Europe Does Matter

Question 1

Which countries have never been colonized by Europe?

Answer 1

Japan, Liberia, Thailand and Korea

Question 2

Is the European Nation welcomes a lot of immigrants?

Answer 2

No, there is only 5,1% of the EU population is from elsewhere… in comparison, 25% of the Canadian population is born in another country.

Question 3

Which were the 6 first countries in the EU?

Answer 3

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

Question 4

Which was the last country to join the EU, and which country did leave the EU in 2020?

Answer 4

The last country to arrive was Croatie in 2013, and the country that chose to leave is the UK in 2020 through Brexit.

Question 5

What is the main reason behind the creation of the European Union?

Answer 5

• Ensure peace and prosperity in a humanistic model: harmonious development and quality of life and aiming at a continental integration
• There are four main freedoms in Europe: whether People, Goods, Capital and Services
• This is why the Ukraine contribution is not recognized yet as it does not apply the values of the EU

Question 6

Are all the members of the EU sharing the same values and the same ideas concerning what should happen in the EU?

Answer 6

No, the political sphere of Europe is very diverse. Hence, there are loads of movements. While Spanish people have an interest in being in the EU at 62%, the French people only value it at 48%. Also, Spain is reluctant to give more money to the military. France has a quite strong army, despite them feeling alone in this situation. Other European nations believed in letting the US control this part of NATO.

Question 7

What are the official languages of the EU?

Answer 7

French, English and German

Question 8

What are the institutions of the EU?

Answer 8

1. Commission
2. Parliament
3. European Council
4. Central bank
5. Court of justice

Question 9

What was the context of the creation of the EU?

Answer 9

The European Nation was created in the context of war where everything and people were destroyed because they no longer want war in Europe. The European nation was created as an answer to this problem, to avoid the depopulation of Europe with the separation of Europe into two parts
* The purpose is to find a common ground by creating an economical market. The way to do it was to unify the market it is based on four freedoms.

Question 10

Problems with the single market in the EU?

Answer 10

There are two problems:
1. the tax system in Europe is still mainly national.
2. The social system is only partially harmonized.
a. There are only minimal regulations for labor, you have working time and maternity leave.
b. Most of the system is national, and most of the social protection is national which is a real problem for the pharma industry- no social security at which price it will reimburse the products. The same products will be sold differently from one country to another, despite the product being the same, the marketing as well. It is very detrimental to Europe because very hard to fight those laws and this market.

Question 11

What are the main competencies of the EU?

Answer 11

Trade.
1. Investment: easy from everywhere
2. Infrastructure: issue at a European level
3. Energy: trying to find a solution. Dependence to energy is high in certain countries.
4. Research: Huge European program for innovation
5. Education: Added value at the European level, entre autre avec les Erasmus
6. Defence: More important in the current context, try to manage at the European level

Question 12

Responsibilities of the high representatives of the EU

Answer 12

Contribution to elaboration of foreign policies and their implementation, represent the EU in its dialogue with third countries, personifies the Eu voice in international organization and conferences

Question 13

Which players are involved in conceiving and implementing European Cooperation?

Answer 13

• EC EEAS 2010
• State members
• Receiving countries
• Delegation: There is an embassy pretty much all around the world the EU. First, the purpose is to keep the EU citizens involved, supposed to match the different needs of the EU.
• European Parliament: The Lisbon Treaty gave more powers to the EP to act. It grew in importance through the years.

Question 14

What are the current debates on economic governance?

