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The European Union

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Title: The European Union


1
The European Union
2
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

3
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

4
  • 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

5
  • 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

6
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

7
  • 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

8
  • 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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11
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

12
  • 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

13
  • 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

14
  • 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

15
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

16
  • 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

17
  • 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

18
  • 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

19
  • 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

20
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

21
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

22
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24
European Union Highlights
25
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

26
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

27
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

28
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

29
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)

30
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

31
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

32
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

33
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

34
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

35
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)

36
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
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