Dr Séveric Yersin, historian and visiting fellow at the Alcide De Gasperi Centre, will discuss his draft article "The electricity market, the ‘grid’ and European integration, 1950-1960". EUI PhD candidate in History Alice Zamai will present her work on "A Foreigner in a Foreign Market. United States’ Perceptions and Reactions to the European Economic Community’s Second Banking Directive (1988-1990).
European integration in the areas of electricity and financial markets is on the agenda for this Alcide De Gasperi Research seminar.
Séveric Yersin, visiting fellow at the Alcide De Gasperi Centre and recent PhD graduate in history from the University of Basel and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, will discuss his work on the electrity market, the 'grid' and European integration, 1950 - 1960. EUI PhD researcher in History Alice Zamai will instead look at US perceptions and reactions to the EEC's second banking directive. PhD candidate Eike Klages will chair the seminar; Professor Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol will discuss.
Séveric Yersin
Electricity market, the ‘grid’ and European integration, 1950-1960
Building an international electricity market has been a longstanding objective of Western European nations since at least the 1950s. Although the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) did not include electricity, it was a highly debated topic: the option to rename the ECSC as the European Energy and Steel Community was considered in 1956. At the same time, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) actively worked to liberalise cross-border electricity exchanges as a first step towards a competitive and free market. Yet, a competitive market under the umbrella of the ECSC failed to materialise, and electricity exchanges remained but a fraction of total electricity generation until the end of the 20th century. Furthermore, the development of the Western European electricity network took a surprising turn as the main interconnecting node was located in Switzerland, a country on the margins of European institutions.
Séveric's paper will be circulated in advance to registered participants.
Alice Zamai
A Foreigner in a Foreign Market. United States’ Perceptions and Reactions to the European Economic Community’s Second Banking Directive (1988-1990)
This presentation focuses on the American perception and reaction to the Second Banking Directive (SBD) of the European Economic Community (EEC). More specifically, it aims at interpreting the US government’s attitude towards this Directive as the reaction to a perceived obstacle to its economic freedom and leadership in the multilateral, international sphere that was taking shape in the late 1980s.
The SBD was one of many directives approved by the EEC as part of its efforts towards the creation of the Single Market, to be completed by 1992. Paying close attention to the developments in the integration of EEC financial markets, US observers were particularly alarmed by the first draft of the SBD (1988), which they interpreted as nothing short of protectionist. The EEC’s intention to refuse unconditional national treatment to third-country firms, seeking reciprocity instead, was perceived as a threat to the rising multilateral liberalization that the Reagan and Bush administrations had been pushing in international markets. In the following years, US officials voiced their opposition directly through negotiations with their EEC counterparts, leading to a redrafting in 1990. However, the SBD also became a topic of discussion within US government circles, adding to the preexisting momentum pushing towards further deregulation for the US financial system.
Exploring the period from 1988 to 1990, this presentation uses the SBD as a case study to investigate the American response to a perceived economic threat from its closest ally, the EEC. It serves as an opportunity to discuss how the US coveted the budding multilateral trade system and protected its own role as the primary player within it.
The Alcide De Gasperi Centre supports researchers working in areas related to the history of European integration and cooperation. It coordinates networks of historians, facilitates the use of primary sources and increases public interest in the history of European integration.