1. SUPRANATIONALISM and DEVOLUTION Political Geography Chapter 8

2. European Regions Western Europe The British Isles Nordic Europe Mediterranean Europe Eastern Europe

3. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR EUROPE? UNIFICATION? INSTABILITY?

4. Supranationalism A venture involving three or more states Political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives New “Euro”Currency

5. European Supranationalism Why would anyone want to give away international autonomy, one of the most sought after goals in this century? 1944 Benelux Agreement Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg HAVE MUCH IN COMMON LINGUISTICALLY AND ECONONOMICALLY

6. Primary function of the OEEC To accept and distribute funds allocated under the Marshall Plan Developed by the U.S. to assist the rebuilding of European countries at the end of WW II History of European Supranationalism

7. Examples of European Supranationalism

8. European Union (EU) Original Members: (12) Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK Established: 7 February 1992 Effective: 1 November 1993 Aimed to coordinate policy among the members in three fields: -- economics -- defense -- justice and home affairs

9. European Union Members Today Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg France Italy Germany Britain Ireland Denmark Greece Spain Portugal Austria Sweden Finland Today there are 27 members

10. European Supranationalism EU Members Non-members Prospective Members

11. Supranationalism Problems Loss of autonomy Disparities in levels of economic development Technical barriers Cultural barriers

12. The powerful centrifugal process whereby regions or people within a state demand and gain political strength and autonomy. Many of Europe’s devolutionary movements came from nations within a state that define themselves as distinct ethnically, linguistically, or religiously. Examples: Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

13. BASQUE – devolutionary process Within Spain there are independence movements in some of the autonomous regions, notably the regions of Catalonia, Basque country and Navarre. These are mostly peaceful but some, such as ETA and Terra Lliure, have used violent means.autonomous regionsCataloniaBasque countryNavarreTerra Lliure

14. SHATTERBELTS OF EUROPE

15. Does USA have any Devolutionary Pressures? YES! Hawai’i. 1993 marked the 100-year anniversary of the USA’s annexation of Hawai’i. Local minority native Hawaiians demanded the return of rights lost during the ‘occupation’. This included the right to reestablish an independent state called Hawai’i. Unfortunately they lack numbers, resources and influence to achieve their separatist aims.