The European Union

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The European Union
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Vocabulary Introduction

• Devolution process of decentralizing the unitary
  state to share policy making power with regional
  govts
• Integration process that encourages states to
  pool sovereignty in order to gain political,
  economic, and social clout
• Binds states together with common policies and
  shared rules
• Supranational organization organization that
  integrates individual states

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A brief History

• EU began in effort to revitalize war-torn Europe
  after WWII
• Repair nations economies was most immediate need
  so initial goals all economic
• 1949 Council of Europe formed
• Little power, but way for leaders to meet
• Following year supranational authority formed to
  coordinate coal and steel industries

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• The European Economic Community (EEC)
• Established 1957 by Treaty of Rome
• Informally known as Common Market
• Most important provisions
• Eliminate all tariffs between European nations
• Creation of new tariffs that apply to all
• The European Community (EC)
• Established 1965
• Expanded the organizations functions beyond
  economics
• Included a unified approach to peaceful use of
  atomic energy
• Development limited by disagreements on how much
  power EC should be given, concern over weakening
  national sovereignty
• Integration given a boost by collapse of Soviet
  dominance in late 1980s
• To offer guidance in creation of new democracies,
  transition from communism to capitalism

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• The European Union (EU)
• 1991 Maastricht Treaty created modern
  organization
• Gave authority in new areas
• Monetary policy foreign affairs national
  security transportation the environment
  justice tourism
• Established 3 pillars or spheres of authority
• Trade other economic matters, including
  economic and monetary union into a single
  currency, creation of European Central Bank
• Justice and home affairs, including policies
  governing asylum, border crossing, immigration,
  judicial cooperation on crime, terrorism
• Common foreign and security police, including
  joint positions actions, common defense police

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Membership

• Ongoing expansion major characteristic of the EU
• Total of 27 member countries
• Original members in 1957
• Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the
  Netherlands
• Joined in early 1970s
• Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland
• Joined in 1981
• Greece
• Joined 1986
• Portugal, Spain
• Joined 1995
• Austria, Finland, Sweden
• Joined May 2, 2004
• Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
  Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia,
  Slovenia
• Joined January 1, 2007
• Bulgaria, Romania

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• To be considered, must meet 3 important criteria
• Stable and functioning democratic regime
• Market-oriented economy
• Willingness to accept all EU laws and regulations
• Currently under consideration for membership
• Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey
• Why Turkey is tricky
• Relatively low GDP
• History of authoritarian govt
• Most of the country technically not in Europe
• If EU is mostly economic, religion doesnt
  matter, but if EU begins fulfilling other pillars
  some fear religious differences could hinder
  integration process

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• Challenges of Rapid integration process
• Organizational issues for large numbers
• Many former communist countries w/ relatively
  weak economies at end of 20th century
• Older member states worry immigrants from east
  will flood their labor markets strain their
  economies
• Supporters believe these problems will be
  overshadowed by the benefits of common markets,
  currencies, political policies, defense
• Enlargement fatigue
• Decline in support for enlargement among EU
  voters
• Believe the French and Dutch rejections of the
  European Constitution partly reflected
  dissatisfaction over 2004 enlargement
• Many EU govts (i.e. France, Germany, Austria)
  have lost enthusiasm for further growth
• Economic benefits of recent expansions are still
  unknown
• Limited growth potential remaining

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Organization

• 4 major bodies
• The Commission
• 1 member from each member state
• Supported by bureaucracy of several 1000 civil
  servants
• Each commissioner takes responsibility for
  particular area of policy
• Headed by president
• Home govts nominate commissioners, but they
  swear oath of allegiance to EU, dont take
  direction from national govt
• Main responsibility initiate implement new
  programs, forms permanent executive that
  supervises work of EU

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• The Council of Ministers
• Central to legislative process
• Commission may initiate legislation, but doesnt
  become law until passed by Council
• Each country is assigned number of votes in
  proportion to its share of population
• Demonstrates continuing power of the states
• Consists of foreign ministers, finance ministers,
  president of France, all prime ministers of other
  members
• Hold frequent meetings, head of states meet every
  6 months as European Council
• President of council rotates every 6 months

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• The European Parliament
• Doesnt have great deal of legislative power
• But since 1979 MEPs have been directly elected by
  the people of their respective countries every 5
  years, so have some independence from national
  govts
• May propose amendments to legislation, reject
  proposals from Council outright
• But Council may override rejection by unanimous
  vote
• Apportionment of representatives not strictly
  based on population
• Smaller member states disproportionately
  represented

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• The European Court of Justice
• Is supreme court of EU
• Has power of judicial review
• Interprets European law
• Decisions may limit national sovereignty making
  it more powerful than most judicial systems of
  its member states
• Has broad jurisdiction, rules on
• Disagreements among Commissioners, Council of
  ministers, members of parliament
• Disputes among member nations, private companies,
  individuals
• Consists of 27 judges, each one nominated by
  different member state
• Cases decided by simple majority

