European History Network - CLIOH-WORLD - Working Groups - 1. History of European Integration and Of The European Union

1. History of European Integration and Of The European Union

Why is there a need for the History of EU and European Integration?

History is an important tool not only for increasing knowledge of the human past, but also for enhancing the awareness and the identity of human social and political communities, of which the European Union is one. In order to achieve a better understanding of what the European Union is and what it means to be a European citizen it is essential to improve the knowledge and understanding of both the history of the European integration process and the history of the European Union itself. Universities are an important place where students can acquire such essential knowledge and awareness in a mature way. European Union History is not the same as the History of European Integration and vice versa: the two terms cover different aspects of European History. The main focus of the History of the European Union is on the history of a very dense kind of European Integration, centred on institutionalised forms of integration and on the member states of the European Union. On the contrary, the History of European Integration also covers aspects of integration that go beyond the European Union. Moreover, to reach a mature comprehension of the complex political, social, economic and juridical framework in which the EU has been conceived and built, it is important to broaden our view back in history before 1945 and World War II. One of the most obvious tools of analysis that history offers is ‘historical perspective’, the diachronic dimension that provides important insights into present-day phenomena. The understanding of long term aspects, events and processes, is also vital in building a critically aware European citizenship. The task of the Working Group is to increase both knowledge and understanding of the European integration process and the history of the European Union. In order to reach such important goals the group has decided to map the current situation and to produce and disseminate Guidelines and Reference points for Higher Education programmes in Europe. Our findings are offered freely as information, ideas and recommendations. The tools produced by the group can be adopted by or may simply inspire those who face the need to (re)design history programmes.

The Role of History of EU and European Integration on European Universities: the Mapping Results

The Working Group undertook an extensive survey of the current state of European Union and European Integration History learning and teaching, through detailed mapping of selected countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK), and supplemented this with further sample-based mapping of other countries in Europe (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Romania) and beyond Europe (Japan). On this basis the Group feels confident that it has produced a reasonably representative basis on which to assess the field.

Although the mapping covered a broad and diverse range of countries and institutions, a number of common points were evident. In particular, it was striking that there is very little learning/teaching specifically dedicated to the history of the European Union or European integration. Courses devoted to these subjects are overwhelmingly oriented towards political science, legal or linguistic studies. Where there was evidence of a historical approach to the subject it tended to be framed within either national histories (the relations between one state and the rest of Europe) or included in general histories of Europe, wherein the history of the EU and of European integration was treated either as a discrete part of the whole or implicitly (rather than explicitly) embedded in studies of post-1945 west European political and economic development. The difficulty of identifying historical approaches to the subject underlined the problems of defining what that history is, however. There are a number of issues that make a neat definition of European Union history and the history of European integration problematic. These are principally chronological and thematic. If we seek to add a historical dimension to existing institutional studies of the European Union and of European integration, for example, questions arise about cultural and historical connections (what might be termed ‘European-ness’) which in turn open up problems of periodisation (specifically, whether an exclusively post-1945 focus is adequate, but if not how should the chronological parameters be defined?). The importance of history in programmes of European Studies is in fact not very pronounced, although history is often mentioned in the programme descriptions. Even where European Union history is reasonably well covered, it is usually as one optional module, a fact which raises issues about coherence, or the importance of thinking about what that History is. Although dealing with “Europe” is quite popular in European academic institutions and many universities and departments offer courses on “European history” or the history of European regions, an explicit focus on European History or the history of European integration is not very widespread. “European history” is often seen as history that happened in Europe or parts of it, not in a comparative way that contrasts or connects different structures and addresses the process of European integration. With these problems and questions in mind, it was possible to return to the original mapping results with a view to identifying ‘interesting’ practice that might illuminate some of these issues and how they had been addressed, and allow the Group to move towards a more meaningful interpretation of what constitutes European Union history and the history of European integration. It is these results that are to be used to inform the development of guidelines framed within the language and methodology of Tuning.

What can we learn from examples of good and interesting practice?

Examples of good and interesting practice can be found in all of the countries that were mapped in detail. These examples can be found on several levels.

