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Title: The European Union (EU)


1
The European Union (EU)
2
What is it?
  • The European Union (EU) is a family of democratic
    European countries, committed to working together
    for peace and prosperity.
  • It is not a State intended to replace existing
    states, but it does represent a greater
    compromise of sovereignty than any other
    international organization.
  • The EU is unique its Member States have set up
    common institutions to which they delegate some
    of their sovereignty so that decisions on
    specific matters of joint interest can be made
    democratically at European level.
  • This pooling of sovereignty is also called
    "European integration" 

3
Backgroundpost WWII governments.
4
West Germany
  • By the 1950s, West Germany had evolved into a
    stable two-party democracy Christian Democratic
    Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD).
  • Konrad Adenauer (CDU) (Chancellor 1949-1967)
    led W. Germany towards closer ties with the US
    and the other W. European nations.

5
West Germany, continued
  • Following the death of Adenauer, Willy Brandt
    (SPD) took over and began a process called
    Ostpolitik, which meant he tried to open
    diplomatic contacts and with Eastern Europe.
  • Brandt formally recognized E. Germany and
    accepted the post-war settlements in the east,
    thus easing tensions with the USSR, Poland and
    Czechoslovakia.

6
Post-war Italy
  • Following WWII, Italy adopted a new constitution
    which brought the Italian monarchy to an end and
    created a democratic republic (which still is
    there today).
  • Two major parties dominated the new government
    the communists (because they had been
    anti-fascist during the war) and the Christian
    Democratic Party.
  • Italy remained in the W. European bloc.

7
Post-war France
  • The 4th French Republic was formed after WWII,
    but it was plagued by the frequent changes in
    government ministries and by factionalism.
  • France had many small parties and so they all had
    to rely on multi-party coalitions to implement
    their policies.
  • Women in France voted in parliamentary elections
    for the first time in 1946.

8
Fifth French Republic
  • Using the Algerian crisis as a pretext, DeGaulle
    created the 5th French Republic in 1958, giving
    the French President much more power.
  • DeGaulle used his power to build an independent
    France and to try to make France somewhat
    independent of America.

9
Economic Recovery in Western Europe
  • Marshall Plan aid was used to provide the
    financial underpinnings for the post-war economic
    recovery and expansion of W. Europe.
  • This growth lasted until the economic downturn of
    the early 1970s.

10
Economic Recovery
  • For approximately a decade after the war,
    workers wages failed to keep up with economic
    growth.
  • To offset the potential social problems this
    could have caused, most W. European governments
    provided social welfare protection programs for
    their citizens.

11
Post-war Great Britain
  • The British Labor Party tried to direct national
    policy toward solving many problems, such as
    inadequate housing for workers, poor safety
    standards and wages in industries, and lack of
    security in employment.
  • The Labor Party concentrated on many issues that
    had been big problems since the industrial
    revolution.

12
Britain, continued
  • To avoid social unrest, the government enacted a
    variety of reforms.
  • The British government nationalized the Bank of
    England, the railways, the airlines, and the coal
    steel industries.
  • The government also established old-age pensions,
    unemployment insurance, allowances for
    child-rearing, and the National Health Service.

13
Reforms in Europe
  • France and West Germany also faced many of the
    same social and economic problems that were found
    in Britain.
  • The French communist party was somewhat powerful
    after WWII and forced many socialist reforms.
  • West Germany also adopted many similar reforms to
    bring recovery and stability after the war.

14
The Cost of Reform
  • The economic cost of these social economic
    reforms was long debated.
  • Because the 1990s process of globalization often
    had a negative effect for the nations of W.
    Europe, (with their high wages and very
    comprehensive social welfare programs), they
    often found it much harder to compete in the
    global marketplace.
  • Under Margaret Thatcher, there was a significant
    rollback of the Br. welfare state.

15
Implementation of Economic Reforms
  • 1951 Formation of the European Coal Steel
    Community.
  • Goal to coordinate the production of coal
    steel and to prevent some of the economic
    competition that had served as a cause for
    previous 20th century wars.

16
Economic Reforms, cont.
  • 1958 Formation of the European Common Market
    (now the European Economic Community--EC)
  • The EC was established to eliminate custom duties
    among the participating nations and to establish
    a common tariff on imports from the rest of the
    world.

17
European Union
  • 1991 Members of the European Union (European
    Parliament) signed the Maastrict treaty in 1991
    in Maastrict, Netherlands.
  • Goal to establish a common European currency
    and a central banking structure by 1999.
  • The Euro is currently in use in member nations.

