 Devolution: process of decentralizing the unitary state to share policy making power with regional gov’ts  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

 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

 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 organization’s 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

 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

 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

 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 gov’t  Most of the country technically not in Europe  If EU is mostly economic, religion doesn’t matter, but if EU begins fulfilling other pillars some fear religious differences could hinder integration process

 Challenges of Rapid integration process  Organizational issues for large numbers  Many former communist countries w/ relatively weak economies at end of 20 th 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 gov’ts (i.e. France, Germany, Austria) have lost enthusiasm for further growth  Economic benefits of recent expansions are still unknown  Limited growth potential remaining

 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 gov’ts nominate commissioners, but they swear oath of allegiance to EU, don’t take direction from national gov’t  Main responsibility: initiate & implement new programs, & forms permanent executive that supervises work of EU

 The Council of Ministers:  Central to legislative process  Commission may initiate legislation, but doesn’t 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

 The European Parliament:  Doesn’t 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 gov’ts  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

 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

 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

 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

 Common agricultural policy: has been less successful than other areas, but EU recently put in place new programs  Almost half of the organization’s 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

 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

 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

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 EU’s actions  Creation of a policy of cooperation in external affairs

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

European Union Highlights

Why the European Union?  Europe’s mission in the 21 st 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

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

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

How does the EU Work?  The Council of Ministers of the European Union, which represents the member states, is the EU’s main decision – making body. When it meets at Head of State or Gov’t 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

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 EU’s collective wealth (a maximum of 1.24% of the combined gross national income of all member states)

The Single Market  The single market is one of the EU’s 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

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

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 budget period

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

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 EU’s 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

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)

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