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Policymaking power

• Made only rudimentary policy in defense social
  policy
• Areas of active policymaking
• Creating and maintaining a single internal
  market removed most of old tariffs other
  barriers to trade
• Most professional licenses (i.e. doctors,
  beauticians) accepted in all member states (not
  lawyers)
• More options available to shoppers and consumers

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• Union of monetary policy control of the
  supply
• Euro has replaced most of old national
  currencies, which are being slowly phased out
• Power to set basic interest rates other fiscal
  policies being passed from national banks to the
  European Monetary Union
• 12 member nations euro accepted as common
  currency in banking everyday business
• 2 exceptions Britain and Sweden

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• Common agricultural policy has been less
  successful than other areas, but EU recently put
  in place new programs
• Almost half of the organizations budget going to
  this policy
• Goal modernize inefficient farms so they can
  compete in common market
• EU has established farm subsidies, which are very
  expensive yet to improve efficiency in any real
  way
• Recent reforms have transferred subsidies away
  from price supports for specific crops and toward
  direct payments to farmers
• Growing chunk of goes to rural-development
  projects, not farming

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• In late 1990s, laying groundwork for future
  policies in these areas
• Common defense
• 1999 European Council made crisis management
  core of common security
• Crises humanitarian, rescue, peacemaking
• Council set goal EU able to deploy 60,000
  troops w/in 60 days, sustainable for at least 1
  year
• Did NOT create EU army
• Justice Home Affairs
• 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam set initiatives for
  judicial affairs
• Aimed to establish free movement of EU citizens
  non-EU nationals throughout the EU
• Free movement involved setting up policies
  regarding visas, asylum, immigration
• Helped define cooperation among national police
  forces
• Member nations may support this EU structure, but
  not required to participate
• Britain, Ireland, Denmark restrict
  participation to only select provisions

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• Terrorism
• Terrorists willing / able to take advantage of
  increasing ease of travel across country borders
  created by integrating nations
• Beginning April 2004, US EU have held series of
  dialogues on border and transportation security,
  on better addressing common security concerns,
  identifying areas were cooperation coordination
  might be enhanced

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The European Constitution

• Signed on October 29, 2004
• Intention of the European Constitution is to
  replace overlapping treaties between the member
  nations
• Process of ratification
• Scheduled to go into effect Nov 1, 2006
• But France Netherlands voters rejected the
  treaty
• Prompted others, (i.e. Britain) to postpone
  ratification
• Reflect growing resistance to rapid integration
• Many feared power shift from national to
  supranational institutions will democratic
  deficit (loss of direct control of political
  decisions by the people)
• European Parliament only directly elected body,
  is weakest body
• Lisbon Treaty ratified by all 27 member nations
  Dec 13, 2007
• Entered into force Dec 1, 2009
• Aims to increase consistency and coherence of
  EUs actions
• Creation of a policy of cooperation in external
  affairs

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Economic Issues

• By mid-2007, economy struggling, GDP per capita
  30 behind the US
• Unemployment was higher, have been slower to take
  up information technology
• Reform debates
• Neo-liberals call for more flexible labor markets
  cut backs in welfare benefits
• Labor unions have won good salaries benefits,
  are not going to hand that back to free market
  w/o resistance
• At issue balance between welfare state free
  enterprise in Europeans mixed economies
• German economy has been strengthening remained
  relatively strong throughout the recent financial
  crisis
• Bought about partly through limiting growth of
  salaries and reducing benefits of German workers.
• Effects of 2004 2007 expansions still unclear

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European Union Highlights
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Why the European Union?

• Europes mission in the 21st century is to
• Provide peace, prosperity, and stability for its
  peoples
• Overcome the division in the continent
• Ensure that its peoples can live in safety
• Promote balanced economic and social development
• Meet the challenges of globalization and preserve
  the diversity of the peoples of Europe
• Uphold the values that Europeans share, such as
  sustainable development and a sound environment,
  respect for human rights and the social market
  economy

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12 Historic Steps

• 1951 The European Coal and Steel Community is
  established by the 6 sounding members
• 1957 The Treaty of Rome establishes a common
  market
• 1973 The community expands to nine member states
  and develops its common policies
• 1979 The first direct elections to the European
  Parliament
• 1981 The first Mediterranean enlargement
• 1993 Completion of the single market
• 1993 The Treaty of Maastricht establishes the EU
• 1995 The EU expands to 15 members
• 2002 Euro notes and coins are introduced
• 2004 10 more countries join the Union
• 2007 2 more countries join, bringing total to 27
• 2007 Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty

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Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy

• The European Union is open to any European
  country that fulfills the democratic, political,
  and economic criteria for membership
• Following several enlargements, the EU has
  increased from 6 to 27 members. Several other
  countries are candidates to join
• Each treaty admitting a new member requires the
  unanimous approval of all member states. In
  addition, in advance of each new enlargement, the
  EU will assess its capacity to absorb the new
  member(s) and the ability of its institutions to
  continue to function properly
• The successive enlargement have strengthened
  democracy, made Europe more secure and increased
  its potential for trade and economic growth

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How does the EU Work?

