AP Comp Gov - European Union

European Union

Supranational organization

• Multi-national political communities wherein power is transferred or delegated to an authority by governments of member states.
• EU is the only entity which provides for international popular elections

Common market

• Guarantees the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people
• Trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of production (capital and labour) and of enterprise and services

European Monetary Union

• Agreement among the participating member states of the EU to adopt a single hard currency and monetary system

Treaty of Rome

• formed the European Economic Community, which removed internal tariffs and created new ones that applied to all of them

Maastricht Treaty

• 1991: Maastricht Treaty (created the EU)
• introduced new forms of cooperation between the Member State governments – defense, environment, tourism, monetary policy
• created new structure with three “pillars” (spheres of authority)

“three pillars”

• Trade and economic matters (single currency, European Central Bank)
• Justice and home affairs (immigration, asylum)
• Foreign and security policy (most visionary and controversial area)

Free movement

• Fundamental right guaranteed to EU citizens.
• Abolition of border controls
• Requires strengthened management of the union’s external borders as well as regulated entry and residence of non-EU nationals, including through a common asylum and immigration policy

Integration

• Process of political, legal, and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe.

Lisbon Treaty

• Designed to meet the challenges of the arrival of new members from central and eastern Europe
• Signed by EU leaders in 2004 and sent to all member states for ratification
• Rejected by French and Dutch voters
• Reform treaty negotiated during 200
• Had to be ratified by all 27 member states before coming into force
• The last country to ratify to treaty was the Czech republic
• Treaty became law in 2009
• Main provisions
• Giving the European Parliament greater legislative and budgetary powers
• Granting national parliaments a role in ensuring that the EU complies with the principle of subsidiary
• Increasing the number of areas covered by qualified majority voting in the council
• A clearer presentation of the breakdown of powers and responsibilities between the Union and its member countries
• A legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights guaranteeing the freedoms and rights of European citizens
• Election of a president of the European Council for a tern of two and a half years, renewable once
• A new post of High Representative for the Union in Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to increase the impact, coherence and visibility of the EU’s external action

Explain the balancing act between Britain and the EU

• UK opted out of introducing the Euro
• Britain will play a strong and positive role with the EU, while staying accountable to British people
• Work with the EU on trade, single market, economic growth, and delivering real benefits for Britain and British people
• EU Bill: legislation that will ensure that in the future, Parliament and Brisith people will have their say on any proposed transfer of powers from the UK to the EU

Conflict of sovereignty – Democratic Deficit

• Conflicts of sovereignty
• Monetary policies
• European Monetary Union
• Single Market
• Environmental regulation
• Expanding membership
• Trade policy (CAP)
• Human rights
• Common foreign and security policy
• Border control (immigration and asylum)
• Democratic Deficit:
• Depends on how viewed
• Ideally democratic Nation-State: EU has a democratic deficit
• WTO, World Ban, UN: EU has a democratic surplus
• Biggest democratic difficulties for the EU:
• low popular interest in the EU
• low turnout in elections to the European Parliament
• divide between politicians and general population on European integration
• Complicated and technocratic nature of EU decision0making process
• Activism of the EU Court of Justice

History of the EU – common market, European Community, European Union, Maastricht Treaty (1991), three pillars, membership process

• History
• Began in an effort to revitalize Europe after WWII ended
• Initial goals were economic
• Evolution:
• European Coal and Steel Community
• The European Economic Community (EEC)
• Treaty of Rome (1956): formed the European Economic Community, which removed internal tariffs and created new ones that applied to all of them
• The European Community
• Continued to develop the Common Market
• The European Union
• common market: free movement of goods, capital, services, and people
• 1991: Maastricht Treaty (created the EU)
• introduced new forms of cooperation between the Member State governments – defense, environment, tourism, monetary policy
• created new structure with three “pillars” (spheres of authority)
• Three pillars:
• Trade and economic matters (single currency, European Central Bank)
• Justice and home affairs (immigration, asylum)
• Foreign and security policy (most visionary and controversial area)
• EU Enlargement
• Country must have an functioning and stable democratic regime
• Market-oriented capitalist economy
• Acceptance of the 80,000 pages of laws and regulations already on the EU’s books

How many members? Who were the latest members to join? Who wants to join?

• 27 countries
• Romania and Bulgaria were the latest members to join
• 4 official candidate countries: Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, and Turkey
• Potential candidates: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia

Organization of the EU – the Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice – know specific structure and powers

• European Parliament: elected by the peoples of the Member States
• MEP’s are directly elected every 5 years
• Serves 3 function:
• Create and adopt European laws
• Adopt the EU budget and share budgetary authority with the Council
• Political supervision over all institutions. Supervision of the Commission and approve of Commissioners.
• One of the weakest institutions in the EU
• Legislative process:
• 1. Council and commission must consult with the parliament in two stages. When the commission proposes a new initiative, the parliament must give its opinion on it that the council must take into account when making its decision
• 2. Once this happens, the parliament must be consulted again, at which point one of three things can occur:
• a) if the parliament agrees/takes no action within 3 months, the bill is adopted
• b) if the Parliament proposes amendments, they must be considered by the commission within a month
• c) if the parliament rejects the council’s position outright, the council can only adopt it if it does so unanimously
• Council of the Union: composed of the governments of the Member states
• EU’s main decision making body
• Member states make turn holding the Council Presidency for a six-month period
• Attended by one minister from each EU country
• The Union’s legislative body in co-decision with parliament
• Shares budgetary authority with Parliament
• Police and Judicial Cooperation
• Demonstrates the continued power of the states
• Council has to pass legislation for it to become law
• Uses qualified majority voting, roughly based on population
• European Commission (executive branch)
• Union’s executive body – responsible for implementing EU legislation
• Upholds the general interests of the EU
• Can propose legislation to Parliament and the Council
• The Commission answers to the Parliament
• The entire Commission has to resign if the Parliament passes a motion of censure against it
• Ensures the law is adhered to with the aid of the Court of Justice
• Negotiates International Agreements
• 20 members who serve renewable 5-year terms
• most European institution
• Court of Justice: compliance with the law
• Made up of one judge from each EU country
• Appointed by joint agreement of the governments of the member states for a renewable term of six years
• The Court’s role is to ensure that EU law is complied with, and that the Treaties are correctly interpreted and applied
• Located in Luxembourg
• Court of Auditors: sound and lawful management of the EU budget

Active Policymaking – a single internal market, union of monetary policy (Euro and central bank), agricultural policy (farm subsidies), environment – know specific examples of countries viewpoints!

• Creating and maintaining a single internal market
• Trucking goods, professional licenses
• Free movement of goods, services, people, and capital
• Formal completed by Jan 1, 1993
• Passport and customs checks were abolished at most of the internal borders
• Union of monetary policy
• Euro, interest rates
• UK does NOT mandate the Euro
• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
• Exchange rate stability
• Interest rates, the budget deficit, the inflation rate, and the debt-to-GDP ratio
• When the euro was launched in 1999, the European Central Bank took over full responsibility for monetary policy throughout the euro area
• European Central Bank
• Sits atop of system of European central banks
• Responsible for monetary policy
• Manages the euro
• Complete autonomy in monetary sphere
• Indirectly decides on economic policy
• Creates issues of sovereignty
• Common Agricultural Policy
• Farm subsidies (trying to modernize inefficient farms)

Future Cooperation and Policy – common defense, terrorism, home affairs (immigration)

• Common defense
• Troop commitment and deployment up to the member states
• Terrorism
• Cooperation amongst police forces
• Britain, Ireland, Denmark rarely participate
• Justice and home affairs
• Free movement of EU citizens