The Future of the European Union: Great Promise, Great Risk Andrew Duncan Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine Global Connect | University of California, Irvine

What is the European Union? Since the end of the Second World War, European nations have increasingly integrated politically economically culturally

Why do we care? The EU is a unique and historic change in regional politics. o Could it be a sign of the future? The EU is the largest economy in the world. o The largest producer o The largest exporter o The largest importer What happens in the EU affects your life!

EU : Pop: 503,492,091 Area: 1,669,807 sq mi GDP: $17,577 trillion For comparison, the US is larger, but has fewer people. Pop: 314,970,000 Area: 3,794,101 sq mi GDP: $ trillion

How the EU was built... The creation of the EU is a remarkable feat for a region which had been dominated by wars and empires for centuries World War II World War I o How many smaller wars were between these two? England and France alone have fought with and against each other for almost 1000 years!

...by overcoming conflict The EU was created over more than half of a century through many treaties and agreements.

Why create the EU? Collaboration- working together for mutual prosperity. Competition- not with each other, but with other parts of the world (e.g. the US and East Asia). The creation of the EU is an attempt to secure greater global power for the member nations.

Political Integration: Breaking Down Borders The European Union (EU) is similar to a confederation, a political system where the central authority is limited and member states retain a great deal of autonomy. Member nations retain sovereignty in most cases. However, there are several supranational bodies which provide a democratic structure to o negotiate trade agreements with non-members. o abolish border checks and increase mobility. o unify environmental and safety regulations. o regulate agriculture to ensure EU self-sufficiency.

Political Structure European Commission: the executive branch, composed of one commissioner from each state. European Council: the primary legislative body, composed of heads of state from each member nation, as well as the President of the European Commission. European Parliament: secondary legislative body, with direct elections and population proportional representation. Serves to balance the power of the council. European Court of Justice, European Central Bank, European Investment Bank

Little Military Integration While member nations may cooperate on military matters, the EU has no standing army nor military oversight. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has served that purpose since 1949.

Economic Integration: Breaking Down Barriers Many of the EU's goals and functions are designed to create a unified economy. Free transport of goods and capital Easy movement of workers Coordination of economic priorities Greater power to negotiate with non- member countries. This functions as a Free Trade Area, such as NAFTA, but with greater centralized power.

Economic Integration: Example Economic Integration: Example What happens if a French business person wants to open a new restaurant in Italy? The business person can legally enter Italy and obtain a business license. The business person can easily import French goods. French farmers respond to the increasing demand by hiring workers who emigrate from other countries. What other effects might come of this?

Social Integration: Breaking Down Biases To some extent there has emerged a European culture and identity beyond individual nationalities. 1. Government and corporation employees working together across borders. 2. Increasing travel and small business trade. 3. Creation of Transnational Organizations trade unions, scientific and professional associations sport and hobby associations

European Union in Crisis! Limits in each type of integration. 1.Social integration is biased towards the middle and upper classes. Popular culture is still mostly national, not transnational. Only 13% of Europeans considered themselves to be European. 2. Political integration is limited because of continued nationalism, and different levels of economic development and stability.

European Union in Crisis! 3. Economic integration has only benefited certain people. Low-wage workers have often actually been harmed. Even worse, economic integration has severely limited the ability of governments to manage their own economies. By being on the Euro currency, managed by the European Central Bank, national governments cannot control the availability of money in their economy. Because of this, when one nation is having economic difficulties, they must rely on the entire EU to help them, which leads to fighting.

Is the great European collaboration sustainable? Or will economic conflict lead to renewed cultural and political conflict which will tear the union apart? If the EU is successful, it could provide a model for stronger global governance. If the EU fails: Short term: worsen the global economic recession Long term: a "failed experiment" in regional governance The Future Of The EU

References 1.Wikipedia; Van Roosebeke, B Basics of the European Union, STATE LIABILITY FOR BREACHES OF EUROPEAN LAW Part I,Van RoosebekeSTATE LIABILITY FOR BREACHES OF EUROPEAN LAW 4. Blankhart, B The European Union: confederation, federation or association of compound states? A Hayekian approach to the theory of constitutions. Constitutional Political Economy 18.2, pp Chang, W The EU and the Eurozone: Past, present, and future. GITAM Review of International Business, 3.1, 6. Fligstein, N Euroclash: The EU, European identity, and the future of Europe. Oxford University Press. 7. EU Map; 8. New York TImes "Has 'Europe' Failed?" Sambanis, Nicholas.