European Union is not a new or easily defined concept. Implicit in the Treaty of Rome - the founding Treaty of the European Community - is the intention of a federal form of political union. This union is to be achieved by a gradualist strategy of building solidarity among European people, beginning in the economic sphere. Using this historical perspective, this thesis examines European Union proposals from 1969 to 1986 in order to facilitate an understanding of them in terms of integration.

more »

... European Union proposals are found to contain little more than a reconfirmation or extension of the guidelines envisaged in the Treaty of Rome. Common themes are identified as the foci for areas where European Union can legitimately emerge or be expanded. These themes are related to integration approaches applicable to European Community experience. While no one integration approach can account for European Community reality, each approach highlights different unifying conditions and strategies which promote or hinder progress towards European Union. A case study of the European Parliament's draft European Union Treaty will relate the European Union proposals to the integration approaches in order to establish the current status of the European Community, as well as to suggest possible paths for the development of European Union.