Abstract

Processes of international integration have been taking place in Europe for centuries. In ancient Greece, unions of city-states called amphictyonies were formed, in which the city-states belonging to them retained their independence, but had to adhere to jointly enacted laws. In the Middle Ages, an important factor stimulating integration processes appears – which is the Catholic Church with its doctrine of Christian universalism. Common, for the reason that Christian values, similar education received at the emerging universities, a common language – Latin, caused that medieval Europe intellectually and mentally constituted a community. Integration projects continued in modern times.

The Industrial Revolution caused a leap in labor productivity, and the ability to exploit economies of scale depended on the availability of foreign markets. Thus, a new argument for the unification of states emerged. In the interwar period, the idea of pan-Europeanism emerged.

After World War II, politicians and intellectuals faced a question and a challenge: how – this time effectively – to save Europe and the world from war? As a solution, the idea of federalism was chosen, the essence of which is the voluntary surrender by states of some of their rights in favor of established common bodies. The result was the creation of the European Communities and then the European Union. A question arises: what made the idea, which had been present in the minds of many Europeans for centuries, now in the 20th century become an accomplished fact? Two features united the main architects of European unification – Schuman, Adenauer and De Gasperi. They all came from border regions. They experienced the effects of nationalisms, but they also learned tolerance. They were also united by a community of professed values. They were devout Catholics. Past experience has shown that a community based only on a community of interests understood in business terms is not enough to form an integrated grouping of states.