Answer 14

• Federal leap: identified objectives but dedicated amounts are rather limited, regulations try to favor the achievement of objectives for the whole EU (funds allocated for those specific objectives). The financial means are relatively limited.
• More coordination at the EU level: sanctions, taxes, price caps to mitigate energy prices – high discrepancies with EGD and impact on inequalities created.
• Stability and Growth Pact: fiscal limits for EU member states;
  1. you cannot have a public deficit of more than 3% of the GDP
  2. Debt-GDP ratio must be 60% or works towards 60%.
• Monetary policy has turned restrictive: by example, restrictions to fight inflation which may cause a recession eventually- no reasons to intervene

Question 15

European Union economy vs The Global Economy

Answer 15

• It is possible that there is a decline in the growth in the current year in comparison with 2021 and 2022.
• There was somewhat of a shock recession of 6% during the pandemic of Covid-19. Although, after 2022, the forecast of the economy in the EU is higher than what is what in 2019. Spain, France, and Germany were heavily touched by the Covid crisis, on the other hand, Romania and Poland were less touched.
• There has been a very significant movement in the euro since its creation. It is moving with the crisis that is going on in Europe.

Question 16

What are the Euro area’s institutional frameworks?

Answer 16

The European central bank
* independent from the state, hierarchical mandate. They can regulate and pose their own actions to limit the price increase, etc. Not a lender of last resort (if you face high problems), this is because no countries want to share the risks associated with the default in those countries. This makes the Euro area very sensitive to default.
1. Maintain price stability.
2. High employment and sustainable and non-inflationary growth (around 2% per year)
The Government Council
* * Governing council takes the decision concerning monetary policies + executive board – rotation on groups which rules and make the decisions.
* The SGP allows for avoidance of discretion and creates stabilizations.
1. Preventive arm: Stability program
2. Corrective arm: early warning
* Sanctions for countries that have a higher deficit than 3% deficit. However, no countries have ever been under sanctions, so the penalties are not very applied.

Question 17

What are domestic fiscal policies?

Answer 17

They are fettered by rules initially uncorrected for business cycles – very limited coordination, except imperfectly on excessive deficits.

Question 18

Name characteristics of the European market.

Answer 18

• A single market for the 510 million inhabitants, 20.8 trillion $ in GDP (which is the largest market in the world), and 40.1k$ in average per capita (26th position in the world)
• 27 markets to be integrated: culture and practice issues, customers required, and resources offers.

Question 19

What are the similarities among the countries of the EU?

Answer 19

high level of education,
trade traditions,
family capitalism,
60 years of the Rome treaty,
25 years of Maastricht Treaty
common currency, common standards

Question 20

What are the differences among the countries of the EU?

Answer 20

Market requirements and maturity, GDP gaps, tax, languages, transport networks and local regulations

Question 21

What are the 4 freedoms of the EU?

Answer 21

1. goods
2. Services
3. Labour
4. Capital and its limits (protectionism, tax, social pressure, etc.)

Question 22

Who takes the decision in the EU?

Answer 22

• The Parliament and Council share legislative authority: consensus must be reached between the Council and the Parliament for the legislation to be adopted
• Co-decision is designed to ensure that legislation reflects the views and interests of both the EU citizens, as represented by the European Parliament, and the Member States, as represented by the Council of the EU. It also helps to ensure that the EU’s legislative process is transparent and accountable

Question 23

What is the procedures for making decisions?

Answer 23

1. EU Commission submits proposal to Parliament and Council
2. Parliament takes a vote on the proposal (amend or approve)
3. The proposal is amended by the Council and are submitted to Parliament
4. If negotiations on an amended proposal are not concluded within 6 weeks, the proposal is rejected
5. Third Reading; Both Parliament and Council must decide on the amended proposal to approve or reject the proposal, amendments are not permitted.

Question 24

What is the difference between white paper and green paper?

Answer 24

• White paper: an advanced and concrete policy document, that set the commission’s opinion on a particular issue and outlines proposition action to be taken. They are the first draft of the law, they have as incentive to prompt a debate with the public stakeholders, the European Parliament, and the Council
• Green paper: the first step towards legislation, they are tentative documents that send feedback and seek input from shareholders before the Commission makes a decision

Question 25

What are the four steps for the creation of a white paper?

