Bringing together nine researchers based in Hamburg, London, Rome, and Warsaw, the (De)Constructing Europe project (also known as the ‘Euroscepticism project’), sought to view the history of European integration through different lenses. Challenging and moving beyond what some, such as Mark Gilbert, have termed the ‘progressive narrative’, whereby the European Union is portrayed as inexorably heading towards closer integration, the project sought to cast light on alternative viewpoints and underappreciated actors.
The history of European integration, including the European Union and other forms of integration (of which there are and were many), consists of a multiplicity of views and approaches. During the (De)Constructing Europe project, the richness of this history was evident from an early stage. We heard of right-wing veterans’ organizations in France and West Germany pressing and lobbying for closer European cooperation in the 1940s and 1950s. They also liaised and assisted each other across borders and on sensitive topics such as in the release of war criminals. Similarly, with Treaties of Rome (1957), heralded as a major milestone, were not met with universal approval in the Italian media, and we see a wide range of views, including scepticism, support, and ambivalence.
Shedding Light on Forgotten Figures
We have found a rich variety of actors who have been overlooked in the history of European integration, but who had a notable impact and who sought to change and shape forms of European integration. This includes business groups, such as the textile industries and confederations in Britain and Germany, which often had strong ties to particular regions, but which then engaged with forms of European cooperation across borders. Transnational, bilateral, and regional forms of cooperation all featured. Similarly, in the case of Portugal and its accession in 1986, the legacy of empire was characterized by forms of business cooperation and collaboration, seen in one instance with the Cahora Bassa Dam project on the Zambezi River in Mozambique, that revealed the porous boundaries of the European Community. The boundary between private and public was not always fixed, and neither was the boundary between member states and the institutions of the European Community. And when we turn to the Common Agricultural Policy, the flagship policy of the European Community, we see farmers’ associations and groups across Spain, Italy, and France cooperating and working together to influence and exert pressure. In this sense, specific interest groups could and did play a significant role in the history of European integration. In Poland, we also have historians and academics pushing back on a particular image of the history of ‘Europe’ as one that is dominated by a Western European-centric viewpoint. The House of European History, for example, was a source of contestation and disagreement due to criticism of a Western European focus, which included frustration with the omission of other forms of cooperation and integration beyond a select grouping of countries.
In London, through two complementary studies examining the nature of scepticism in both Conservative and Labour Party circles from the 1970s to the 1990s, research uncovered how underappreciated, yet influential figures and groups shaped relations between Britain and the European Community. These included student groups, lawyers, savants from the City of London, and representatives to the European Parliament, who all sought to challenge, resist, or change the European Community. While some may have labelled these groups peripheral actors, they were in fact central to debates and discussions, with Labour Party MEPs seeking to shape the European Community from within and Conservative groups influencing and forming crucial ties in the UK and abroad.
Questioning Established Narratives
From an early stage, the (De)Constructing Europe project took us far away from a history of the European Community dominated by Jean Monnet or Robert Schuman. These ‘architects’ of European integration, whom some would call the founding fathers, were important voices, but they were by no means the sole movers or operators in this space. Right-wing veteran organizations, the media, businesses, farmers’ associations, intellectuals, and academics, as well as a wealth of other figures and groups, all featured, participated, and sought to influence the European Community and other forms of European integration. Research into these groups and actors has proven crucial in moving beyond a ‘top-down’ history of European integration.
The image of a progressive European Community, always heading in one direction and united behind a common cause, was also found to be false. Forms of European integration were contested, challenged, influenced, and shaped by a variety of actors—this is, indeed, a core feature of European integration history. The variety of viewpoints, arguments, and approaches is a central element in the history of the European Community, not an anomaly. A rich variety of forms of engagement, including changing views, characterized much of the project. We explored unlikely proponents of forms of integration, such as far-right veteran organizations; certain left-wing sceptics who, upon working in the European Parliament, changed their views; and, at times, business groups and textile confederations. Conversely, networks of sceptics and those critical of the particular form of European integration embodied in the European Community, such as British conservative lawyers, student unions, and figures in the City of London, as well as Polish intellectuals and historians, sought to alter or challenge the status quo. In doing so, they were also engaged in (de)constructing the history of the European Community, and, while at times their views have been sidelined or overlooked by certain scholars and popular accounts, they are essential to understanding that history.
Another finding was that neat categorizations do not always help in understanding the intricacy and range of views. The project has shown that there were not always simple categories in which to lump together complex groups, figures, and opinions. Labels of pro and anti, or Eurosceptic, can oversimplify and even at times mislead. Some actors and groups simply did not fit into the binary categories of supporter or sceptic—the same figure was viewed by some as supportive of integration, yet by others as a Eurosceptic. Some sought to bypass the European Community, replace it, or change it. This took the form of pressing for significant alterations to the European Community, or proposing another model of European integration entirely, such as a looser or more federal structure or a more social or more neoliberal model. And in other cases we see indifference, agnosticism, and alternatives, which are all also present in the history of the European Community.
An International Endeavour
The (De)Constructing Europe project was an endeavour that crossed borders, in terms of the researchers, events, and contributors, and included numerous perspectives. The project facilitated and funded scholars’ travel across Europe for the four project workshops, two conferences, and research and archival trips. Events were held in Berlin, Hamburg, London, Rome, and Warsaw. The project also drew in expertise from numerous countries, including many not represented in the physical locations of the project, such as Austria, Greece, Finland, France, Norway, and Spain, to name a few. While in the daily running of the project the researchers were geographically separated, regular online reading groups and meetings brought them together, and this continuous activity led to the maintaining and strengthening of ties and the deepening of discussions over the three years.
Looking Forwards
Turning to the planned output: in addition to individual articles and book chapters, the project will publish a special issue in the Journal of Modern European History later this year. While the funding period may have come to a close, many forms of cooperation have continued beyond the formal end of the project, including four PhD theses and individual projects, as well as plans that are underway to publish an edited volume. Following lockdowns and other difficulties, the project was characterized by intense collaboration that furthered our understanding of European integration history and broadened many a horizon.
Feature Image: Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash
