The Single European Act (1986)
The Single European
Act, signed in Luxembourg
and The Hague and came into force on 1 July 1987, was the first modification of the
fundational treaties of the European
Communities, that is to say, the Treaty of Paris in 1951 and the Treaties of Rome
Jacques Delors, President
of the European Commission (1985-1995)
of the European Commission, summarised the main objectives of the Single
European Act in the following way:
Act means, in a few words, the commitment of implementing simultaneously the great
market without frontiers, more economic and social cohesion, an European
research and technology policy, the strengthening of the European Monetary
System, the beginning of an European social area and significant actions in
These are the main changes that the Single
European Act introduced :
In the institutional field, it
ratifies the European
Council, that is to
say, the periodical meeting of Head of State and Government, as the organism
where major political negotiations take place among the member States and
great strategic decisions are taken.
The competences of the European
The main compromise agreed was to
adopt measures guided to the progressive establishment of a common market
over a period that would conclude on 31 December1992.This would mean an area without
obstacles to free movement of goods, people, services and capitals. This ambitious
goal, summed up in 282 detailed measures, was broadly reached in the foreseen
The common market became a reality.
Different procedures were passed to coordinate the monetary
policy of the member States, paving the way toward the objective of economic and monetary
Act included diverse initiatives to promote integration in the
spheres of social rights (health and the workers' security), research and
technology, and environment.
To achieve the objective of a greater economic and social cohesion
among the diverse countries and regions of the Community, reform and
financial support to the denominated Structural
Funds, European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
European Social Fund (ESF) was settled.
The road toward the Treaty of the European Union
European Act entailed an important
step forward in the integration process. The president
of the Commission, Jacques
Delors, was the main figure. This French socialist, not only promoted the economic
and monetary union as
a key element in the integration process, but tried to balance the advancements
on free trade, that benefited managers directly, by proposing the passing of a Social
Charter that would guarantee some social minimum standards to every European
The whole policy of Delors was against the stance
of the British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher. The conservative leader had played, alongside US President Ronald Reagan, a
leading role in what had been denominated the neoliberal revolution:
shrinking State intervention in economy and in social welfare, deregulation of
whole economic areas, decreasing of worker unions influence, reduction of
taxes... From the first half of the eighties, the Iron Lady had also
out-and-out policy against any advancement in European integration, striving to reduce the British contribution to the
In a celebrated speech, pronounced at the College
of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) on 20 September 1988, Margaret
Thatcher summed up its eurosceptic view:
Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain
Prime Minister 1979-1990
"To try to suppress nationhood and
concentrate power at the centre of a European conglomerate would be highly
damaging (...) We certainly do not need new regulations which raise the cost of
employment and make Europe's labour market less flexible and less competitive
with overseas suppliers (...) And certainly we in Britain would fight
attempts to introduce collectivism and corporatism at the European level -
although what people wish to do in their own countries is a matter for them".
Jacques Delors's reply took place one year later in the College of Europe in Brussels.
Before the flabbergasting events that were about to occur in Central and
Eastern Europe in that unforgettable year of 1989 materialised, the president of the Commission
called to speed up the European integration process:
"History is accelerating and we should make it with her..."
The Fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989)
The French politician had the advantage of being in that moment
an observer of one of the most paramount event in the 20th:
the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe
-the old people's democracies- whose symbol was the fall of the
Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The collapse of communism peaked in 1991 with
the Soviet Union break-up.
That same year the disintegration of Yugoslavia brought the war again to our
continent, after a long peace period from 1945.
The first direct consequence caused by the collapse of
communism in the EEC was the reunification of Germany in October 1990.
Henceforth, the German Federal Republic, with 80 million inhabitants and 30% of the GNP of the EEC, became a
State that incontestably overpowered France and Great Britain in economic might.
Reunification of Germany (1990)
The French president, François Mitterand, suspicious
of a possible reappearance of hegemonic German foreign policy in
Europe, decided to encourage a new boost to the European integration process as
a means to anchor Germany in
The German chancellor, Helmut Kohl did
the same to relieve Paris and London's misgivings about a reunified Germany. A
decisive impulse toward a greater European integration was the only way that Germany
had to start projecting its political weight in Europe and the world without raising fear and
Kohl and Delors
The power void created in Central and Eastern Europe with the
collapse of communism and the break-up of the USSR, brought about a change in
the political position of the EEC in our continent. It became an organisation that guaranteed stability amid an
In fact, the new democracies emerged from the communism collapse rushed to
apply for beginning
negociations with the Community.
A last feature that we should keep in mind is the financial and monetary uncertainty that
The Stock Exchange crash in 1987 and the problems of the European Monetary System that
arose violently in 1992 -the Sterling Pound and the Italian Lira had to leave the EMS, and the Spanish Peseta and the Portuguese
Escudo were forced to devaluation-, were major factors that impelled the European political leaders to take a decisive step in the march toward the
All these elements underlie the great step ahead that
the Treaty of the European Union signifies.
In 1989, at Delors' request, an
Conference (IGC) was called to agree the definitive establishment of the monetary
and economic union In 1990, another IGC
was called to study the constitution of a political union.
The so-called French-German axis had a key role
In a common message, Helmut Kohl and François Mitterand, affirmed in 1990:
"(...) we consider necessary to accelerate the political construction of the Europe
We think that this is the right moment to transform the whole of the relationships among the
member States into an European Union and to endow it of the necessary means of action".
After almost three years of debate, in many cases
confined to the high political spheres and without the transparency that the European public
demanded, finally the European
Council held in Maastricht on 9-10 December 1991, approved the Treaty of the European
Union, popularly known as Treaty of Maastricht.
The Treaty was signed and came into force on 7 February 1992.