Abstract
Since the early 1950’s, European integration and security have become two sides of the same coin. From its very beginning, the West European integration process has been a structurally designed peace project. After two world wars, and following the logic of (neo)functional integration concepts (Mitrany 1943; Haas 1958,1964), the aim was to eliminate the chance of further wars between West European states. Thus, the process of supranational integration was intended to transform the anarchic structure of the West European state system into a “working peace system” (Mitrany 1943). As a consequence, a security community has emerged in Western Europe that has durably excluded force as a means of conflict resolution (Adler/Barnett 1998; Deutsch/Burrel/Kann/Lee/Lichterman/ Lindgren/Loewenheim/Van Wagenen 1957). In this sense, the process of West European integration has been a process of “desecuritization” characterized by a “progressive marginalization of mutual security concerns in favour of other issues” (WAEver 1998a: 69).
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