18
Map 301 THE GROWTH OF THE EUROPEAN UNION This
map traces the growth of membership in the
European Union from its founding in 1957 through
the introduction of its newest members in 2004.
Note that Turkey though having applied for
membership has not yet been admitted.
19
History of the EU
  • The historical roots of the European Union lie in
    the Second World War.
  • Idea of European integration conceived to prevent
    such killing and destruction from ever happening
    again
  • First proposed by the French Foreign Minister
    Robert Schuman in a speech on May 9, 1950. This
    date, the "birthday" of what is now the EU, is
    celebrated annually as Europe Day
  • Phases of growth
  • Initially, the European Economic Community (EEC)
    consisted of just six countries Belgium,
    Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the
    Netherlands (1958)
  • European Communities (EC) (1967)
  • Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in
    1973
  • Greece in 1981
  • Spain and Portugal in 1986
  • European Union (EU) (after 1992) (Maastricht
    Treaty)
  • Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995
  • Largest enlargement took place with 10 new
    countries joining May 9, 2004

20
Creation of the EU
21
GROWTH OF THE EU
22
GROWTH OF THE EU
Admission of Romania and Bulgaria 2007
Croatia and Macedonia are new candidates
Major debates about Turkey
23
D O M A I N
?
CORE
ANTICIPATED EXPANSION
?
24
CONFIRMATION OF CORE-DOMAIN MODEL
25
How does it work?
  • There are five EU institutions, each playing a
    specific role
  • European Parliament (one of two legislative
    bodies in the EU elected by the peoples of the
    Member States) 
  • Council of the European Union (EUs highest
    Legislative Body has legislative initiative is
    made up of representatives appointed by member
    states according to a population-based
    allotment) 
  • European Commission (EUs executive body one
    commissioner per country appointed by each
    government) 
  • Court of Justice (ensures compliance with the EU
    laws) 
  • Court of Auditors (manages the EU budget)
  • These are flanked by five other important bodies
  • European Economic and Social Committee (expresses
    the opinions of organized civil society on
    economic and social issues)  
  • Committee of the Regions (expresses the opinions
    of regional and local authorities)  
  • European Central Bank (responsible for monetary
    policy and managing the euro)  
  • European Ombudsman (deals with citizens'
    complaints about maladministration by any EU
    institution or body) 
  • European Investment Bank (helps achieve EU
    objectives by financing investment projects) 

26
The Euro
  • The Treaty of Rome (1957)
  • Declared a common market as a European objective
  • Aim increase economic prosperity and contribute
    to "an ever closer union among the peoples of
    Europe"
  • The Single European Act (1986) and the Treaty on
    European Union (1992) built on this
  • introduced Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
  • laid the foundations for a single currency
  • name Euro was selected in 1995
  • in January 1999, the exchange rates of the
    participating currencies were irrevocably set and
    Euro area Member States began implementing a
    common monetary policy
  • in January 2002, 12 States in the EU introduced
    the new euro banknotes and coins

27
The Eurozone
  • Coins and banknotes 1st used Jan 1, 2002
  • Cyprus sheduled to join in 2008
  • Slovakia scheduled to join in 2009
  • Estonia scheduled to join in 2010
  • Sweden is technically obliged to join but the EU
    has made public that they will not enforce this
    with regard to Sweden
  • Britain and Denmark have a derogation releasing
    them from having to join

28
Why have bills different sizes colors?
What values are reflected in these artifacts
that are not found in American money?
29
What about Switzerland?
  • Swiss are traditionally suspicious of other
    countries
  • Swiss tradition of neutrality (WWI WWII)
  • self-imposed
  • permanent
  • armed
  • In some ways Switzerland is like the US
  • Nationalistic government not interested in ceding
    sovereignty
  • Economic policies are currently designed to
    protect local industries (esp. agriculture) from
    foreign competition
  • Initial cost of joining EU (progressive financial
    redistribution policy would cost the Swiss)
  • Switzerland has embarked on a policy of building
    bilateral agreements with the EU rather than
    joining outright

30
Costs of staying out
  • Export problems
  • Access to EU markets is not guaranteed
  • Inflation problems
  • Europeans nervous about the Euro due to expansion
    of the EU invest in Swiss Francs, inflating the
    value of the currency and inhibiting Swiss
    exports
  • Capital flight
  • High construction costs, expensive labor, and
    skill shortages already make investment in
    Switzerland unattractive
  • Several multinational corporations, such as
    Roche, Sulzer and Alusuisse, have frozen planned
    investment projects in Switzerland
  • Large Swiss companies, including Nestle, are
    shifting activities out of Switzerland in fear of
    discrimination by other nations
  • Already four out of five employees of the top 15
    Swiss companies work in other countries
  • Scientific information lag
  • EU scientific exchange programs accept Swiss
    citizens only if they fail to fill such exchanges
    with persons from EU countries
  • Accumulated bilateral agreements and cooperation
    may create de-facto incorporation in the EU for
    Switzerland

31
The EU in comparative perspective
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US dominates entertainment industry in Europe
Cultural hegemony?
37
SUMMARY
  • The European Union is the strongest supranational
    organization in the world
  • shared currency financial management
  • legislative, judicial, and executive bodies
  • regulatory and planning bodies
  • The EU is growing geographically, and its growth
    suggests a core-domain model
  • core and domain are borne out by distribution of
    income
  • The EU does not appeal to all Europeans (at least
    not yet)
  • small states in particular seem skeptical
  • Roughly comparable to the US in some ways
  • population slightly larger than that of the US
  • somewhat more densely settled than the US
  • economy is at least as strong as the American
    economy
  • other social statistics (e.g. literacy, infant
    mortality homicide) are as good or better than
    the US
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