The big question we are trying to answer is What has the European Project tried to do to make Europe more stable?

Transcription

1 The big question we are trying to answer is What has the European Project tried to do to make Europe more stable? More stable? less war less unrest no revolutions less economic problems more cooperation more accountable government

2 What has the European Project tried to do to make Europe more stable? Task 1 Your teacher will give you a set of context cards. You also have the key question of today s activity and a definition of what it means for Europe to be more stable. As you read the context cards, decide if Europe seems to be less stable or more stable. Line the cards up in time order from top to bottom on your big paper sheet, placing them to the left if Europe is more stable and to the right if Europe is less stable. Task 2 Your teacher will give you a set of action cards. These are the actions that were taken by the European Communities / Union. Firstly, read the cards and put them in time order on your big paper sheet. Then identify links between the actions and the context cards. These may be links across time. Draw the links between cards with the marker pen onto the large sheet of paper. Now discuss as a group what the members of the European Project have tried to do to make Europe more stable. Now discuss how successful you think the member of the European Project haven been at making Europe more stable over time. Get ready to discuss your ideas as a whole-class.

3 Context cards to cut up each group needs a set in one colour Europe in 1945 Millions of people were homeless, The economies of countries were in ruins, Some countries were emerging from foreign occupation or still occupied Millions of people had died in the war Cold War In these years Europe became a front line of the tension between the USA and the USSR known as the Cold War. In 1949 Germany was divided into two countries, known in English as East and West Germany. The co-called Iron Curtain border between east and west divided them. Two hostile alliances were set up, NATO in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in The USA and the USSR developed more and more nuclear weapons. Fear of Germany Cold War The two parts of Europe settled into a new reality. The USA influenced the economics and politics of Western Europe and gave military protection. USSR controlled Eastern Europe by force and dominated education and information. Many people in France felt that there was a need to stop Germany from becoming too powerful again, as France had been invaded by Germany in 1870, 1914, and French governments worried about the rearmament of Germany in the 1950s, but also shared the fear that other Western European governments had about the Soviet Union. Due to this fear, and influenced by the USA, they agreed to Germany rearming as part of NATO.

4 Growing affluence The states which were part of the European Communities and later the European Union got wealthier. Their people found that their standard of living was rising year on year from the 1960s to the 1990s. Civil unrest in Western Europe in the 1960s There were many protests in Western European countries in the 1960s. Many people, particularly the young, did not feel that their governments represented their views. They protested for a variety of things, for example, more forward-thinking education, women s rights, against the Vietnam War End of Cold War in 1989 As a result of the end of the Cold War, there was a boom in applications for membership of the European Union in the 1990s. Countries has to satisfy certain economic and political criteria. Many new members joined, for example in The 1990s and the early 2000s These were years of reasonably rapid economic growth. Political stability in Europe seemed to be a matter of fact: within its borders, modern and functioning democracies, albeit with varying levels of transparency and accountability, lived and thrived. Some members began to share a common currency, the Euro.

5 Economic crisis 2008 The so-called subprime crisis struck Europe in Some Euro member countries economies crashed dramatically: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece. France was badly hit. No country was left untouched. The financial and banking system in the Union did not respond effectively, yet most EU countries were bound together by a common currency. Migrant crisis 2015 More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx, and creating division in the EU over how best to deal with resettling people. The vast majority arrived by sea to southern Europe but some migrants have made their way over land, principally via Turkey and Albania.

6 Action cards to cut up each group needs a set in another colour European Coal and Steel Community 1951 Six countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and West Germany) agreed to share coal and steel resources. These were the key materials for war at the time. There were clear rules for sharing and an organisation above the governments for sorting out any problems. The founders hoped to make war between the countries impossible. European Defence Community 1952 A treaty to share military forces was signed in 1952, but was never agreed in all countries and so it failed. Giving up control of military forces was harder for countries than giving up control of coal and steel production. However, the Western European Union was set up to enable military cooperation and it existed alongside NATO until Treaty of Rome 1957 This treaty between the six set up the European Communities. It extended economic cooperation. It set up institutions with bureaucrats loyal to Europe rather than their own nations. It tried to deal with issues between the states as technical rather than political matters. Elections to the European Parliament 1979 The European Parliament became directly elected by citizens in Average voter turnout was 63%, although it varied from country to country. The idea was to encourage active participation by citizens. However, by 2014 average voter turnout had dropped to 43%. Elysee Treaty 1963 This was a treaty between France and Germany. It aimed to bring the two countries closer. It provided a structure for discussing and agreeing a position about issues before discussion with other members of the European Communities. Launch of Erasmus Programme 1987 The European Project has had many projects over the years to encourage Europeans to connect with each other. In 1987 it launched the Erasmus Programme that enables students to study or do a traineeship abroad. Part of its mission is to forge a European identity and it has been extended over the years.

7 By the 1990s The existing members developed a liberal democratic standard for membership. Members of European Communities had to be liberal democracies with free and fair elections, fully transparent and accountable governments and equal possibilities for any citizen regardless of background The 19 Eurozone members agreed a banking union and a coordinated financial system, but without a formal treaty. This meant that the institution to carry this out, the socalled Eurogroup, was informal. It only applied to 19 of the EU s 28 members and its rules were flexible. Former Yugoslavia 1990s The Wars of the former Yugoslavia showed that while the countries of the European Communities were able to agree joint trade and development aid policies, they were not able to develop a common foreign policy to solve a crisis on the borders of their union In September 2015, EU ministers voted by a majority to relocate 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece EU-wide. However, there was division between member states about how to define a migrant, what is a refugee and how many each country should accept. Countries, including the UK, opted out of plans to send a quota of migrants to each member country. Countries in the free-movement Schengen area began reinstating border controls. Teachers should add a current EU action here.