1. On the level of programmes it is seen as good practice if courses on European Union history and the history of European integration are a – preferably compulsory – part of programmes of European studies or European history.
2. Courses are seen as good and interesting practice if they cover European Union history and history of European integration in a way that goes beyond an institutional history of the European Union and its organisations. Some selected examples will illustrate these examples of good and interesting practice. At the beginning of the Masters programme “Sociology – European societies“ (Freie Universität Berlin ) there is a module that deals with “the process of political integration in Europe and the development of European societies after 1945”. The link between European integration and the development of societies broadens the horizon of the history of European integration. Critical views on the process of integration are also presented in a lecture series forming part of the Master of European Studies (MES) offered by the Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt on Oder (DE). What is interesting in this example is also the interior multi-disciplinary approach, also used in other courses such as “Interdisciplinary Analysis of EU“ (in the “Integrated Studies of Europe” Programme, Universität Bremen ). Here topics such as cultural pluralism and “European identity” or the transformation of the welfare state and “social Europe” are dealt with. The latter topic is the main focus of the Master in European Union Studies offered at Paris-Lodron Universität, Salzburg (AT). Here, courses on social and economic history in the longue durée (18th – 21st centuries) and courses that put EU integration in a pan-European and global framework can be seen as examples of good practice. That is also the case in a course on “Transnational History” at St Andrews (UK) that deals with the interconnections between European societies and non-European regions from the 18th century. That the history of integration after 1945 is very much affected by historical events that happened before 1945 is dealt with in a course on “European History since 1945” (University College, University of London )

There particular attention is paid to the impact of experiences and memories of war, occupation, resistance and the holocaust in the period after 1945. Also the programme in European Studies (M.E.S.) at the University of Vienna, Austria, offers compulsory courses on “Plans for Europe in a historical context before 1945” and “Basics of European integration politics on a historical foundation”. A comparative and transnational approach to the idea of Europe in a long durée perspective is pursued in the second cycle programme in “European Historical Studies” at the University of Évora (Portugal). Emphasis on the above-mentioned aspect of “European-ness” can be seen in several courses, such as “Culture and Identities in a Contested Continent” (Open University, UK). Here, Europe is defined as a contested and a dynamic space, rather than as a fixed geographical entity. Ideas and concepts of Europe are also part of the programmes on the European Union and European integration at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) that are mainly taught from a historical perspective. The Faculty of Humanities (Letters) of the University of Coimbra emerges as an example of interesting practice due to the strong presence of the subject across a range of scopes and levels: from a single course unit on EU history compulsory for history students to first and second cycle programmes on European Studies where History is one of the five major fields of research. It can be considered good practice to offer joint studies that stress a broad transnational perspective. The University of Coimbra is – as one example among many – a member of a network of Universities that, with the support of the European Commission, organises a Master in European Studies: “The Process of Building Europe“.

Good practice in EU and European Integration history

As the group mapped the situation and took a deeper look at examples of good and interesting practice, several factors emerged that – by integrating historical approaches – are useful for improving learning and teaching of European Union and European integration history:

1. Placing recent decades in a longue durée perspective, including history before 1945.
2. Dealing with aspects of European-ness (perceptions and representations, memory and history), hence with cultural and social history as well as with institutional history.
3. Analysing ‘integration’ as a complex process that comprises both integration and disintegration.
4. Adding a view of European history from outside Europe and analysing the links of European societies with non-European regions.
5. Adopting an inter and multi-disciplinary approach.
6. Offering joint programmes on the basis of cooperation between universities. These general findings can be elaborated and specified in terms of key competences seen as useful for students in programmes that deal with European Union and European integration history.

What should we know, understand and be able to do? Key Competences in EU-history and the History of European Integration

According to the Tuning Educational Structures in Europe project, the objective of single course modules and degree programmes is to develop “competences”, in the broadest sense, in the learner. In substance the central element in organising the learning process is what the person involved will know, understand and be able to do at the end of it. Attitude too, in this case the historical mind-set or approach, is fundamental. Using the Tuning results of the History Subject Area Group as a starting point, we have examined in depth a number of key competences to be developed in studies in the area of the History of the European Union and European Integration. These may be exemplified by the following:

A critical awareness of the relationship between current events in the EU and processes in the past and awareness of differences in historiographical outlooks in various periods and contexts

Learners should be aware that EU history does not start with European integration in the form of the European communities after 1945 and that processes and structures going further back than 1945 strongly influence the present situation in the EU and the perception of the EU by its inhabitants. Learners should be aware that current events are often seen through an inherited perspective that is historically based in national and regional frameworks. Knowledge of the history of Europe is necessary to be able to interpret the different perceptions of current events in various European nations and regions. The knowledge that the learners should acquire in order to be aware of a relationship between current events and processes in the past is not primarily based on simple facts and dates but also on a knowledge of basic structures, the economic and social situation, demography, religion and political systems.

