BUILDING OF THE EUROPEAN UNION - FROM FEDERALISM TO FUNCTIONALISM

Abstract

The article deals with building of the European Union. While describing the history of the European Communities, the author analyzes the influence of the federalism and the functionalism in the evolution of the European integration process. The European Union is new stage in the European integration, with strong elements of both of two concepts of inter-state integration: the federalism as well as the functionalism. The author concludes that building of the European Union is evolutionary, dynamic and permanent process, in the sense of different stages of the institutional reforms. The ratification of the Treaty of Maastricht and signing of the new Treaty on European Union in Amsterdam, 1997, point to the continuous feature of the European integration.