{3

Cnsr SIUDY:
THT EUROPEAN UNION
The European Union (ELtr) includes more people and has more power ' than any regional coalition of governments in the world. The member states of the EU.have gtven it control over much of the public policy formulated in Europe, and current efforts to develop an EU constitution may be the final steps toward a "United States of Europe." The EU currenfly has a population of about 500 million people, more than all nations excludihg China and India. The combined gross domestic product for the EU is equivalent to that of the United States, although the United States maintains an average purchasing powbr higher than that of Europe. There is no doubt that the EU is an economic powerhouse, generating about 30 percent of all international trade. It is in the field of economic cooperation that the EU has been most successful, but despite its efforts at greater political integration, there is still a great deal of national resistance to a more "unionized" Europe.

Kev Tenrus
codecision Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Common Market Council of Ministers democratic deficit Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) European Commission European Court of Justice (ECO European Economic Community (EEC) European Parliament European Union (ELD Euroskepticism Lisbon Treaty

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Maastricht Jreaty Marshall Plan
mutual recognition Single European Act (SEA) supranational organization Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty of Rome

principle of subsidiarity ' Schengen Agreement KeY CoNcEprs

unanimity principle

There are currently 27 member states in the European Union; Norway and Switzerland are the only major countries in continental Europe that are not members. The Maastricht Treaty established tfre "three pillars" or spheres of activity into which the European Union would expand its authority. These include trade and economic matteri, cooperation in justice and home affairs, and creation of a Common Foreigm and Security Policy. The European Court of Justice has consistently held that European laws passed by the Council and regulations issued by the Commission take precedence over national law. Therefore, when the two come in conflict, EU law supersedes national law. The EU Council of Ministers reaches decisions using a qualified majority voting system. Qualified majority voting is the principle that unanimity does not have to be reached in making a decision; usually there is some predetermined "qualified'l number that mtrst be r:eached to verifiz the vote, such as three-fifths, or 67 percent, to get approval for a policy proposal. Monetary union has proven to be the key to further integration of the European economy. From the Treaty of Rome onward, European leaders have looked toward monetary union to bring Europe into a more interdependent economic and political system. The euro is the common currency and has been adopted by all EU members except the UK Sweden, and Denmark. Although the European Union has some characteristics of a federal system, it operates primarily on a confederal structure. Major policies implemented by the EU include: the Common Agrricultural Policy (CAP), Monetary System policy (Euro Currency), trade policy, and labor-oriented policies. The EU hai not widely entered into the area of foreign and military policy, partially due to the prominence of the North Atlantii Treaty Organization (NATO) in dealing with European national security issues.

lor a full discussion on the European union, see Barringrtot, comparative Pglitics: Structwes and Choices, Chapters 6,2,8, g, 1b, and 11; Hauss, comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global challenges, Tth edition, chapter 7; and Kesselman et al.,.Introduction to comparative Politics,5tr edition, AP edition, Chapter g.

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A Bnrer HsronY or rHe EU

7949, a small group of people met in Switzerland to discuss a document that would allow for a supranational organization djrectly responsible to the people of Erirope. Supranationalism is the process of integrating states, with the main purpose of sharing common rules and policies in order to strengithen these states' economic and political clout in the international commuruty. The union would have its ovun miiitary and an international court to settle disputes between national governments. This group was led by visionaries Jean Mgnnet of France, and Phul-Henri Spaak of Belgium The first steps toward integratiQn occurred as a result of the newly forming told War between the Soviet Union (and its allies in Eastern Europe) and the United States (and its allies in Western Euiope). Marshall Plan aid, economic assistance from the United States for reconstruction of Western Europe following the, war, was not to be given to individual governments. Instead it was distributed through the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). The OEEC wouldlater become the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) dnd would be the first building block in long process of Eurgpean integration. " theIn 1949, the Council of, Europe was formed to represent the various governments for both consultation and decision-making. The next year, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed a plan written by Jean Monnet for a supranationhl authorrty for the coal and steel industries. Free trade of coal and steel were the rnost important needs for the European countries that ultimately led to the development of the European Union. In 1951, France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlahds sigmed a treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). It led to a single rnarket for coai and steel through the elimination of tariffs anfl other trade bamiers. The treaty also created the four institutions that, in an altered format, remain at the center of the EU today: a High Authority of representatives, a Special Council of Ministers, a Court of Justice, and a Common Assembly.
The idea of European integration dates back to the Roman Empire, but it was not a serious consideration until the aftermath of World War II.

