European Union

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European Union

• 1993-Present

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EU Countries
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Name famous places in France.

• The Louvre
• One of the largest museums in the world
• Houses, arguably, the most precious art pieces
• The Eiffel Tower
• Built for the 1889 Worlds Fair
• Most visited (paid) monument in the world

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Name famous places in the UK.

• Tower Bridge
• Suspension and draw bridge good luck
• Big Ben
• Second largest four-faced clock tower in the
  world
• Renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012
• Stonehenge
• Built in 2400-2200BCE
• Mystery!

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Name other famous places in Europe.

• Roman Colosseum
• Built in 70-80CE
• Leaning Tower of Pisa
• Dont build on soft ground especially in the
  1100s
• Sagrada Familia
• Barcelona, began to build in 1882still not
  finished
• Parthenon
• Athens, built in 438BCE
• Trevi Fountain
• Rome, largest Baroque fountain in the world

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Why was the EU created?
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Reaction to WWII

• Europes competition and divisiveness created
  animosity which led to war.
• If the countries of Europe are more dependent on
  one another, the likelihood of more violence and
  war decreases.

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Tariffs

• What is a tariff?
• How might tariffs cause conflicts between
  countries?

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Begins in 1957

• Treaty of Rome
• Common market European Economic Community
• Elimination of tariffs
• Forge a common agricultural policy
• Promote and monitor nuclear energy European
  Atomic Energy Community

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Widening and Deepening

• Widen
• Geographic expansion
• Deepen
• Remove barriers
• Increase degree of integration

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Formalizes in 1993

• Maastricht Treaty
• Goals of the European Union
• an economic and monetary union (Euro)
• a common foreign and security policy

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Expansion of the EU

• Dublin Constitution
• appointment of an EU president
• appointment of an EU foreign minister
• Legislation would be approved by both the
  appointed Council and the elected European
  Parliament
• ?DEFEATED IN RATIFICATION ?

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Fear of the EU

• Why was ratification defeated?
• economic issues and fear
• unease over a growing number of immigrants
• erosion of national identity
• democratic deficit most leaders were appointed

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Lisbon Treaty, 2007

• New treaty created with some of the
  Constitutional issues resolved
• Needed ratification of all 27 members
• Ireland sent it to the voters, they rejected it.
• But ratified it a year later, with some changes.

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Governing the EU

• What does the US government look like?
• Draw a picture or diagram depicting how our
  government works

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Governing the EU

• European Commission
• Qualified majority voting weighted votes
  according to population
• European Parliament
• European Court of Justice
• National vetoes removed in some policy areas
• No reference to a flag or anthem

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Entry Task

• Answer each item in your notes
• What is our economy dependent upon?
• What are some of the labor laws we have developed
  over the last 150 years?
• Please describe the US economic philosophy.

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Eurozone

• Those member nations that use the Euro
• Not including the largest economy in Europe
  United Kingdom
• Intended to create a stable economic powerhouse.
• Specific financial criteria
• That no one really paid attention to

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Economic Crisis

• Exposed weaknesses in EU
• European governments in too much debt
• Inconsistent fiscal policies in member nations
• Inability of the EU leaders to react quickly
• Inability of the European Central Bank to do what
  the FED did

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Entry Task

• Define in your notes
• capitalism
• socialism
• mixed economy

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Economic Crisis

• Greece
• Widespread tax evasion
• Massive spending with borrowed money
• Italy
• Enormous national debt
• Ireland
• Under-regulated banks
• Spain
• Real-estate collapse
• Led to 22 unemployment

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Economic Crisis

• Germany
• Largest economy in the Eurozone
• Dependent upon trade surpluses sustained by the
  debt-ridden, high consuming EU members
• Inability to borrow money
• Greece, Ireland, and Portugal
• BAILOUTS
• With austerity measures to reduce deficit

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Austerity Measures

• Increase taxes
• Decrease government spending

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Strong Labor Unions

• Europe has a history of strong labor unions
• Like the U.S., the acceptance of labor unions
  kept most of those countries from communist
  revolutions
• Labor union power has increased over the last two
  decades

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Strong Labor Unions

• France
• Difficult to fire anyone
• Blamed for increased unemployment
• Led to Paris law allowing anyone under 26 to be
  fired within the first two years of employment
  for any reason
• Greece
• Difficult to fire anyone
• 80 paid holidays throughout the year