European Union: Midterm Exam

Allison Brown European Union Dr. Anderson March 17, 2021 Midterm Exam I.D. Questions: 1. European Council The European Council refers to the meetings of all the EU’s heads of state and government to set political objectives and interests for the Union, the council also sets the agenda and presides over meetings as well as representing the EU in other European countries and on the world stage. The European Council is important because it establishes the EU’s commission president as well as the political guidelines and goals for the EU in that period. 2. Single European Act Enacted by the European Economic Community and signed in 1986, the SEA undoubtedly was the start of a European economic community and laid the groundwork for a single market that would be achieved in 1992. Establishing the single market was revolutionary in Europe and allowed for goods and services to move freely across borders. SEA also modified some regulations of the European Parliament and other government procedures for an “ever closer union” and is important to the formation of the EU because it was an initial push for integration politically and economically. 3. Court of First Instance Later renamed as the “General Court” in the Lisbon Treaty, the court hears some of the cases not evaluated by the ECJ (European Court of Justice). The Court of First Instance most often sees cases regarding: cases from public individuals against the European Commission, appeals from Commission railings, and administrative issues. The Court is important to the EU’s functionality as a whole because it has the jurisdiction to rule on cases that the ECJ is unable to. 4. Treaty of Maastricht Signed in 1991 and ratified the next year, Maastricht officially established the European Union through the agreement of heads of state and government in the European Community. This EU granted individuals within the agreement European citizenship, the right to vote and run for office in local and European Parliamentary elections (regardless of their nationality relative to their location, and the establishment of the central banking system alongside the Euro currency. Maastricht’s importance cannot be understated in the formation of the EU and its modern operations, more broadly though, the treaty committed its members to one another for their own benefit and established a “habit of cooperation” on security, environmental, and economic issues. 5. DG The Directorate-Generals are departmental leadership positions within the EU that are responsible for different policies and governmental business, DGs are similar to ministries at national levels. DGs mostly headed by European Commissioners and other DG positions to develop, execute, and oversee EU policies, laws, and funding initiatives. DGs are essential for the EU’s governmental processes to produce policy and monitor its execution amongst the EU and its member states. 1 6. QMV The Qualified Voting Majority is the voting mechanism used in the European Council and Council of the EU for decisions that do not require a unanimous vote but need more support than a simple majority. This QMV requires 55% of the member states that represent at least 65% of the EU population to vote in favor, which roughly translates to 255 of 345 votes, for approval. The QMV for voting procedures allocates votes to member states in relation to their population but is weighted in favor of the smaller states like Luxembourg and the Netherlands in voting procedures. 7. COREPER The Permanent Representatives Committee of the Member States is a committee that works to create agendas for European Council meetings and to negotiate for different national governments. Based in Brussels, COREPER officials are basically national ambassadors to the EU, promoting their own country’s interests (as well as those for the greater EU) in the agendas and business of the European Council. COREPER is important to the EU because it gives member states the opportunity to have their individual policy objectives and priorities added to the European Council’s agenda. 8. Acquis Communautaire This French term refers to all of the policies and treaties adopted ( by the European acquired) community. This includes all policies regarding security, market, environmental, and trade regulations as well as decisions made by the ECJ. The Community acquis is the collective impact of all EU decisions and policy. 9. Luxembourg Compromise The agreement was reached in 1966 that resolved Charles de Gaulle’s (French) “Empty chair crisis”. In 1965, Gaulle boycotted European institutions because of his opposition to proposals from the European Commission, leading to an empty chair from France. Gualle, as an intergovernmentalist, thought that the European governments should be moving towards integration and was not in agreement with the commission’s policy to move for supranationalism in Europe. The Luxembourg Compromise is significant because it showed how a single nation could protest policy and created veto powers for nations to oppose any piece of policy and the QMV was also established. 10. Robert Schuman A French Premier, Minister of Finance, founder of the popular Republican movement, and a Luxembourg native, he is best known for the Schuman Plan. Proposed in 1950, his plan proposed the creation of a European Steel and Coal Community, creating a single authority to control the production of steel and coal in West Germany and France. The plan laid out the foundation for the modern EU and additionally made the creation of the European Economic Community in 1958 possible. 2 Essay Questions: 1. How did World War II contribute to the formation of the European Union? Explain the early history of the EU, from 1945 to 1957 “... We only have to look at the difference between 1945 and today to see what an immense transformation has been taking place under our very eyes” (Jean Monnet, pg. 203). It is indisputable that World War II had a profound impact on European populations and governments that led to the foundation of the European Union. Six particular milestones in the post-WWII period from 1945-1957 were crucial in the formation of the EU. To start, the recent memory of continental conflict and Winston Churchill’s perceived “Tragedy of Europe”. WWII left nowhere in Europe untouched, military occupations, the London Blitz, challenges to nations who avoided Nazi occupation, and mass casualties across the continent fostered a collective understanding and worked to unite Europeans out of fear of what could happen if they failed. Prime Minister Churchill’s famous speech in 1946 at the University of Zurich expedited these notions of integration by calling for immediate European integration in order to overcome past conflicts and reconcile within itself in order to form a collective promise, “Under and within that world concept we must re-create the European Family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe” (Winston Churchill, pg. 3). Churchill