In

Tnenrv oF RoME
The Treaty of Rome, which was sigmed by the "original six" countries of the ECSC in 7957, was developed by a committee headed by flaulHenri Spaak, Belgium's foreign minister. The Treaty of Rome officially' founded the European Economic Community [EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Commission (Euratom). The most important provisions of the treaty called for the elimination of all internal tariffs and the creation of common external tariffs over a period of 15 years. The EEC had the same institutional structure as the ECSC; however, the High Authority was renamed the European Commission and was assigrned responsibility for representing supranational interests and for administering the EEC. The Council of Ministers'was the institutional representative of the national governments and had to approve all policy initiatives. Under the ECSC, most decisions of the

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council were made under the unanimity principle, in which all representatives had to vote in favor of a proposal for it to pass; just one dissenting vote could block passage of legislation. The Treaty of Ro.me changed the voting procedures in the Council and allowed for "qualifleil majority voting," in which ruember states, votes were weighted by their size. The treaty increased the size of the renamed European parliamenL formerly the common Assembly, and gave it the power to review decisions made by the commission and the Councl. rne European Parliament is the legiglative body of the EU. The t(eaty also establiihed the European court of Justice (ECo, the EU's judicial body, which has sweeping judiciary powers on EU legal matters. The ECJ would have seven members, one from each of the member states, and the other chosen by all six. The justices would act independently, regardless of their country of origin. The court was responsible for seeing that the EEC itself, the member governments, and their private corporations abided by the provisions of the Treaty of Rome. For the flrst 20 years, the EEC's prim4ry concern was removing all tariffs as stipulated by the treaty. In 1g66, the common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was created to regmlate agricultural and rural lndustries in Europe. By 7967, the EEC's institutions were streamlined by merging the EEC and Euratom into the European Ccimmunity (EC).

Tnr SrucLE

EuRopEAN

Acr

The Single European Act (SEA). which was passed by the Council in December 1985, widened the scope of the European communit5r,s, powers in three particular areas at the expense of national goveinments, decreasing their sovereignty.
The sEA introduced provisions for the completion of the internal market. The abolition of internal tariffs ahd quotas did not remove all barriers to trade. The commission estimated that regulatory procedures would have to be written in over 300 areis before the trade of goods and services could truly be free. sH The SEA introduced a number of ghanges in the way the EC was run. The most important of these was a reduction in the

ffi

ffi

use of the unanimity principle, which was stili used for a number of policy initiatives despite the establishment of the qualifled majority principle in the Treaty of Rome. The SEA tied the single-market program to qualifled majority voting. The unanimity principle wourd be needed only when deteimining whether new members should be admitted and whgn dealing with highly "sensitive single-market issues, such as fiscal policy, external border contrors, the movement of people, and workers'rights. Finally, the SEA noted the need for further monetary integration.

MnRsrRrcHr TREATv (1 gg1 ) The Maastricht Tteaty was signed in December 1991. The treaty formally established the European Union' (EU) and gave it the authority to act in new areas, including monetdry policy, foreigm affairq, national security, flsheries, transportation, the environment,

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,.. 255

health, justice, education, consumer protectiorL and tourism. The Maastricht Treaty is generally considered the single, most sigmificant agreement in the long history of the EU. The treaty's most important provisions include the following: 1. It established the idea of the "three pillars" 9r spheres of authority, which relate to the following areas: *r Trade and economic issues, includ.ing economic and monetary policy, the euro; and the European Central

s'

' 2.

Justice and home .affairs, which relate to the free ciiculation of people in a single European market. The Schengen Agrreement opened the borders of some member nations to all. Additionally, a new "Europol" coordinates police activrty and judicial cooperation on issues such as crime and terrorism. # Common Foreigm and Security Poliry (CFSP), which enhances European political cooperation and provides for. an eventual common defense pblicy for the FU. This is the weakest pillar of the EU, because many of th..ese functions are currently provided by NATO. It allowed for a formal recogmition of European citizenship, which would permit people to obtain European passports, wonk in any member state, and vote in European parliamentary
elections.

