What is the European Project?

[Coffea]

I agree with free trade and the Eurozone and I think the EU is fantastic in lots and lots of ways but where exactly does integration/harmonisation stop?

When has the European project achieved its aims? What precisely are the EU's objectives? When do we decide that we've given up enough sovereignty? Where exactly does it all stop?

Can we not just be satisfied with what's been achieved so far and sit back and relax?

[Sidewinder]

It's all about a European superstate. It's always been about a European Superstate.

The intellectual founding fathers of the entire project were Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman.

There will be no peace in Europe, if the states are reconstituted on the basis of national sovereignty... The countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation

Via money Europe could become political in five years

Europe's nations should be guided towards a super state without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation.

There is no future for the people of Europe other than in union

Through the consolidation of basic production and the institution of a new High Authority, whose decisions will bind France, Germany and the other countries that join, this proposal represents the first concrete step towards a European federation, imperative for the preservation of peace.

They've been working towards a superstate from the very beginning. Slowly, incrementally, so as not to frighten the horses.

The EU will be "integrated enough" when it reaches the destination it has been aiming towards for nearly 60 years - an EU federalist superstate. Lisbon is the last chance you'll ever have to say No. After Lisbon we'll never be asked in a referendum ever again.

[toxic avenger]

I agree with free trade and the Eurozone and I think the EU is fantastic in lots and lots of ways but where exactly does integration/harmonisation stop?

When has the European project achieved its aims? What precisely are the EU's objectives? When do we decide that we've given up enough sovereignty? Where exactly does it all stop?

Can we not just be satisfied with what's been achieved so far and sit back and relax?

It will stop when you're speaking French.

[Rocky]

I agree with free trade and the Eurozone and I think the EU is fantastic in lots and lots of ways but where exactly does integration/harmonisation stop?

When has the European project achieved its aims? What precisely are the EU's objectives? When do we decide that we've given up enough sovereignty? Where exactly does it all stop?

Can we not just be satisfied with what's been achieved so far and sit back and relax?

How the EU develops is up to the European People and the governments they elect. Many people have different ways in which they would like it to develop, however it's not up to any one person or group of people because there are so many different views. The Lisbon Treaty is primarily about making the EU work more effectively after enlargement. There are other points to it, but that's the main one.

On the issue of where it stops, nothing ever stops everything just develops and the EU is no different. That doesn’t mean it will or will not increase it’s power and influence, it just means it will change as the times change.

[R Paul]

I agree with free trade and the Eurozone and I think the EU is fantastic in lots and lots of ways but where exactly does integration/harmonisation stop?

When has the European project achieved its aims? What precisely are the EU's objectives? When do we decide that we've given up enough sovereignty? Where exactly does it all stop?

Can we not just be satisfied with what's been achieved so far and sit back and relax?

A very good question Coffea! There is, and has been, a long running and interesting debate on precisely this topic with a large range of opinions as you might guess.

As Rocky says the form and function of the EU is ultimately dependent on what the people of the EU and their democratically elected governments want it to be. Even if we today decided that the current EU was "ideal" ( ), that doesn't mean that in 50 years time everyone would agree - they might decide the EU should be much more integrated or, alternatively, even dissolved.

[goosebump]

I agree with free trade and the Eurozone and I think the EU is fantastic in lots and lots of ways but where exactly does integration/harmonisation stop?

When has the European project achieved its aims? What precisely are the EU's objectives? When do we decide that we've given up enough sovereignty? Where exactly does it all stop?

Can we not just be satisfied with what's been achieved so far and sit back and relax?

Thats a good question.

I think EU Governments, of all persuasions, have found that the benefits of integration, both economic and political integration, have consistently outweighed the costs, and have therefore kept pushing the envelope. They'll stop when it becomes apparent that the cost-benefit no longer works.

Ultimately, the EU is part of a wider trend in geo-politics towards the dissolution of political nationalism, which we should embrace. Very little separates us as human beings, and yet over the years we have erected enormous barriers to cooperation, driven primarily competition for scarce resources.

People like Robert Schuman realised that sharing resources was a better way to protect our interest than defending them, which is where the EU comes from.

Personally, I am happy with the way the EU is now, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't continually try to improve it.