Transnational Networks in Regional Integration: Governing Europe 1945-83 (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics)

Shows that networks in European integration governance were not a phenomenon that developed in the 1980s out of a 'hollowing out' of the nation-states in the 1970s. Based throughout on newly accessible sources, the authors discuss various networks and show how they contributed to constitutional choices and policy decisions after World War II. This book analyzes and discusses the role of networks in European integration governance during the formative period of the present-day European Union, from a long-term historical perspective. Most social scientists assume that at the European level, networks and governance were new phenomena of the 1980s which grew on the alleged 'hollowing out' of the nation-state since the 1970s. However, the contributors to this volume use newly available sources to discuss various types of networks, demonstrating how they influenced constitutional choices and policy decisions from the end of World War II through to the major transformations of the 1980s. This book analyzes and discusses the role of networks in European integration governance during the formative period of the present-day European Union, from a long-term historical perspective. Most social scientists assume that at the European level, networks and governance were new phenomena of the 1980s which grew on the alleged 'hollowing out' of the nation-state since the 1970s. However, the contributors to this volume use newly available sources to discuss various types of networks, demonstrating how they influenced constitutional choices and policy decisions from the end of World War II through to the major transformations of the 1980s, with major repercussions for the present-day European Union "This fascinating volume provides compelling evidence for the vigour and variety of political networks in and around the European integration process from the early post-war years onwards. Contemporary social scientists have much to learn from this rich historical research about the framing and shaping of European policies, politics and law."--Helen Wallace, Centennial Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK 'This is a wonderful addition to the literature on the complex history of European integration governance. The editors have put together a collection of well-researched and insightful essays that address the evolution of various transnational networks that have helped make Europe the complex entity it is today. An added strength of this volume is the inclusion of an analysis of transatlantic networks which adds a broader dimension to our understanding of the development of European integration. A superb book!' - Jussi Hanhimaki, Professor of International History and Politics, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland 'This impressive volume brings together a new generation of contemporary historians of European integration who locate the dynamics of integration in transgovernmental and transnational governance networks. Abandoning the state-centrism still present in much of the writings on European integration by historians and political scientists, the contributions to this book are interested in studying the origins, evolution and impact of political networks in an era often claimed to be dominated by the omnipotent nation-state.' - Berthold Rittberger, Professor of Political Science and Contemporary History, University of Mannheim, Germany Front Matter....Pages i-xi Transnational Networks in European Integration Governance: Historical Perspectives on an Elusive Phenomenon....Pages 1-17 Expertise and the Creation of a Constitutional Order for Core Europe: Transatlantic Policy Networks in the Schuman Plan Negotiations....Pages 18-37 The Bilderberg Group: Promoting European Governance Inside an Atlantic Community of Values....Pages 38-60 The European Committee for Economic and Social Progress: Business Networks between Atlantic and European Communities....Pages 61-84 Informal Politics and the Creation of the European Community: Christian Democratic Networks in the Economic Integration of Europe....Pages 85-107 The Making of the European Union’s Constitutional Foundations: The Brokering Role of Legal Entrepreneurs and Networks....Pages 108-128 Shaping the Common Agricultural Policy: Networks and Political Entrepreneurship in the European Commission....Pages 129-151 Brandt, Kreisky and Palme as Policy Entrepreneurs: Social Democratic Networks in Europe’s Policy Towards the Middle East....Pages 152-175 Saving Migrants: A Transnational Network Supporting Supranational Bird Protection Policy....Pages 176-198 On the Long and Winding Road to European Union Membership: Austrian Party Elites in Transnational Political Networks....Pages 199-220 Plus ça change? Diachronic Change in Networks in European Integration Governance....Pages 221-235 Back Matter....Pages 237-257 Contributors to this volume use newly available sources to challenge the widely held assumption that European integration developed in the 1980s. They demonstrate how various networks influenced constitutional choices and policy decisions after World War II