Bank.

3.

It endorsed the principle of subsidiariff, which determined that the EU should act only in areas in which policy goals cannot be
achieved by national or subnational gcivernments and are more likely to be reached at Llre supranational level.

4.

Most signiflcantly,

it committ'ed the EU to a single common currency (the euro) and created the common Europearr Central Bank, which had unprecedented supranational power to influence the economic policies of the EU and its member states. These two together constituted the Economic and MonetaryUnion tEMtI) of the EU.
The Maastricht Treaty also instituted the standard of codecision: this gave the European Parliament equal weight to the Council of Ministers on most Community legislation. The Parliament also acquired the right to vote on proposed Commission presidents.

5.

Sovereigntyis a topic that has been tested on the AF Exam.

It refers to the ability of a state to conduct its ovrrn affairs.

EU member states have ceded some sovereignty to the EU, particularl5r regarding economic decision-making and monetary policy, in order to benefit economically from the Common Market and the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

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The AP Exam has also had free-response questions that require knowledge of EU policies, including its monetary, trade, agriculture, and judicial policies. So, in addition to reviewing how the EU institutions have impacted the sovereignty of member countries, it is strongly advised that students review (and be able to describe), speciflc public policies of the European Union.

Tnrnry

oF AMSTERDAM (1 gg7)

The T?eaty of Amsterdam extended the Schengen Agreement provisions of the Maastricht Treaty and eliminated most border contiols inside the EU. The gave the EU more responsibility over legal 'mattersf such as treaty immigrration permits, asylum procedures, and directives on judicial cooperation across borders. The Amsterdam accord acknowledged that the EU viewed NATO as the dominant security orga;rization in Europe while reinforcing its aspiration to regulate its foreign policy in other areas. THe LseoN TREATY

Euroskepticism.

The Lisbon Meetings in zoosz convened to deal specifically with the idea of an EU constitution, which had been flrst broached in the Treaty of Nice in 2000. Although a formal EU constitution still has not been adopted, the Lisbon Tleaty established provisions for a permanent position of president of the EU, allowed for withdrawal from the EU by member states, established greater. authority for. both the EU Parliament and national parliaments, and established a charter of Fundamental Rights for the citizens of the EU. This treaty required unanimous consent. countries held referenda to approve it, but the treaty failed a referendum early in the ratification p.oi"s. rnis may re due to growing dissatisfaction with EU policies by citizens, known as

PoulcnL lNstrulorus or rnr EU

The political institutions of the EU today include the European commission, the council of Ministers, the European court of Justice,
and the European Parliament.

EunopenN CoMMtssloN ffi The Commission is made up of 27 members, one for each

ffi *

member state of the EU. The commission is the executive branch and also the formal bureaucratic branch of the EU, with several thousand civil servants working on EU policy and programs. The Commission is headeA by a p."JiA"rt, which as of this writing is Jos6 Manuel Durdo Barroso of portugal. The office of president rotates among member states, and the president

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257

currently does not have many formal powers. The Lisbon Tieaff'i,vould have strengrthened the power of the president. ffi Member governments appoint commissioners for five-year terms, coinciding with the electoral life of the European Parliament ffi The European Commission has exclusive rights to propose Community legislation in the form of regulations, directives, and recommendations. ffi{ The Commission supervises the implementation of Community policy to ensur0 that member states transpose EU law into , national.statutes and carry out these policies. ffi The Commission is the gnrardian of EU treaties, making sure that EU laws are observed and bringing member states and private bodies before the ECJ to make them abide by EU laws. ffi The Commission's main job is to overcome the difficulties national governments have in reconciling different national interests by proposing projects reflecting corlmon interests.

CouNql oF MTNsTERS
The Council of Ministers is the EU institution that demonstrates the continued power of the states. The various ministers and representatives of national governments meet as needed to make policy decisions. The Council is at the center of the EU's legislative process. The Commission initiates most EU legislatiory but its proposals become law only after they have been passed by the Council. The Council shares most decision-making powers with. the Parliament and Commission and can override parliamentary objections only by unanimous action. For example, the Minister of Agriculture in the UK may discuss and propose legislation regarding agriculture, but on a different policy issue this responsibility will'rotate to the appropriate minister within the country that represents that corresponding policy
area.

