Nicole Provax

March 31, 2014

POLI103C-001
Europeanization Paper
The destruction caused by World War II led to many questions about how Europe would

be reconstructed. Internally, many European nations began to realize that unification and

cooperation was necessary to rebuild and to stabilize Western Europe. Internationally, the United

States intervened to help expedite the process of Reconstruction through the Marshall Plan.

However, due to the dictatorial regime in Spain under Francisco Franco during and after the

Second World War, Spain was the only Western European country excluded from the Marshall

Plan, as well as the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) and the North

Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The nation had received military and political aid from

the Axis Powers during the Civil War from 1936 to 1939 and later supported Hitler and his

regime during World War II. However, despite the hostility toward Francos regime, the nations

were more lenient toward Spains economy, believing that an economic blockade would prove to

be more detrimental than advantageous. Thus, throughout the 1950s, the Western European

states gradually strengthened their economic connections with Spain.

Despite this gradual step toward integration, when the European Community was

officially established under the Treaty of Rome in 1957, strict guidelines were set as to which

countries were allowed to join the community. One of the conditions for membership was that

the nation had to have a free political order, or a democracy. Thus, because of Francos

dictatorship from 1939-1975, Spain was not originally allowed to join.

Although the nation was still isolated from the rest of Europe, Franco sought to become

more integrated into the European community with the help of the United States. Realizing that

an agreement with Spain could be advantageous during the Cold War, the United States decided

to provide military and economic assistance in exchange for the use of four air and naval bases in
Spain. The support of the United States eventually paved the way for Spains entry into the

World Health Organization, UNESCO, the OEEC, and the UN. Despite these accomplishments,

because Spain joined the Western powers through an alliance with the United States, the nation

still seemed to be excluded from the European sphere.

In order to reduce its separation from Europe, the Spanish government decided that it

needed to improve its relationships with the powerful members. Thus, the Spanish Foreign

Minister, Fernando Castiella, began to develop a closer relationship with French officials,

including Charles de Gaulle. This proved to be beneficial when France agreed to sign trade

agreements in 1957 and to eliminate the restrictions on arms sales. Castiella had similar

successes in Germany.
Western Europe and the United States were willing to slowly Europeanize Spain and

ignore Francos dictatorship during the Cold War because of the nations strategic location as the

gateway between Europe and Africa and its position in the Mediterranean. While the countrys

integration was limited, after Francos death in 1975 and the resulting democratization of Spain,

the members of the European Community became more lenient. Thus, in 1982, Spain became a

member of NATO and, in 1986, a member of the European Union.

Upon entering the European Community (EU) in 1986, Spain was considered one of the

poorest members. One of the major goals of the European Union is to establish equality amongst

its members. Because Spains economy was traditionally based upon agriculture and small

businesses, it was necessary to modernize the nation in order to encourage economic growth.

While the European Communitys intervention greatly improved Spains economy, there are

other factors that explain its growth. During the 1960s, prior to its acceptance into the European

Community, Spain experienced an economic boom. As a result, many farmers began to migrate

to cities to earn more money in the factories. By 1997, the percentage of farmers decreased from

22 percent to nearly 9 percent. Through a combination of Spains urbanization and its adaptation
to modern practices promoted by the European Community, the nation was able to expand and

have one of the most stable economies until the global crisis hit in 2008.
In order to unify the European economies and establish a free market amongst the

members, the European Union enacted the European Monetary Union (EMU), which eventually

led to the creation of a common currency (the euro), a European Central Bank, and a Growth and

Stability Pact. Membership in the EMU was beneficial for Spain because it has contributed to

international stability as well as budgetary discipline.

Under the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, the Cohesion Fund was created. Just as the name

implies, this policys purpose was to strengthen economic and social cohesion amongst the

European Union member states by providing assistance to the poorer members. Thus, in order to

stabilize Spains economy, the Cohesion Fund allocated 10,171 million Euros to Spain during

1989-1999 and 13,980 million Euros during 2000-2006. Comparing these numbers with the aid

received by other less prosperous countries such as Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, Spain received

54.9% of the total amount of money that was allocated by this fund. The aid that Spain received

was invested in public or private projects. The funds were mainly used to improve the

infrastructure and technological development of the nation in order to encourage tourism and to

create jobs.
As a result of an expansion in the construction and real estate industry, by 2004, about 60

percent of new jobs in Europe were created in Spain, which translated into 1.8 million new jobs

and the construction of more than 500,000 apartments and houses per year. Looking at Spains

progress after entering the European Union, the unemployment rate drastically decreased from

20 percent in the 1990s to 7.95 percent 2007. Overall, in 2007, the economy grew 3.8 percent.

