European Union An emerging political system?

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