International Theory. Positivism and Beyond. Cambridge: CUP, 47-65.

GRIECO, Joseph M. (1995) The Maastricht Treaty, Economic and Monetary Union and the Neo-Realist Research
Programme. In: Review of International Studies 20:1.

HOFFMANN, Stanley (1966) Obstinate or Obsolete : the Fate of the Nation State and the Core of Western
Europe. In: Daedalus 95:3, 862-915.

LINK, Werner (2001) Die Entwicklungstendenzen der Europäischen Integration (EG/EU) und die neo-realistische
Theorie. In: Zeitschrift für Politik 48:3.

MEARSHEIMER, John J (1990) Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War. In: International
Security 15:1.

MILWARD, Alan (1992) The European Rescue of the Nation State. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Moravcsik, Andrew (1993) “Preferences and Power in the European Community: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist
Approach“. In: JCMS 31:4 (1993), 473-524.

MORAVCSIK, Andrew (1998): The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to
Maastricht, UCL.

WALTZ, Kenneth (1979) Theories of international politics. New York: McGraw Hill.

WALTZ, Kenneth (1990) Realist thought and Neorealist Theory, in: Journal of International Affairs, vol. 44, n° 1.

WIENER, Antje / Diez, Thomas (eds.), European Integration Theory, Oxford 2003, p. 75-94

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Suggested readings:

HOFFMANN, Stanley. “Obstinate or Obsolete : the Fate of the Nation State and the Core of
Western Europe” in Daedalus 95 :3 (1966), 862-915.

MORAVCSIK, Andrew. “Preferences and Power in the European Community: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist
Approach“. In: JCMS 31:4 (1993), 473-524.

MORGENTHAU, Hans J. ”Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace”. New York: Knopf,
1973 [1948]. “A Realist Theory of International Politics”, Chapter 1.

WALTZ, Kenneth N. “Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis”. New York: Columbia UP, 1959.
“Introduction”.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels - Jean Monnet Chair, Cologne

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