Answer 25

1. Commission outlines the goal to achieve.
2. Commission invites the shareholders to react and respond to the content of the white paper.
3. It proposes the opportunity to exert influence on the policy-making process.
4. The commission takes all the comments into account to draft subsequent legislative proposals in the policy area of white paper

Question 26

What are the main differences between the USA and the EU’s ways of lobbying?

Answer 26

USA
* Money comes from various group or corporations.
* with interest groups which compete with each other to gain access or get what they want (explains large amount of resources spent in lobbying in the US)
* US Congress members more attentive to requests/concerns of their electorate thus becoming easier targets
* US lobbying is less transparent and has looser regulations and US lobbying tends to focus more on constitutional issues.
* US lobbying focuses more on business and economic issues - US lobbying places more emphasis on campaign donations and other forms of immediate influence.
* Culture: US lobbying is more casual and can be more confrontational
* Lobbyist access: US lobbyists may have to go through intermediaries or rely on personal connections.
* Media: US lobbying relies more on direct outreach to voters.
Europe
* Money comes mainly from the public sector towards civil society.
* more corporatist and social nature of interest representation in EU (lobbying in the EU is more purposed to provide expertise to MEPs)
* MEPs are more detached from their electorate and more focused on the European agenda, which makes lobbying them more difficult.
* EU lobbying is generally more transparent than the USA, with mandatory registration and disclosure requirements for lobbyists and organizations.
* EU lobbying focuses more on regulation, EU lobbying covers a wider range of issues, including environmental and social issues.
* EU lobbying tends to emphasize building relationships with policymakers over time.
* Culture: EU lobbying is more formal and less confrontational
* Lobbyist access: EU lobbyists often have more access to policymakers and can meet with them directly,
* Media: EU lobbying tends to rely more on the media to influence public opinion

Question 27

What are Europe’s transparency policies?

Answer 27

• The policy is based on two assumptions:
  a. Lobbying is expected to create a lack of transparency, and this lack of transparency is considered a threat to the legitimacy of political decision-making.
  b. More transparency in lobbying which is creating a code of conduct and revealing the financial background, is expected to solve the problem

Question 28

What are the measures in place to ensure transparency?

Answer 28

a. Compare interests by public consultations to issues representatives are working on
b. Make regular surveys on the interaction between policymakers and lobbyists.
c. Regularly compare opinions given by Members of the European Parliament and Commission officials on issues
d. Collect participant lists of events attended by policymakers as speakers

Question 29

What is the Institutional triangle?

Answer 29

The institutional triangle is composed of 3 institutions, whether the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union

Question 30

What is the European Council?

Answer 30

The European Council gathers 27 presidents of European Union countries at least four times a year during so-called “UE-Summits” in Brussels
* They adopt decisions that are usually taken through consensus to adopt conclusions: in some cases, a vote can be organized: unanimous, qualified majority, a simple majority
* Government ministers from each EU country meet to discuss and adopt laws and coordinate policies. It defines the general political goals and priorities of the EU. It is not a legislative body → does not negotiate or adopt EU laws → strategic and crisis-solving body.

Question 31

How is the Council adopting decisions?

Answer 31

1. simple majority (14 member states vote in favor)
2. qualified majority (55% of member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population, vote in favor); Qualified majority is the most widely used voting method in the Council. A qualified majority is reached if two conditions are simultaneously met.
3. unanimous vote

Question 32

How are the Member States represented?

Answer 32

• • Minimum 6 MEPs & maximum 96 MEPs by country - so not proportional: small countries have higher power, are easy to approach, the member-to-population ratio is lower
• Responsibilities: Debating legislation, Supervising EU institutions and budget, and Establishing the EU budget
• Members are elected by citizens of their respective countries, but then join a political party at the European level, this means the party may push an initiative that is not in the interest of the people who voted for the MEP: In that case what should that person decide? Normally, the MEP has to defend its electors’ interests first.