Conditions for European Union Acceptance: The Spanish Case

The Conclusion of a Congress Meeting

The document is the conclusion of a meeting (the conclusion taken by a congress). The authors of this document are 118 Spaniards, and it was written on the 8th of June 1962. The subject is the conditions one state should have in order to be accepted in the European constitution. It was published in 1962, so it is after the European Economic Community. It is a first-level text, and the target readers are the people of the European constitution. The authors were living abroad because they were not allowed to live in Spain, so they met in Munich.

Changing Situation in Spain

The things are changing in Spain (we are in the second part of Franconism), the situation improved from the 50s. The recognition of Franco’s regime by Americans (who wanted to put some military bases in Spain to assure that Franco was going to defend them in the Cold War) was important, and because of this, Spain was accepted in the United Nations.

Economic and Social Developments

The economic situation internationally was good, and foreign countries started investing in Spain, as handwork was cheaper. In addition to the entry of foreign capital, tourism made possible an important income as the coast (that attracts tourists). Moreover, the money sent by emigrants working in European countries made it possible for their families to increase their consumption capacity. To sum up, the state also invested in public works. All this capital entry made it possible to develop national industries. In this decade, there were also some social movements against Franco. Critics asking for freedom increased in different areas. This involved making more reforms.

Spanish Application to the European Community

This congress is an institution created to analyze all the countries interested in being part of the European Union. In 1957, the European Economic Community (ECC) was created and it was formed by 9 countries. In 1962, the Spanish government presented its formal application to the European Community to start a conversation; the European Parliament rejected the claim because Spain was a non-democratic country in which civil rights and freedoms were not assured.

Conditions for Acceptance

Looking at the text, we can say that institutions to be accepted should be democratic, but this wasn’t the case of Spain. In Spain, the courts were only to confirm Franco's laws. Respecting human laws, human rights should be assured, and no censorship should be allowed, but in the case of Spain, human rights weren’t respected, and censorship is an element that is present. About autonomic communities, they said that in case they exist, they should be accepted, but in Spain, they weren’t accepted. Unions should be free because it is the only way that workers make their demands. The workers recognized the right to strike to push the factory owners to do something for them. Finally, in politics, the members of the congress suggested that in any country, there should be a plurality of political parties so citizens could choose the one that they want. In the case of Spain, there was only one party, which is the Movimiento Nacional. So there wasn’t freedom to choose the political party.

In conclusion, after this meeting, Franco was totally upset. There are going to appear some groups against the government: on one hand, the Democratic Junta (all parties but for PSOE) and Democratic Platform (PSOE). However, they later unified to form a unique group labeled as “Platajunta”. The desire for freedom was evident, and citizens asked for changes not only in the economy but in politics as well.