The success of Spains and economy and falling unemployment rates attracted many immigrants

to the country.
 By 2008, Spain was in its fourteenth year of uninterrupted economic growth. The nation

seemed unstoppable. However, despite the low interest rates, growing immigration, and

expanding industries, Spains developing economy was foundationally unstable because of its

internal focus. Rather than increasing productivity to be able to effectively compete with its

neighboring countries, the growth was largely based on construction and domestic service (i.e.

tourism, housing). Over 75 percent of the jobs created in Spain in 2006 pertained to the

construction/domestic services industries. In contrast, productivity only contributed 0.5

percentage points to Spains GDP between 1998 and 2006. As a result of the excessive

concentration in the construction industry, the growing price of houses, the United States

financial crisis, and an overall global freezing of credit, Spains economy collapsed.
In an effort to stabilize the economy after the Global Financial Crisis, the EU introduced

the European Financial Stability Facility, which sought to provide assistance to the eurozone

states. Besides providing monetary assistance, another goal after the crisis was to help

reconstruct economies to help them become more internationally competitive. Solutions are still

being proposed as to how the banks should be restructured and how to lower unemployment. In

June 2013, for example, the Youth Employment Initiative was introduced as a way to increase

youth employment by providing aid to countries with unemployment rates above 25 percent.

Thus, although the unemployment rate in Spain reached 27.2 percent in 2013, if the EU is able to

assist the country in increasing its productivity and expanding industries that can withstand

international competition, Spain might be able to experience another period of economic growth,

as it did after joining the European Union.

The economic boom that occurred in Spain after its acceptance into the European

Community resulted in a large expansion of immigration, both externally and internally. With

the signing of the Schengen Agreement in the 1990s, internal borders were eliminated between
the members of the European Union in an effort to establish a more unified Europe. People were

allowed to pass freely amongst the member states. However, consequently, the external border

regulations became stricter. Therefore, while Spain did not have any strict laws that restricted

immigration prior to 1986, once it joined the European Community, because of its position as a

western border of Europe, it was necessary to tighten up the regulations about Visas and about

entering into the country. Nevertheless, between 2000 and 2007, because of the low

unemployment rates, over 5 million immigrants settled in Spain. With an ageing population and

low birth rates, the availability of jobs attracted many people to the country. In fact, about

772,000 new jobs created in Span in 2006 went to immigrants. However, despite this influx of

people, Spain has been able to absorb the immigrants and not succumb to social tensions. One

reason for this successful integration is that about one-third of the immigrants come from Latin

America. Because of the generally tolerant attitude of Spaniards toward immigrants, there has

been no desire within Spain to decrease the levels. Instead, much of the debate surrounding

immigration has pertained to how the immigrants should be integrated into the community. It

was proposed that all immigrants should be required to learn Spanish, obey the law, and follow

Spanish customs. In 2000, in an effort to combat the strict regulations put in place by the

European Union, Spain passed the Law on Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners in Spain and their

Integration. Rather than prevent immigration, the policy sought to extend political and social

rights to non-EU members.

However, although immigrants have helped to foster economic growth, Spain is not the

final destination for many people. Instead, because Spain is positioned on the Western end of

Europe, it serves as the gateway for immigrants from the Americas and from Africa into the rest

of Europe. As a result, the European Union has become worried about the increasing presence of

illegal immigrants. About 500,000 people a year enter Western Europe illegally. After the events
of September 11, 2001, anti-immigrant parties have become more popular and measures have

been taken in order to attempt to eliminate illegal immigration.

In 2004, the European Union created the European Agency for the Management of

Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States or FRONTEX. Despite

efforts to protect the borders, one of the main criticisms against FRONTEX pertains to its

sacrifice of human rights. According to Martin Kreickenbaum in an article titled EU border

agency FRONTEX guilty of massive breach of human rights, after 360 refugees were drowned

off the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013, the European Union responded by sealing

off the borders and increasing the use of satellites and sensors to locate refugees. Once such

refugees are found, however, the border patrols then hand over the illegal immigrants to the

authorities of their respective countries. As a result, refugees are being increasingly harassed and

deported.
Overall, due to the pattern of conflicts between the EU and Spain in regards to

immigration, it can be expected that more debates about the preservation of human rights will

occur in the future.

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