In geneial the Council uses qualifled majority voting with each country assigned a number of votes in proportion to its share of the EU population. The system tends to ovenrepresent smaller countries to keep large states fiom dominating policy procedures; however, it is very difflcult to pass legislation without the support of at least a few large countries.
EunopenN CouRT oF

JusrcE

'

European law is based on the treaties that have been agreed upon by member states throughout the EU's existence. European law is only part of the laws of the European Union member states, but where it exists, it supersedes the laws of the member states. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is located in Luxembourg. It consists of 27 justices, one from each member state, and nine advocates-general. Each justice serves a six-year term, and half of the justices are renewed every three years. The justices elect their president for a three-year term. The ECJ's decisions are binding on menlber states and their citizens. The ECJ has the power to declare legislation within a member country as unconstitutional. The ECJ also serves as a flnal court of appeal for legislation within the inember countries.

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The following is a-description of the various ways cases come
before the ECJ:
the preliminary rulingprocedure in which a nationa] court, when dealing with a case invoMng . Eirropean law, passes it on to the ECJ for advice on the case. $s Annulment proceedings allow anyone, whether a European institution, government, or individuaf to ask the court to rule

ss The most significant route is

on the legality of European legislation. #tr The ECJ makes decisions when the Commission or a member state asks the ECJ to decide whether a member state has failed to fulfill its EU legal obligations (treaty infringement

ffi ffi

proceedings). The ECJ goes into action if an institution fails to act when it is obtigated to do so under EU treaties. Member states and EU institutions may ask for rulings on the compatibility of international agreements with EU law.

EunoprRN PARLIAMENT
Since 1979, Members of the European Parliament (MEps) have been directly elected by the populations of member countries. This institution was designed to combat the growing democratic deficit or belief by member countries' citizens,that they had no impact on the EU policies. candidates to the Parliament run on national party tickets. Once they are elected, their national political groups join Europeanlevel party coalitions. The Treaty of Nice allows for changes in the size of Parliament and identifies the number of seats each country will be allotted. The size of the European Parliament will eventually rise to a

permanent 732 seats. The Parliament now can approve all nominees to the commission and can remove the entire commission if a vote of censure passes by a two-thirds margin. The Parliament also has to approve the budget. The Single European Act (SEA) gave Parliament more authority by creating a cooperation procedure, knoum as codecision, for most legislation. But most of the Parliament's power is to serve aS an advisory body. It obliges the council and commission to consult with Parliament in two phases. Firs! when the commission proposes a new initiative, the Parliament must give its opinion on it. If the council agrees with the Parliament, the proposal is adopted. If not, parliament must be consulted again, and one of three things may happen:

7. If Parliament

agrees or takes no action in three months, the Council's bill is adopted.

2. If the Parliament 3. If the Parliament .

unanimously.

proposes amendments, they must be considered by the Commission within a month.

rejects the Council's position outright, the Council can only adopt the initiative lf it votes to do so

The EU Budget The EU budget must be approved by the Europeah parliament. The budget grew throughout the 1980s and 19g0s, but has stabilized in the

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259

twenty-flrst century. It is small compared to the national budgets of member states, however, many EU policies also entail large expenditures out of national budgetsi Thir largest single expenditure in the EU budget is the category iitled natu.al resources, which includes atl agiricultural and rural development policies. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is included under the natural'resources section of the EU budget. Sustainable girowth is the second-largest category within the EU budget and includes energy policy, transportation expenditures,
and research and development costs.

