Supranationalism: The European Movement

Abstract

Of all the movements for the creation of international institutions that have emerged since 1945, none has been more remarkable, in its aims and in the progress it has achieved, than the ‘European Movement’ — the movement associated with the Council of Europe. Though the ‘Europeans’ — as the enthusiasts who have supplied the initiative are often called — have been disappointed at the rate of advance towards their ultimate objective — a united European state — it would have seemed incredible in the 1930’s that by the mid-1950’s the Western European nations could have linked themselves together as closely as in fact they did by that time. So revolutionary has this progress been, though yet so limited in comparison with the movement’s objective, that it seems to mark a new phase in world history. Yet in effect in the early years of the movement Britain refused to admit that it had any epoch-making importance, being careful to remain only half-involved. When at last in 1962 she made a determined effort to gain entry into the association, her previous long hesitancy had made her suspect. Did British governments make a grave mistake on this issue? Will the European movement prove to be only a flash in the pan, or is it truly an historical turning-point?