A House Divided: Future Prospects of European Unification
Open Access
Author:
Smith, Ethan
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Douglas Lemke, Thesis Supervisor Sona N. Golder, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
European Union Integration Unification EU
Abstract:
The European Coal and Steel Commission (ECSC) was founded in 1951 with the goal of
preventing war on European soil by creating economic cooperation between former adversaries.
Another intention of this partnership was to one day form a unified state, with each of the
member states integrating their governments and institutions into a singular bloc. This
integration process can be seen in the various treaties and agreements signed between the
member states of the current European Union (EU). My goal in this analysis is to determine to
what degree the member states have integrated into the EU. I studied five factors across five time
periods to discern what influences the integration process, and what may lie in the future for the
further integration of the member states. Overall I concluded that the integration process of the
EU has leveled out in the past decade, and will most likely remain at the same level in the future
unless drastic changes occur.
