EIRP Proceedings, Vol 7 (2012)

Abstract

Abstract: If the European construction has been considered, for a long time, a “success story” in its evolution took place and a series of impasses that led to a blockage and so to crisis.

This paper aims at making a chronological approach of the idea of ​​“compromise” in European Union history, the compromise as a form of elites negotiations, the compromise as the generator of measures that led to solutions for the “relaunching” of European construction.

The  research is based on deductive and inductive analysis, comparative and case study.

Thus, are concerned, from a comparative perspective, the Luxembourg compromise, Fontainebleau and        Ioannina, as many moments that have resulted in solutions as consensus of European elites for effectiveness of European institutional mechanism. In the same time, this paper is an approach focused on the evolution of the relationship federalism- intergovernmentalism.

The results of the analysis made ​​in this paper show us that these compromises, as forms of negotiations, were in favor of the intergovernmentalism followers and had declined, as a result, from the Europe of Jean Monnet and from the ideals of the Community.