1. Supranationalism and the European Union

2. Trends Devolution – Britain – decentralizing power of a unitary state
Integration – states pool sovereignty to gain political, economic, social clout
Conflict exists between the two ideas

3. Supranationalism United Nations World Trade Organization World Bank
Regional Organizations
Warsaw Pact
NATO
OAS
Arab League
OAU EU

4. The European Union Brief History 1949 formed
1957 Treaty of Rome – EEC created – forms common market
1965 EC created – tariffs, customs, atomic energy discussed
1991 – Maastricht Treaty – creates EU with focus on
Trade and economic matter (euro)
Justice and home affairs
Common foreign and security policy

5. Enthusiasm for growth has waned
Membership
28 countries
Enthusiasm for growth has waned
New possible entries are Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey (problematic) – can a non-European nation join?
Rapid integration causes issues
Organizational issues
Weak former communist nations who want to enter
Older members who worry about influx of immigrants
Enlargement fatigue
Must abide by three factors: stable democracy, market economy, willingness to abide by EU laws and regulations

6. Organization The Commission – executive
28 members – 1 from each member state who wear allegiance to EU
Initiate and implement new programs
The Council of Ministers – legislative part 1
Heads of state who meet frequently as European Council, led by president (Donald Tusk)
Vote based on proportion of population in home country
European Parliament – legislative part 2 (weakest branch)
Directly elected by the people every five years
Can propose amendment and reject proposals from Council, but Council can override them
European Court of Justice – judicial
28 justices have judicial review, decisions many limit national sovereignty
Is more powerful than most national judicial systems of EU member states

7. Rudimentary policies in:
Policymaking Power
Rudimentary policies in:
Defense
Social policy
Strong policies in:
Creation and maintenance of a single market
The union of their monetary policy
A common agricultural policy
Future policies may be in:
Common defense
Justice and Home Affairs
Terrorism

8. European Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty
2004 created European Constitution – rejected by Dutch and French
To save Constitution created Lisbon Treaty in 2007 that:
Strengthened the role of the European Parliament
Allowed for greater involvement of national parliaments
Allowed for withdraw from the EU
Created a permanent president European Council
Introduced a Charter of Fundamental Rights
Fear in shift from national to supranational institutions will create democracy deficit
European Parliament is the only directly elected body and is weak
Lisbon Treaty was rejected by Irish in 2008 – took until 2009 to gain ratification

9. Economic Issues
Tension between economic liberalism and economic nationalism
Sovereign debt crisis in Greece illustrates the problem
EU and IMF agreed to large loan to Greece who in turn had to implement harsh austerity measures
Greek economy is still fragile
Bailout to them is controversial – especially among the Germans
Has been discussion of economic structural adjustment of economies in trouble in the EU