Page 103 - SEVEN STEPS for COMPREHENDING the EUROPEAN UNION

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Supranationalism of the European Union Explained

Albert Einstein was the first who used the term “supranational” in
articles for the Atlantic Monthly in 1945 and 1947. Later, in 1948 he made
a statement at Carnegie Hall and said: “There is only one path to peace
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and security: the path of a supranational organization.” In the same
period of time, the term was also voiced by the then French Foreign
Minister, Robert Schuman.

Supranationalism is neither a theory of international relations
nor a concept for global or regional governance. Supranationalism
is rather a model for administrating intrastate relations. In order to
explain supranationalism, Ernst Haas, a political analyst, introduced a
theory of neo-functionalism in 1958 which, in practical terms, described
the theory through an act of “spillover.” This “spillover“ suggests that
cooperation among states in one sector necessarily spills over into
other related sectors. Such a development, according to Haas, pushes
participant states to agree on common rules of administration. If we
conceptualize this process, it will very much look like supranational
institution-building. Throughout the years, Haas was intensively
exploring those political, economic and social factors which facilitated
the development of supranationalism and, eventually, the success of
European integration.
In official documents, the term “supranational” was used for the
first time in the Paris Treaty of April 18, 1951 which established the
European Coal and Steel Community . Since then, “supranationalism”
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has become a cornerstone of the European transformation and
European Union governance. By introducing the supranational system
of administration, the EU created the first precedent of the voluntary
transfer of sovereign powers by European national states to the
institutions which eventually was mandated to run such a system.
The term “supranational,” per se, means something which stands
above national interests. Before the supranational system, only
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Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions (New York: Crown/Bonanza, 1954), p. 147
73 Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community Paris, April 18, 1951
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