Information Communications Technology and European Integration: Deepening Linkages

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Information Communications Technology and
European Integration Deepening Linkages
Brian Lake Masters Thesis Proposal Nov 15th,
2000
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Topic Description

• An ever closer union among the peoples of
  Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely
  as possible to the citizen in accordance with the
  principle of subsidiary
• Sixteen new candidate countries for ascension to
  the Union
• We have embarked on an enlargement process whose
  ambitious and inspiring goal is to forge the
  unity of the whole continent of Europe --
  Romano Prodi President, European Commission

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Topic Description

• My thesis addresses the democratic deficit of
  European integration the perceived and actual
  lack of democratic representation and
  accountability possessed by the institutions of
  this growing European Union.
• Information Communications Technology (ICT) is
  quickly becoming a tool that allows for greater
  citizen participation in the political process
  across such a large area, and the further
  development of these supranational institutions
  is dependent on the tools of communication the
  vital component of social cohesion

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Initial Thesis Statement

• The transformation of the European communications
  network has had the effect of drastically
  changing the underlying structure of political
  and social life, of power structure, economic
  activity and culture. The tendency of the
  information revolution is towards a uniform,
  efficient and transparent framework for European
  political and economic life. The promotion of
  cooperation and intercommunication across several
  European countries has propagated into the realm
  of the executive institutions of the Union. As a
  result the effective utilization of information
  communications technologies by supranational
  elites has had the effect of promoting greater
  democratic accountability of those institutions
  to the citizen level.

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In a Nutshell.

• In a nutshell, the development of communications
  technology during what has been popularly termed
  The Information Revolution and the promotion of
  this technology by the national and supranational
  Governments of Europe, has been a force of social
  cohesion in the European area, creating a common
  concept of what it is to be European and
  prompting a re-evaluation of the institutions of
  the Union to increase their transparency. The use
  of ICT and its expansion into new areas of
  competence is vital to the continued democratic
  growth of the European Union.

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Methodological Approach

• My theoretical approach to this work will be
  based primarily on theories of integration and
  co-operation, as well as communications theory.
  The binding conceptual framework for this study
  will be that of Neofunctionalism, which places
  emphasis on the roles of political parties and
  interest groups and their support or opposition
  to integration, when used in the European
  context. Neofunctionalist theory, within its
  European Union context, attaches major importance
  to an integrative process leading ultimately to a
  federation or political union.

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Ernst Haas

• Haas defined integration as a "process whereby
  political actors in several distinct national
  settings are persuaded to shift their loyalties,
  expectations and political activities toward a
  new centre, whose institutions possess or demand
  jurisdiction over the pre-existing national
  states."

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David Mitrany

• "Thus, there was a marked tendency for persons
  who has experienced gains from supranational
  institution in one sector to favour integration
  in other sectors." Earlier decisions spill-over
  into new functional contexts, involve more and
  more people, call for more interbureaucratic
  contact and consultations meeting the new
  problems which grow out of earlier compromises.
  The process is one where by nations upgrade their
  interests in a larger integrative setting.

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Karl W. Deutsch

•  Deutsch refers to integration as a process that
  may lead to a condition in which a group of
  people has attained within a territory a sense of
  community and of institutions and practices
  strong enough to assure, for a long time,
  dependable expectations of peaceful change among
  its population. Deutsch further postulates that
  integration is a matter of fact and not time. He
  maintains that political integration can be tied
  to power, as long as we recall that the power
  relationship is one in which an actor influences
  the actions of another by either the undertaking
  of an action of the absence of action

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Possible Difficulties

• The scope of the research itself is rather large,
  given that there are fifteen member states of the
  union, and over a dozen applicants negotiating
  entry.
• Analyzing the utilization of ICT and the impact
  in all member states towards the development of
  European institutions, both in the past and how
  ICT is influencing them at present, may well be
  outside the my abilities to acquire and compile
  information within acceptable deadlines.
  Restricting my analysis to a representative
  sampling of the member states may prove
  sufficient.