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3 - The origins of the Single Market
- Edited by Volker Bornschier, Universität Zürich
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- Book:
- State-building in Europe
- Published online:
- 10 October 2009
- Print publication:
- 05 October 2000, pp 75-92
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Summary
Introduction
The Single European Act was formally approved by the European Council in February 1986. When Maastricht hit the headlines in the early 1990s, the Single European Act instantly became history. However, it was the Single Market programme – the main content of the Single European Act – and the years of preparation leading up to it that really gave new momentum to European integration after the ‘Eurosclerosis’ of the 1970s.
The process that led to the Single European Act was never publicly discussed. The architects and initiators of the Single Market have not become household names; however, it is these protagonists and their efforts that are the subject of this chapter.
The thesis guiding our empirical research on the new momentum in European integration suggests a collaboration between the Commission of the European Communities and European transnational business represented by the European Roundtable of Industrialists, as stated in more detail in chapter 1. This explanation contrasts with other theories, which have placed the governments of the three main European Community member states – Germany, France and the United Kingdom – in the foreground. The empirical evidence to support our explanation was gathered by analysing various articles and papers and the official documents of the European Communities and from interviews with witnesses and protagonists of the integration process.
Three main points from the contents of the Single European Act must be emphasized. First, Article 13, which provides an amendment to Article 8a of the EEC Treaty, requests the institutions of the Community ‘to adopt measures with the aim of progressively establishing the internal market over a period expiring on 31 December 1992.
7 - Lobbying for a Europe of big business: the European Roundtable of Industrialists
- Edited by Volker Bornschier, Universität Zürich
-
- Book:
- State-building in Europe
- Published online:
- 10 October 2009
- Print publication:
- 05 October 2000, pp 187-209
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Summary
‘We value the fact that the ERT not only engages in lobbying, narrowly defined, but also makes general proposals and elaborates general projects. We have access on a higher level than all the associations, unions, etc.; we are not lost among the many partners in dialogue, we speak directly with Commission presidents, with the heads of government or at a minimum directly with the economic ministers.’
Helmut Maucher, President of the Board of Directors of Nestlé and chairman of the European Roundtable of Industrialists since 1996, interview, 11 July 1995Introduction
The signing of the Single European Act did not make the internal market a fait accompli, a view shared by European Roundtable members, whose actions became more pronounced. A watchdog group, the Internal Market Support Committee, was formed in December 1986; its members met regularly with unions, heads of state and government, top government officials and key commissions of the European Community and emphasized the urgency of fulfilling the goals set by the Single European Act. Nowadays, the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT) is still considered one of the most influential interest organizations in Brussels. The evidence for this consists not only of the self-description by the president of the Nestlé administrative council and interviews with representatives of European umbrella organizations but also in the very origins of the Single European Act (see chapter 3).
In this chapter, we want to sketch the organization and development as well as the financial and management interconnections of the Round-table. First, the history and the activities of the Roundtable up to the passage of the Single European Act are outlined.