Europe’s foundations: federalism or intergovernmentalism?

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What is communitarism? Shared responsibilities, mutual obligations, communitarism is a neologism appeared in the 80’s in the USA. The word is slightly pejorative: it notes a sociocentrism which gives the community a greater value than the individual. A transition was made between 1957 and today: the legitimacy of the Commission, which guarantees the Community interest, is intact; however, the European Parliament has much more legitimacy than the Commission because it has been elected, since 1979. What is the advantage of communitarianism? It is the respect of nations. However, it is a slow process in which consent is tripled: Parliament, Commission and majority of governments. Therefore, communitarianism is a good method for adopting long-term legislation, but not adapted to react to events, such as steering diplomacy or interest rates.

Thus, it is likely that Union Europe will not become a federal state. However, it is possible to improve economic integration so that the European economy can overcome financial market pressures and asymmetric fluctuations. According to Eric Jones, the British-Australian economist and historian, the EU should supplement the monetary union by a financial union or a budgetary union. How? By creating Eurobonds in order to change the debt for example, or thanks to macroeconomic stabilizers. Sebastien Dullien, Professor of International Economics at HTW Berlin, advocates an unemployment fund and Henrick Enderlein, a Professor of Political Economy at the Hertie School of Governance and Director of the Jacques Delors Institute in Berlin, a cyclical adjustment fund.

However, because of the crisis, the old democratic equilibrium, on the basis of which all EU institutional actors were involved in decision-making in different fields, was out of order. intergovernmentalism has become the main mode of governance, eclipsing the community method. The European Council became the predominant institutional actor in the governance of the euro area, the European Parliament was very often absent, and the Commission largely subordinated to the Council. This change has prompted Jürgen Habermas, a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism, to warn against the dangers of executive federalism, which has resulted in a considerable shift of economic and without any concomitant increase in the political participation of citizens. In terms of European decisions, it is opacity that dominates. If there is disagreement between the two parties, the negotiations are in camera, and citizens are not informed.

The rise of intergovernmentalism leads to further tensions. Since the crisis, decisions of major importance have been taken according to the method of intergovernmental agreements and are considered to be imposed by Germany, but also France. Consequently, their legitimacy of departure is both weak and subject to challenge.

In practice: what is the role of each part?

Democracy, freedom, subsidiarity: the EU departed from these principles in 2015. In the first months of his presidency in the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker[7] tried to tackle the main difficulties encountered by the Commission of José Barroso[8]: the loss of political weight of the Commission in the institutional dynamics of the EU, that is a consequence of the EU's intergovernmental turning point, the growing suspicion of European public opinion towards the Commission and a very broad but ineffective agenda. It is important that Member States involve the European Parliament in the current decision-making process concerning euro area policy. For this, it will be necessary to move away from intergovernmentalitsm and return to the Community method. This change would ensure more political debate and balance some of the disproportionate influence of some member states in the Council. Indeed, decision-making within the Euro area combined an excess of intergovernmentalism, an excessively dominant European Council transformed the Commission into a secretariat while marginalizing the European Parliament, and a rise in supranationalism, the European Central Bank saved Euro, in exchange for austerity and structural reforms in the Member States, while the Commission has played an increasingly important role in the area of budgetary surveillance.

Thus, the Council has largely continued to govern according to tailor-made rules of intergovernmental negotiations (one size fits one) which gave the most powerful member State, Germany, an unconventional influence, thus enabling it to impose its preferences in favor of ever stricter rules. This unbalanced the Franco-German couple: the council is now dominated by Germany, which forms alliances with other leaders of Northern Europe and Central Europe.

The French-German relationship: what impulses and what limitations?

Since the end of the Second World War, France and Germany have placed their cooperation under the sign of European integration. The desire for rapprochement, symbolized by the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950, gave birth to the European Steel and Coal Community (ECSC) and then to the two Treaties of Rome of 1957 establishing the Economic Community European Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). This particular relationship, soon to be called a "Franco-German couple", will go through the following decades, inspiring the major stages of European integration. Conversely, since the German reunification, disagreements between France and Germany have been numerous, starting with the irritation caused by the attitude of President François Mitterrand during the process of the reunification of Germany, To the recent discussion on economic and monetary union, not to mention the differences concerning the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia, the enlargement of the European Union and the French nuclear tests.

The Franco-German couple plays a role of impetus for the European project: from the election of the European Parliament by universal suffrage and the creation of the European Monetary System in 1979 - on the initiative of Helmut Schmidt[9] and Valéry Giscard D'Estaing[10] - to the great advances initiated by François Mitterrand[11] and Helmut Kohl[12] (realization of the single market, constitution of the Schengen area, creation of a common currency, common foreign and security policy, European citizenship) And the progressive adaptation of the common agricultural policy, Franco-German initiatives and cooperation have set the pace of European integration.

After the Brexit, Germany and France have emerged several ideas. On 27 June 2016, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Jean-Marc Ayrault and Frank-Walter Steinmeier reaffirmed