Returning to the Community Method: From the Single European Act to the Maastricht Treaty (1986-1992)
The Luxembourg Compromise imposed by De Gaulle had quite clearly impeded the process of integration. The objective of a common market was far from being achieved as member states continued to feature legislation posing many obstacles to its establishment.
Two treaties were drafted to address this problem: the Schengen Agreement (1985) and the Single European Act (1986).18.9.1 The Schengen Agreement
The treaty signed on June 14, 1985 by the ten member states of the EEC, near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, was intended to initiate a process leading to the gradual abolition of impediments at the signatories’ borders within a period of 10 years.[1228] In 1990 the agreement was complemented by the Schengen Implementation Agreement (Kolliker 2006, 217), which introduced the principle of the abolition of internal borders and a common visa policy. Ireland and the United Kingdom opted out and do not belong to the Schengen Area.
18.9.2 The Single European Act
The Single European Act was signed in Luxembourg on February 17, 1986, and at The Hague on February 28. The aim of this treaty was to create a Single Market (Swann 2004, 3-24) in the EEC Community by 1992 by removing barriers to increase harmonization and competitiveness among EEC member states (Allen 2004, 26-52). To achieve this the treaty reformed the legislative procedure, introducing the “cooperation procedure” according to which the European Parliament had a real say in legislating for the first time, cooperating with the Council and extending Qualified Majority Voting to new Areas (the Environment, Regional Policy and Consumer Protection) in the Council.[1229]
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