also touched on growing concerns of the “Cold War’ with the Soviet Union. The potential threat of cold-war conflict with the Soviets and a mounting conflict in Korea was also a key reason for the formation of the EU. In 1949, the United States and Canada pushed for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to ensure the protection of nations in the Western hemisphere against rising communistic countries. The Brussels Treaty signed in 1948 by Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg supported NATO and the creation of an integrated defense force. The stakes in global conflict were rising with nuclear arms and mass casualties, at the time, Monnet observed this, “The issue today is no longer peace or war, but the triumph or destruction of civilized life …” (Jean Monnet, pg. 203) and called for integration to avoid future conflict. The US was also involved in the formation of the EU through economic components as well. The Marshall Plan implemented in 1948 was a direct response to communism and the economic situation in Europe. With regards to communism, the Truman Doctrine aimed to slow the seemingly rapid spread of communism at the time. In order to do this, the US released the Marshall Plan to stimulate economic development in order to prevent communism from taking hold in war-torn and impoverished countries. The Marshall Plan provided more than fifteen billion dollars to finance rebuilding efforts, prevent a slow in global trade, and develop stable European economies. The fifth milestone was the development of the European Coal and Steel Committee (ECSC). This was achieved through the Shuman Declaration with the Treaty of Paris in 1951. Proposed in 1950, the Schuman Declaration proposed the creation of a European Steel and Coal Community, creating a single authority to control the production of steel and coal in West Germany and France. The Treaty of Paris established the ECSC and was presided over by Jean Monnet. The ECSC included six nations: 3 France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. This committee was the first economic collaboration in Europe and laid out the foundation for the EU and make the creation of the European Economic Community in 1958 possible. The final milestone for this period in EU integration following WWII was the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1958 that established the European Economic Community (ECC). Again bringing together the aforementioned six to work for common economic growth through integration and establish the common market to allow the free movement of goods to create an “ever closer union”. In conclusion, these six milestones following WWII were necessary for the formation of the European Union and today’s integrated Europe. The period of 1945-1957 was fundamental in establishing a trust between European states, security/defense collaboration, and common markets to further build on integration. 2. Which EU institution is the most powerful and why? In answering this question, make sure you describe the institutions’ relationships to each other and that you list their main roles and powers. Each institution of the European Union has its own powers and obligations that work with or against other institutions in order to balance the power of elected officials, European parliamentarians, and the average European citizen. Of these institutions, the Council of the EU could be considered the most powerful for two key reasons and the second most powerful by another. One way the Council of the EU is considered to be the most powerful of EU institutions is because of its role as the main legislator and enforcer of said legislation, only occasionally in co-operation with the European Parliament. In short, the European Parliament is comprised of 705 MEPs (Members) who are directly elected by European citizens in open elections. Convening in Strasbourg, the EP supervises EU budgets, debates legislation, and elects the Commission President. The European Parliament plays a crucial role in representing voting Europeans. Although heads of state are elected, one could argue a European Parliamentarian has a more specific representation for their region. Overall in the EU, the EP has little say on the content of the legislation which it is debating and find’s its most powerful by-election the Commission President, unlike the Council of the EU that sets its own agenda. The Council of the EU is composed of heads of state like France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel. Comparatively similar to the United States Senate, the Council sets their agenda and preside over the business. The Council Presidency presides over the dealings and is able to place their national goals and objectives at the forefront of policymaking. An example of the Presidency’s power, member-states only hold this role once every fourteen years. The influence holding the presidency has on a member state’s personal objectives is profound for both beneficial policy development and interpersonal relations for that country’s domestic perception (and favorability) of the EU. However, there is some debate regarding who actually sets the policy priorities for different presidencies and Councils. An alternative opinion as to why the Council of the EU is not the most powerful, but the secondmost-powerful is the role the European Commission plays. The European Commission is composed of one representative per member state who is to be impartial to their own national motives during their term. The Commission oversees the EU’s budget, proposes new policies and laws as well as monitoring their implements, and funds international aid programs. 4 As was explained in a course lecture, the commission proposes and the council disposes of. What this means is undeniably the Council of the EU publishes policies and changes laws, but their scope of policy goals and ability is defined by the EC. According to the Lisbon Treaty, signed in 2007 and enforced in 2009, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament can only legislate based on the goals and proposals from the EC. The EU’s official European Parliament website even states the Commission has a “... monopoly on legislative initiative[s]” (Europarl 2021). This makes the EC the primary driver of legislative and policy priorities for the Council of the EU to pursue, which shifts the understanding of the Council being the primary power, if the heads of state cannot determine their policy priorities, is the council still the most powerful in the EU? This ultimately depends if we view the proposer or the disposer of policy to be a more powerful role. In essence, the European Union is a complex system of institutions that were created in this complex way to balance different powers and interests. In my opinion, no single institution has sole power over the EU’s legislative objectives and rollout of policy, these roles are split between the Council of the EU and the European Commission. 5