European integration

European integration is the process through which European countries build shared institutions, policies, and economic or political cooperation while retaining national governments.

European Union: A political and economic union of European states governed by shared institutions and treaties. It is the most developed framework for integrating European countries.
Schuman Declaration: A 1950 proposal to place French and West German coal and steel production under a common authority. It launched the political initiative that led to the first European communities.
European single market: An economic area enabling the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among participating European countries. It is the central project for removing economic barriers between members.
Intergovernmentalism: An approach to international cooperation in which national governments retain control over decisions. It contrasts with integration that gives independent authority to shared European institutions.
Europeanization: The process through which European-level rules, institutions, and ideas influence domestic politics and policy. It describes how integration changes national institutions and policymaking.
European Commission: The European Union’s executive institution, which proposes legislation and oversees implementation of EU law. It advances integration by proposing common rules and enforcing treaty obligations.
European Coal and Steel Community: A 1952 organization pooling the coal and steel industries of six European countries under a common authority. It was the first institution to bind national economies through shared governance.
Customs union: An arrangement that removes tariffs among members and applies a common external tariff to nonmembers. The EU customs union supports integration by combining internal free trade with a shared trade border.
Supranationalism: A form of governance in which shared institutions can make decisions binding on member states. It captures the transfer of authority that distinguishes deeper integration from ordinary cooperation.
Acquis communautaire: The body of European Union law, obligations, and policies that member states must accept. It gives integration a cumulative legal inheritance that shapes membership and enlargement.

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