European Union

Question 1

What is the eu?

Answer 1

An economic and political union of 27 countries in Europe

Question 2

How many institutions make up the EU

Answer 2

5

Question 3

Name the 5 EU institutions

Answer 3

-European commission
-Council of the European Union
-European council
-European parliament
-Court of justice of the European union

Question 4

What is a supranational body?

Answer 4

Organisations that exist separately from national governments where these national governments have transferred some of their sovereignty to the European institutions

Question 5

What is an intergovernmental body

Answer 5

Organisations made up of member of different national governments

Question 6

What EU institutions are supranational

Answer 6

European Commission, European Parliament, court of justice of the European Union

Question 7

what EU institutions are intergovernmental?

Answer 7

Council of the European Union + European Council

Question 8

what are the main roles of the European Commission?

Answer 8

initiating EU legislation (coming up with new ideas or alterations to EU law), drafting the EU budget and allocating funding, representing the EU in international negotiations

Question 9

who are the members of the European Commission?

Answer 9

27 commissioners that are indirectly elected by national governments nominating them and the European Parliament confirming them

Question 10

who leads the European Commission?

Answer 10

the EU President (currently Ursula Von Der Leyen) who is nominated by the European Council and confirmed by the EU Parliament - every 5 years

Question 11

What are the powers of the EU president?

Answer 11

deciding what policy areas the 27 commissioners hold, chairs meetings of the EU commission, plays major role in trade discussions between EU and other nations, signs off EU laws made in EU parliament, oversees EU expenditures + collects payments from member nations, and has power to initiate draft legislation alone

Question 12

what are the main roles of the Council of the European Union?

Answer 12

main decision-making body (with the European Parliament), coordinates policies of EU nations, approves legislation from the Commission (as does the European Parliament), approves the EU budget (as does the European Parliament), develops common foreign and security policy

Question 13

who are the members of the Council of the European Union?

Answer 13

27 government ministers

Question 14

how is voting done in the Council of the European Union?

Answer 14

how is voting done in the Council of the European Union?

Question 15

what are the main roles of the European Council?

Answer 15

decides the political direction of the EU and policy priorities, nominates the President of the European Commission, reduces power of the Commission, discusses major issues, agrees to changes in treaties

Question 16

who are the members of the European Council? how often do they meet?

Answer 16

heads of government of each member state, at least 4 times a year

Question 17

what are the main roles of the European Parliament?

Answer 17

approving legislation from the Commission (shared with Council of EU), approving the EU budget (shared with Council of EU), provides democratic supervision of the EU institutions, can amend and veto proposed legislation, approves nomination for President of the European Commission

Question 18

who are the members of the European Parliament? how often are they elected?

Answer 18

751 directly elected MEPs, elected every 5 years

Question 19

what are the main roles of the Court of Justice of the European Union?

Answer 19

judiciary of the EU, interprets law + ensures it is applied in the same way across the EU, rules against EU nations that infringe the law, ensures that the EU acts appropriately and in accordance with its own laws

Question 20

what are the 6 main aims of the EU?

Answer 20

promote peace and wellbeing of the EU’s citizens, establish a single market, combat discrimination and strive towards equality, establish an economic and monetary union, establish freedom, security and justice without frontiers

Question 21

give reasons the aim of promoting peace and the wellbeing of EU citizens has been a success

Answer 21

members of the EU have not fought each other since the end of WW2, rising living standards and economic growth have coincided with EU’s existence, democracy and the rule of law operate in EU countries

Question 22

give reasons the aim of promoting peace and the wellbeing of EU citizens has been a failure

Answer 22

EU faces new threats from an increasingly aggressive Russia, rise of populist anti-EU parties over the last decade shows the frustration held by citizens who feel the EU has not enriched their lives, EU has been criticised for having a democratic deficit (idea that the EU isn’t sufficiently democratic because most of its institutions aren’t directly elected)

Question 23

give reasons the aim of establishing a single market has been a success

Answer 23

it has 500 million potential consumers to trade with free of tariffs and paperwork, it is the largest and most successful trading block in the world and has agreed some major free trade deals with the USA, Japan and China

Question 24

give reasons the aim of establishing a single market has been a failure

Answer 24

smaller EU countries such as Greece believe the single market only really benefits the bigger EU economies which was evident after the 2007 economic crash when Germany was seen to be making all the rule and forced unfair economic austerity on smaller nations, criticised as being incomplete and over-regulated especially for small businesses

Question 25

give reasons the aim of combatting discrimination and striving towards equality has been a success

Answer 25

EU law protects individuals’ human rights, EU citizens have freedom of movement + cannot be discriminated against

Question 26

give reasons the aim of combatting discrimination and striving towards equality has been a failure

Answer 26

the migration crisis exposed some of the prejudice within EU countries which was demonstrated by attacks on refugee housing, in May 2018 the right-wing government in Hungary announced legislation to restrict help for asylum seekers

Question 27

give reasons the aim of establishing an economic and monetary union has been a success

Answer 27

19 member states known as the Eurozone use the euro, the euro is the world’s second most-traded currency

Question 28

give reasons the aim of establishing an economic and monetary union has been a failure

Answer 28

the EU’s second biggest economy (UK) chose not to join the Euro and ultimately have left the EU, 2008 economic crisis exposed the problems caused by a range of different economies sharing a currency - which led to a long period of recession or near-recession for the Eurozone and forced austerity (cuts) in countries such as Greece which fuelled the rise of populist anti-EU parties

Question 29

what are the 5 main values of the EU?

Answer 29

promote Liberal Democracy, supranationalism, respect for the rule of law and human rights, human dignity, and freedom, democracy + equality

Question 30

what are the 4 freedoms with the EU single market?

Answer 30

free movement of goods, free movement of services, free movement of people, free movement of capital

Question 31

state the points for the EU having a democratic deficit

Answer 31

interferes with many areas that doesn’t concern it, unclear roles and lack of education, less sovereignty for the UK + more for the EU, MEP’s serve too long of a term, low turnout for EU elections, qualified majority voting system in the Council of EU + coalition voting

Question 32

state the points for the EU not having a democratic deficit

Answer 32

people don’t understand how the EU works and claims of a democratic deficit are empty, UK public find it easier to put blame on EU when it can often be the fault of the UK government e.g., Johnson + kipper regulations, UK gets its share of the EU budget e.g., £1 billion spent on West Country, UK has sovereignty in vital areas such as education and taxation, European Council and Council of EU who play key roles in policies the EU has consists of government ministers who have been elected by each country’s electorate, low turnout at EU elections is not the fault of the EU but the fault of the national government