Learners should also be able to identify the role of national or regional myths and interpret the often “invented“ significance of certain historical events in the context of the “identities” forged by European nations and their instrumental use and propagation in national/nationalistic historiography.

Ability to place events and structures in historical perspective

While a literal interpretation of European Union history – its institutional history / development since 1945 – can be reasonably easily defined and adds to legal and political science approaches, it is important that students also develop an appreciation of European history that predates World War II. Students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the complex and contested historical origins of the European Union and be able to justify their chosen definition of what constitutes EU history. This will require them to understand the complementary and divergent natures of specific (e.g. local or national) histories within the EU (to examine the EU as the sum of its parts) as well as external perspectives on the EU. They should, therefore, demonstrate an understanding of the multiplicity of EU histories defined both chronologically and geographically. By examining the internal and external histories of the EU, students will be able to define “EU history” and its place in world history.

Ability to define suitable research topics to contribute to historiographical knowledge and debate

The learner should be able to identify a number of significant studies relating to the history of European integration and cooperation during the 20th and the 21st centuries, including for example the concrete acts regarding it, the ideas surrounding it and the obstacles to it; to connect these works with the historical and political context in which they were produced; and to define the position of the author with respect to the historical, political, methodological and theoretical questions addressed. The learner should be able, on this basis, to pose new questions for research having the potential to advance knowledge and debate, of a complexity appropriate to the level of study. The learner should be able to elaborate a research plan, organised around bibliography, documents and other sources (oral, written, material), as appropriate to address the questions posed and to revise (broaden, perfect) it in relation to his or her findings.

Ability to identify and utilise appropriate sources of information for a research project

The European Union is sometimes compared to an onion (as a sphere) with concentric layers. This is because it has a horizontal synchronic geographical segmentation and a diachronic vertical periodization. Learners need to acquire competences that allow them to distinguish, compare and analyse different periods and spaces of European and European Union history. This will require competences in finding, classifying and using critically sources of information appropriate to the historical time period, geographical space or phenomena analysed. Students should have at least a basic knowledge of the methodology of related disciplines and an ability to use this interdisciplinary methodological arsenal (e.g. International Relations theories, security studies, comparative political sociology and political science theory). Learners should be able to combine sources of different kinds (e.g. treaties, European Union law, the acquis communitaire, audiovisual materials, press releases, discourses, political programmes) and forms (written, electronic sources, official sites of EU administration), address them with critical awareness and analyse them in the appropriate historical, national, international or EU community context.

Interdisciplinarity

The learner should be aware of and able to use tools of other human sciences as well as those of the various branches of historical research. This entails understanding that different kinds of history (e.g. economic, political, intellectual, cultural, social, institutional, legal, diplomatic, gender and religious history; history of international relations) as well as other human sciences (anthropology, literary criticism, history of language, art history, archaeology, law, sociology, philosophy) are indispensable tools for creating a critical awareness of the relationship between current events related to EU history and the processes of the past, a critical point in student competences. Moreover, the learner should understand and be critically aware that many of these different branches of history or human sciences may offer a specific focused viewpoint for analyzing the history of the EU in a more profound way. This kind of perspective allows the learner to perceive the differences between the various approaches to EU history and to European history in a broader sense, fostering critical awareness of the way many political discourses are founded on a specific historical view of Europe and its history. In fact, many different approaches may be used, both in studying the European Union, and in studying European History, but not all of them are equally correct in terms of historical analysis and methodology: some are functional to particular political points of view and based on revisionist or nationalist perspectives. The history of the European Union is more than the sum of the histories of many different countries plus the history of the European Union itself. The EU, just like European citizenship and European identity, can be considered multi-layered or stratified. It is a complex system and requires a multi-faceted approach.

Members: Ewald Hiebl (University of Salzburg, AT), Luísa Trindade (University of Coimbra, PT) (co-leaders); David Brown (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK), Attila G. Hunyadi (University of Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj, RO), Ann Katherine Isaacs (University of Pisa, IT), Manfredi Merluzzi (Rome3 University, IT), Amélia Andrade (University Nova of Lisbon, PT), Ausma Cimdiņa (University of Latvia, LV), Blanka Říchová (Charles University, Prague, CZ).