European Union

An emerging political system?

2007-01-01, EU enlargement

• Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU

• Now the EU includes 27 countries

Comparison: EU vs. US

• Land area– European Union is less than half the size of

the United States

• Population– European Union has 516 million residents

• GDP (purchasing power parity)– US$13 trillion

• EU exports more but imports less than US

European Union

• A family of democratic European countries

• not a State intended to replace existing state

• more than any other international organization

• Member states– set up common institutions

– delegate some of their sovereignty

European Union

• More than an economic organization or trading bloc

• Three pillars (or spheres) of activities– trade and economic matters– justice and home affairs– foreign and security policy

• most controversial aspect of EU today

Outline

• How and why did the EU emerge?

• What are its main decision-making bodies?

• Progress of European integration– bursts of growth– broadening (add new members)– deepening (add new powers)– stagnation, doubts, and criticisms

“Europe Day” (1950)

• Destruction of World War II

• 1950-05-09 “Europe Day”

• Schuman (Fr.) proposed an organized Europe to maintain peace

ECSC (1951)

• European Coal and Steel Community– 6 members: Belgium, West Germany,

Luxembourg, France, Italy, and the Netherlands

European Economic Community

• Same 6 countries as in ECSC

• Treaties of Rome (1957)– European Atomic Energy Community

– European Economic Community– remove trade barriers– form common market

Merge of 3 communities (1967)

• 1967, executives of ECSC, EURATOM, and EEC were merged

• one single Commission

• one single Council of Ministers

• European Parliament– members chosen by national parliaments

– directly elected every 5 years since 1979

Enlargement (1973 - 1995)

• 1973– Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom

• 1981– Greece

• 1986– Spain and Portugal

• 1995– Austria, Finland, and Sweden

Creation of European Union

• Treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht in 1992

• add to the existing “Community” system

• inter-government cooperation between member states– justice and home affairs– foreign and security policy

Single Market

• free movement of– goods– services– people– and capital

• formally completed by January 1, 1993• passport and customs checks were

abolished at most of the internal borders

Single Currency

• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)– exchange rate stability– interest rates, the budget deficit, the inflation

rate, and the debt-to-GDP ratio

• When the euro was launched in 1999, the European Central Bank (ECB) took over full responsibility for monetary policy throughout the euro area

Monetary Union: Stage III

• European Central Bank be set up

• exchange rates between participating currencies be fixed once and for all

• single currency be introduced for the administrations and the banks

• coins and notes of the single currency be in circulation on January 1, 2002 at the latest

Introduction of the Euro

• 2002-01-01

EU enlargement

• Three main criteria that countries have to meet before being eligible to begin negotiations to join the EU (1997)– establishment of a functioning and stable

democratic regime– market-oriented capitalist economy– acceptance of the 80,000 pages of laws and

regulations already on the EU’s books

EU enlargement

• Ten countries joined the EU in 2004

• former communist countries– Poland, Hungry, Czech, Slovakia, & Slovenia

• former Soviet republics– Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

• Mediterranean islands– Cyprus and Malta

• Two countries joined the EU in 2007

EU applicant countries

• Two candidate countries– Turkey and Croatia– Entry negotiations formally began in 2005

• An application for membership submitted by Macedonia was formally accepted by EU leaders in 2005

• The EU is now looking at further enlargements in the Western Balkans

Other problems

• Few people identify themselves first as European.

• Key EU organizations are still superficial

• Democratic deficit

• Lack of common language