What has been happening to the European integration process in the last decade or so can only be described as an integration paradox. Never before has there been so much discussion and debate at the European level as during the past three years (which is especially remarkable because the topics that are being debated would have been out of the question only a couple of years ago) but never before have national governments been so reluctant to empower Europe while facing crisis. Indeed, the Euro-crisis has caused the Commission to make recommendations in policy areas that pre-crisis were considered an absolute taboo, yet at the same time the Member States are doing their best to prevent Brussels from gaining ever more intrusive powers. On the one hand, it is clear that both national leaders and their population want to see far-going coordination at the European level, while on the other hand they are reluctant to cede any more powers to Brussels or the EU institutions. To put it another way: they want Europe to give them the answers to their national problems, but they nonetheless want to stay in control – they want Europe without Brussels.
Well I’m very sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but that simply is not how it works. You cannot expect 27 nations – or even 17 when only considering the Eurozone countries – to separately implement “unpleasant” policy measures without some form of oversight. It is like children doing their homework: if they know that their won’t be a teacher or parent to check on them, they will simply skip the unpleasantness of homework and go straight for the fun stuff. Likewise, nations need to know that there will be repercussions should they fail to fulfil their promises. If you want an ambitious project like a single market or single currency to work across an entire continent, you need a supervisory body to guide the whole process. Of course, national leaders are not blind to this problem, and they have sought to create innovative ways of cooperation to circumvent this paradox, which some would call the “new intergovernmentalism”.
But what is intergovernmentalism, and what is so new about it? Essentially, what the nations of Europe are doing is nothing more than trying to overrule Brussels while nonetheless fabricating a Europe-wide tactic for tackling certain issues, not only regarding the financial crisis but also regarding social issues such as employment and education. The fact that they are keeping the EU institutions out in an attempt to arrange everything amongst themselves points in the direction of intergovernmentalism, as opposed to communitarianism, which seeks to involve those institutions every step of the way. Yet traditional intergovernmentalism is usually not so keen on having European approaches at all. Through it the nation-states aim at agreeing on some vague terms, which they can then independently (or not at all) implement at home. And that is exactly why what we see today is a “new” intergovernmentalism: nations DO want European approaches, they just don’t want Brussels to bluntly tell them what to do. So they create mechanisms and procedures that should promote fruitful discussion at EU level, which can then be put in some form of agreement or pact with a supervisory authority, but without having to empower Brussels any further.
This kind of cooperation has been applied for the past fifteen years or so, and is what has been used throughout the financial crisis. How often have you heard Barroso compared to Merkel, Monti or Sarkozy? It is clear now that national governments have taken over control of the EU from the Commission, especially when paralleled with the era of Commission President Delors. However, we must ask ourselves the question, does this approach really work? The handling of the crisis has been outright pathetic. So what’s the point of having this new intergovernmentalism when it is not delivering? With all due respect for the concerns of national leaders about giving up ever more sovereignty, especially in core areas such as monetary and social policy, we must step up European action to overcome this crisis. There are no clear-cut answers to the crisis, but doing nothing can’t be the way to go. Let’s face it, what has been done at the European level? We have been bailing out countries, yes, but there is no progress towards a smart and comprehensive strategy to counter the crisis.
So you can’t have Europe without Brussels. The kids in the European class are not doing their homework because there is no one to discipline them, but be warned: if kids don’t study they waste their future and will fail when real life hits them hard. I’m sure you can fill it in for yourself.
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