class 4 Flashcards
who said “The EU finds itself in a deep crisis” and in what year
PM of Luxembourg in 2005 towards the budget and economic side
what are these crises (2005)
- the constitution: a new ratification crisis
- enlargement and the controversy over Turkish membership
- the budget conflict: what, who, and how much? limits to how much they can contribute, did not manage to agree on a budget
meaning of constitution
constitution is the basic rulebook of a country
what does the EU constitution say?
mainly meant to be simplification and deepening (more supranational cooperation) of the different treaties (what the rules are for the EU) define the relationships between member states, etc. national veto unanimity in taxation, defense policy and foreign policy but in all other areas need qualified majority. MORE POWER TO EU AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ordinary legislative procedure
what is the crisis about it?
-29 may 2005: No to constitutional treaty in France (55%)
-1st June 2005: No in the Netherlands (62%)
what were the three options after the constitution and which one was chosen ?
option 1: forget about project
option 2: re write the constitution
(chosen option) option 3: come up with a new treaty that’ll have the same effect but different name
explain the lisbon treaty
- small treaty to avoid referendums, but…
- signed by all 27 member states in December 2007
- 12th june 2008; No in ireland (53%)
- 2nd october 2009: yes in ireland (67%)
- effective on december 1st 2009 (waiting for ireland)
what did the Lisbon treaty amend to?
The lisbon treaty amended the TEU (treaty EU) and TEC (Treaty European Commission) and renamed the latter the treaty of the functioning if the European Union (TFEU).
What are the now 2 treaties and what did they create?
Now 2 treaties TFEU (treaty functionning of Europe) and TEU (treaty EU)
this..
- created a new function called the permanent president of the european council (1 person) (Herman Van Rompuy was the first)
- High representative for foreign affairs (catherine ashton) new name on something that already existed
- increased influence if the European parliament
introduced more qualified majority voting
abolished the three pillar structure (EU obtained consolidated legal personality)
explain the enlargement and controversy over turkish membership
Turkey wanted to be member since 1960, applied in 1987 but has never been admitted. 1999 accepted as a candidate by the EU
2005 negotiations started
france wants a referendum on another member (impolite let the people say no)
What was the problem with turkey membership?
too poor?
too big? in population but also as a destabilized area, need to make sure you can ensure external borders
too “non-european”? possible reason
what is the current budget conflict?
agriculture has most of the budget, regional aide has 1/4 and foreign aid and policy, research and others have the rest
what is zero-sum game?
if one country pays less, others will get less
what are the four reasons of battle of the budget?
- financial plan for 2007-2013
- budget is out of date (too much goes to farmers)
- zero-sum game : if one country pays less, others will get less
- unanimity
how much do memberstates give to the EU?
about 1% of their GDP
