Another measure introduced which has resulted in further integration within the EU is the further cooperation over such issues as immigration and border control. Under the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, the Schengen Agreement was introduced with the aim of abolishing the physical borders amongst some of the member states of the EU, introducing common policies on border-crossing and harmonising external border controls, cross-border police and judicial cooperation. Although, once again, some member states have opted out of parts of the Schengen Agreement (the UK and Ireland), the agreement has enabled closer integration and cooperation between the majority of countries in the EU wanting to make progress in certain policy areas.
The enlargement of the EU has led to greater integration within the member states of the EU. After its creation by the six founding states in 1957 (following the establishment by the same six states of the European Coal and Steel Community) the EU has grown to 27 member states. There have been five enlargements, with the largest occurring in 2004, when 10 new member states joined. Enlargement can be seen as promoting integration within the EU, as not only does it synchronise several policy areas (during the period of time where the membership criteria are fulfilled) and aids democracy in new members, but it also supports the European economy as a whole.
Suggestions of a common European foreign and defence policy, as well as common foreign affairs policies, have also sparked further integration within the EU. Although the EU is not a state in itself, there are a number of multi-national military and peacekeeping forces which are ultimately under the command of the EU, and therefore can be seen as the core for a future ‘EU army’. The EU currently also has a (limited) mandate over defence issues, with a role to explore the issue of European defence agreed to in the Amsterdam Treaty and the more recent Lisbon Treaty, increasing European cooperation. The Lisbon Treaty makes provisions for the introduction of a ‘High Representative for Foreign Affairs’, who would only represent the EU in policy areas where there is an agreed policy between all member states, thereby promoting further integration within the EU.
Increasing supranationalism and the extension of qualified majority voting and the erosion of the national veto has also helped further integration within the EU. Although at present, qualified majority voting is only used to pass certain legislation (while other policy areas require unanimity among all members in the Council of Ministers), under the proposed Lisbon Treaty, decisions in many more policy areas would be taken using qualified majority voting, leaving only key, sensitive issues to be decided unanimously, including tax, social policy, defence, foreign policy and treaty revision. The use of the national veto in the European Parliament has also been worn away, and will continue to be eroded under the proposals of the new Lisbon Treaty: with increasing co-decision powers, national vetoes may be removed in such key areas as migration, criminal justice and judicial and police cooperation, encouraging greater collaboration amongst EU member states.
To some extent, however, the EU has not become more integrated since the ascension of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. One way in which this can be seen is through the increasing amount of opt-outs available in certain policy areas. In general, EU law is valid in all 27 EU member states; however, occasionally member states negotiate certain opt-outs from areas of certain treaties of the EU, meaning they do not participate in the common structure in these fields. The most significant opt-outs have included Denmark, Sweden and the UK’s opt-outs of the single currency; and the UK and Ireland’s opt-out of the Schengen Agreement. These opt-outs have hindered integration within the EU, providing for a two-speed Europe by allowing closer cooperation between countries wanting to forge ahead on certain area and leaving others behind.