PoUTICRL CULTURE OF THE E

There is little widespread identification with "Europe" among its citizenry. The key EU organizations that could link people to the union have not existed for a long enough time to establish a forrnal following. Partisan participation in Eur6pe exists almost exclusively at a national level. Interest giroups also remain nationally oriented, even those that participate in EU institutions and processes. The lack of public involvement in the EU has given rise to what is described by critics as a democratic deflcit. The democratic deficit may have come about because EU citizens have at best an indirect role in determining who sits on its most important decision-making bodies. The only directly elected body, the European Parliament, is the weakest institution within the EU. As a result, EU citizens cannot hold the institutions of the EU directly accountable for the political actions that they take. A lack of feedback aggrravates the democratic deficit. The size of the EU, as well as the fact that the European Parliament has few mechanisms for enforcing accountability, make_it difficult for average citizens to have much impact on decision-making within the EU. Onb of the key causes of a lack of European identification is the langaage gap. W}:rr/'e many Europeans speak two or more languages, and the official documents of the EU are produced in over 20 languages, there is no one language that more than 20 percent of all Europeans are comfortable using,' and this creates a significant barrier toward creating a truly "European" political identity. Opinion polls suggest that most Europeans are skeptical of the benefits of the EU. These "Euroskeptics'l have become more vocal recently and may have been responsible for the defeat of referenda to approve the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands. However, most policymakers in European countries favor broadening the EU's authority. This disconnect further aggravates the democratic deficit.

PuaLE POI.IcyAND THE EU

The EU has adopted an amay of policies covering a range of issues from immigrration to technological research. But perhaps.the two most distinct policies that epitomize the EU's grreat success and undmely failuies are the policies that created and maintain an integrated, internal market and that oversee the agrricultural industry of the entire union.

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Tne CovrMoN

MARKET
:

The single most irnportdnt thing the EU has done is to integrate many national markets into one. The Co4mon Market is a customs-free area surrounded by a common tariff within which manufactured goods can move freely and where there is a common agricultural policy. The r4ost important policy for creating the single market has been the removal of tariffs and other trade barriers. The Cassis de Dijon case of 1979 opened the legal door to both the SEA and the Maastricht Treaty, which helped establish the single'market. Cassis is a French liqueur that a German firm wanted to import, but the national government banned it for not meeting German alcohol content requirements to quali$z as a liqueur. The European Court ruled in favor of the importer, ruling that if Cassis met French standards for a liqueur, it should qualif,z under German standards as well and that bans based on such arbitrary differences constituted an illegal trade barrier. The court decision introduced the idea of mutual recognitiorl which holds that, except under the most unusual of circumstances, member states must recognize the standards for goods and services used by other countries. Monetary union proved to be the.key to integrration of the European economy. The adoption of the euro and the creation of the Economic and MonetaryUnion (EMU) provided the EU with a central bank and a strong currency that allow it to be one of the most significant political and economic actors in the global economy. The EMU also provides the EU with economic authority it can exert over national governments, thereby solidifiiing the EU as a supranational organization. The majority of imporVexport policy decisions are now primarily made by EU institutions. For example, the decision to halt the export of beef after Mad Cow disease made international news was made by the governing institutions of the EU.

Tne CouMoN AcRrcuLruRAL

Polcy (CAP)

The Common Agrricultural Policy (CAP) was originally a system of price supports.that kept prices for agrricultural goods higher than they probably would have beeh on an open market, both locally and globally. The CAP helped modernize European agriculture, but the system also encouraged farmers to overproduce. It often resulted in inefficient and costly agricultural programs throughout Europe. The CAP remains the single largest item in the EU budgeL in 2OO7, it made up 45 percent of the total budget of the European Union. Recently, CAP spending has shifted from direct price supports to "rural development." According to new policy developments, the CAP shoutd be reduced to approximately 30 percent of the EU budget by 2013.

THe FuTuRe OF THE EU

Acquis communautairesis the concept that all newly admitted member states, before gaining admission into the EU, must accept all preexisting bodies of laws, policies, and regulations that govern the EU. However, EU policies are generally proposed in treaties ratified by member states. Concessions are often made to certain member states to get their approval. For example, in order to get the Maastricht

CnseSruov: TneEunopenN UruoN

Treaty ratifled, provisions were approved that allowed Great Britairy Denmark, and eventually Sweden, to opt-out of the single currency portion of the treaty in return for their ratiflcation of the aEreement. It is still open to debate whether the EU and other supranational organizations will gain more political power, and it is rather unlikely that they will replace the nation-state in the near future. Nevertheless, the EU forces us to think about politics as a multitiered and multinational phenomenon that links the traditional flelds of comparative politics and international relations. Whatever its weaknesses or shortcomings, there is no doubt that the EU has helped to maintain peace in Europe for the better part of ttre last 60 years. It demonstrates that the nation-state is not the endpoint in the politicdl process that many traditional political scientists believed it to be.

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