ABSTRACT
In our opening chapter we noted that the SEA directly or indirectly led to a deepening of the economic integration process. The words directly and indirectly are important because the role of the SEA in this respect was variable. Thus in the case of EMU, which was discussed in the previous chapter, it cannot be said that the Act was the immediate source of that development; rather it was the preamble’s recollection of the 1972 commitment to EMU which was the inspiration which led the subsequent Hanover summit to set the Delors Committees’ deliberations in motion. Much the same could be said in the case of the Social Charter: it was not expressly called for in the Act, but the preamble was again significant however. In it the contracting parties emphasized their determination to promote democracy on the basis of the fundamental rights contained in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms and the European Social Charter-both of these being products of the quite separate Council of Europe. Again, this was the inspiration which led the heads-of-state and government at their 1988 Rhodes meeting to look to the Commission for suggestions as to the way forward; the result was the Social Charter and the associated action programmes. By contrast, provisions relating to the need to press ahead in respect of regional policy (economic and social cohesion), R&TD and the environment were provided for in the main body of the SEA-here it had a direct impact.