• The Council of Ministers of the European Union,
  which represents the member states, is the EUs
  main decision making body. When it meets at Head
  of State or Govt level, it becomes the European
  Council whose role is to provide the EU with
  political impetus on key issues
• The European Parliament, which represents the
  people, shares legislative and budgetary power of
  the Council of the EU
• The European Commission, which represents the
  common interest of the EU, is the main executive
  body. It has the right to propose legislation and
  ensures that EU policies are properly implemented

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What does the EU do?

• The European Union acts in a wide range of policy
  areas economic, social, regulatory and
  financial where its action is beneficial to the
  member states. These include
• Solidarity policies (aka cohesion policies) in
  regional, agricultural, and social affairs
• Innovation policies, which bring state-of-the-art
  technologies to fields such as environmental
  protection, R D, and energy
• The Union funds policies through an annual budget
  of more than 120 billion, which is largely paid
  for by the member states. It represents a small
  proportion of the EUs collective wealth (a
  maximum of 1.24 of the combined gross national
  income of all member states)

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The Single Market

• The single market is one of the EUs greatest
  achievements. Restrictions between member
  countires on trade and free competition have
  gradually been eliminated, with the result that
  standards of living have increased.
• The single market has not yet become a single
  economic area. Some sectors of the economy
  (public services) are still subject to national
  laws
• The individual EU countries still largely have
  the responsibility for taxation and social
  welfare
• The single market is supported by a number of
  related policies put in place by the EU over the
  years. They help ensure that market
  liberalization benefits as many businesses and
  consumers as possible

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EMU and the Euro

• The euro is the single currency of the EU. Twelve
  of the then 15 countries adopted it for non-cash
  transactions from 1999 and for all payments in
  2002 when euro notes and coins were issued
• 3 countries (Denmark, Sweden, and the UK) did not
  participate in the monetary union
• The new member countries are getting ready to
  enter the euro area as soon as they fulfill the
  necessary criteria
• In parallel with the objective of monetary
  stability, which is the responsibility of the
  European Central Bank, the member states are
  committed to higher growth and convergence

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Towards a Knowledge-based Society

• Priority on growth and jobs
• The Union intends to respond to globalization by
  making the Europe an economy more competitive
  (liberalization of telecommunications, services,
  and energy)
• The Union is supporting the reform programs of
  member countries by making it easier to exchange
  best practice
• It seeks to match the need for growth and
  competitiveness with the goals of social cohesion
  and sustainable development which are at the
  heart of the European model
• The EU structural Funds will spend more on
  training, innovation and research, in the 2007-13
  budget period

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A Citizens Europe

• Citizens of member countries an travel, live, and
  work anywhere in Europe
• The EU encourages and funds programs to bring
  citizens closer together, particularly in the
  fields of education and culture
• A feeling of belonging to the EU will develop
  only gradually, through tangible achievements and
  successes
• Some symbols that represent a shared European
  identity already exist. The most prominent is the
  single currency, but there are also the EU flag
  and anthem

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Freedom, Security, and Justice

• The opening of internal borders between EU member
  states is a very tangible benefit for ordinary
  people, allowing them to travel freely without
  being subject to border controls
• However, this freedom must go hand in hand with
  increased controls at the EUs external borders
  so as to combat effectively the trafficking of
  people and drugs, organized crime, illegal
  immigration and terrorism
• The EU countries cooperate in the area of
  policing and justice so as to make Europe safer
  and more secure

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The EU on the World Stage

• The EU has more influence on the world stage when
  it speaks with a single voice in international
  affairs (i.e. trade negotiations)
• In the area of defense, each country remains
  sovereign, whether a member of NATO or neutral.
  However, the EU member states are developing
  military cooperation for peacekeeping missions
• For reasons of history and geographic proximity,
  the southern Mediterranean and Africa are areas
  to which the EU gives close attention
  (development aid policies, trade preferences,
  food aid and human rights)

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What future for Europe?

• European integration will continue in the fields
  in which the member states consider is in their
  best interests to work together within the
  traditional EU framework (on issues like trade,
  globalization, the single market, regional and
  social development, research and development,
  measures to promote growth and jobs and many
  others)
• The institutional process of updating the rules
  governing the relations between the member
  countries and the EU and between the EU and its
  citizens will continue. The issue of the
  Constitutional Treaty will be at the forefront of
  discussions in the years to come, regardless of
  the form and content of any text that will
  eventually be adopted