Neofunctionalism as a Starting Point

Neofunctionalism is the most refined, ambitious and criticised theory of regional integration. It was developed mainly by Ernst Haas and Leon Lindberg in the 1950s and 1960s in response to the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Community (EC). Its intellectual roots can be found in functionalist, federalist and communications theories as well as in the early ‘group theorists’ of American political science. Haas and Lindberg, the two most influential and prolific neofunctionalist writers, mainly combined functionalist and federalist thinking by tying functionalist methods to federalist goals. Neofunctionalism shares with functionalism a focus on technocratic decision-making, incremental change and learning processes. However, although the theory has been dubbed neofunctionalism, this is in some ways a case of ‘mistaken identity’, since it departed significantly from Mitrany's functionalism. Whereas functionalists held that the form, scope and purpose of an organisation would be determined by the task that it was designed to fulfil, neofunctionalists attached considerable importance to the autonomous influence of supranational institutions. While functionalists did not limit integration to any territorial area, neofunctionalists gave integration a regional focus. Moreover, unlike Mitrany, the neofunctionalists did not attach much importance to the change in popular attitudes, but focused instead on the change of elite attitudes.

Another important precursor to neofunctionalist theory was Jean Monnet. Apart from his federal aspirations, he influenced neofunctionalism in other ways.