GP- Regionalism & The EU: EU enlargement Flashcards
What is the key term “Widening/deepening” defined as in the text?
A: The process by which a regional organisation gains more members (widening) and its institutions gain more power over collective decision making (deepening).
Q: What significant expansion occurred in the EU in 2004?
A: The EU dramatically increased from 15 to 25 member states.
Q: What was the background of seven of the new members that joined in 2004?
A: Seven of the new members had been members of the Soviet Union (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) or the Warsaw Pact (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia).
Q: What were the primary reasons for former communist countries to find EU membership appealing?
A: Because it would embed democracy and provide access to the single market, so encouraging their development.
Q: Which two former Warsaw Pact countries joined the EU in 2007?
A: Romania and Bulgaria.
Q: Which country is the most recent to join the EU, and in what year did it join?
A: Croatia in 2013.
Q: What unexpected event occurred in the UK in 2016 concerning the EU?
A: The UK voted in favour of leaving the European Union (52%-48%).
Q: What fundamental principle of the EU was challenged by the UK’s vote?
A: The principle of ‘ever closer union’ (Treaty of Rome, 1957).
Q: When was legislation enacted to formally withdraw the UK from the EU?
A: 2020.
Q: What is the ongoing debate regarding Brexit’s impact on the EU?
A: The extent to which Brexit will have a long-term impact on the EU’s future is contested.
Q: What argument do some critics make about the impact of Brexit?
A: That Brexit has emboldened nationalist governments in Poland, Hungary and Italy to challenge greater EU integration.
Q: What was the outcome of the second round of the 2022 French presidential election?
A: The highly pro-European Emmanuel Macron decisively defeated the nationalist Marine Le Pen (59%-41%).
Q: What factor is likely to have increased the attractiveness of EU membership to member states?
A: The growing challenge posed by Russia to Western interests is also likely to have made the security advantages of EU membership more attractive to member states, lessening the appeal of withdrawal.
Q: What makes the EU a unique regional organisation?
A: It combines advanced elements of economic, political and security regionalism.
Q: What is the EU’s single market based on?
A: The four freedoms (the free movement of goods, capital, services and people).
Q: What unique achievement has the EU accomplished in terms of monetary policy?
A: The EU is the only regional organisation that has achieved monetary union.
Q: Which institution sets a single interest rate for all members of the Eurozone?
A: The European Central Bank.
Q: What policy has the EU agreed upon since the Maastricht Treaty (1993)?
A: A common foreign and security policy.
Q: What document is binding on all EU member states?
A: The EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Q: What is the role of the EU’s Court of Justice?
A: It is the EU’s supreme court and ensures that in cases where the EU has legislated, member states domestic laws conform with the EU’s stipulations.
Q: What unique ability does the EU possess due to its legal identity?
A: The EU has significant international influence because it is a legal identity and so can negotiate with other global powers.
Q: What potential issue has arisen as the EU has expanded in membership?
A: As the EU has grown larger (widened) there has been the constant danger that with so many members it could lose its internal coherence and so become fractured and unwieldy.
Q: How have EU treaties addressed the issue of maintaining internal coherence?
A: Therefore, there have been several EU treaties that have institutionally deepened the relationship between EU members as it has expanded.
Q: What was the purpose of deepening the relationship between EU members through treaties?
A: These have been designed to ensure that the EU does not drift into irrelevance.
Q: What specific treaty is mentioned as an example of deepening the relationship between EU members?
A: The way in which the Lisbon Treaty (2009) strengthened the relationship between EU members was, for example, a response to the dramatic expansion of the EU in 2004 and 2007.
Q: Where can a list of key EU treaties and agreements be found?
A: Table 22.2.
Q: What are the key EU treaties and agreements listed in Table 22.2, and what impact did each have?
- Treaty of Rome 1957: Created the EEC, which committed its members to a customs union with a common external tariff and to work towards the establishment of a single market based on the principle of the four freedoms (the free movement of goods, capital, services and people). The Treaty of Rome bases European integration on the principle of ‘ever closer union’.
- Single European Act 1986: Set a deadline for the completion of the single market by 1992. The use of qualified majority voting (QMV) on the Council of Ministers was extended. By reducing opportunities for nation states to exercise the veto this increased the pace of integration.
- Maastricht Treaty 1993: Established the EU with a common EU citizenship and committed member states to monetary union by 2002. The treaty also introduced a common foreign and security policy to protect ‘the common values, fundamental interests and independence of the European Union’.
- Treaty of Nice 2003: Ensured that the admission of ten new states to the EU in 2004 did not threaten its cohesion. Qualified majority voting (QMV) was extended to more policy areas on the Council of Ministers. The number of EU commissioners was adjusted to allow every member state to be represented by a commissioner.
- Treaty of Lisbon 2009: Provided the EU with structures enabling it to exercise increased global influence. These included a 5-year-term President and a High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, together with the EU diplomatic service: the European External Action Service. The treaty also provided the EU with a legal identity so it can negotiate treaties with other powers. The EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights became binding on member states. However, the Lisbon Treaty also provided a mechanism for member states to leave the Union (Article 50) and endorsed the principle of subsidiarity, whereby decisions are retained by member states and their populations as much as possible.
Q: What type of government system does the EU have?
A: The EU has an advanced system of government. It possesses executive, legislative and judicial branches, like the systems of government in a nation state.
Q: What are the key institutions of the EU?
A: European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Ministers, European Council, European Court of Justice, and European Central Bank.
Q: What is the role of the European Commission?
A: This is the EU’s executive branch, which proposes laws and represents the interests of the EU.
Q: How many commissioners are there, and how are they appointed?
A: It has 27 commissioners, one from each member state, who are responsible for specific policy areas such as agriculture, justice, equality and the environment. Commissioners are not directly elected. They are nominated by member states and then approved by the European Parliament to serve 5-year terms.
Q: Who was appointed President of the European Commission in 2019?
A: In 2019, the former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen was appointed President of the European Commission.
Q: What is the role of the European Parliament?
A: This is the legislative branch of the European Union. It enacts EU laws and approves the EU budget in partnership with the Council of Ministers. It confirms the appointment of the EU President of the Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. It can also dismiss the commission, as happened in 1999 when the EU commission resigned en masse following a parliamentary report claiming that it had “lost control of the administration’.
Q: How often are European Parliament elections held?
A: It is the only directly elected EU institution, with European elections taking place every 5 years.
Q: How is the number of MEPs allocated to each member state?
A: The number of MEPs that a member state has is proportionate to its population.
Q: What example is given to illustrate the allocation of MEPs?
A: Germany, for example, has 96 MEPs and Malta, as the EU’s smallest member state, has 6.
Q: How do MEPs sit in the European Parliament?
A: In the EU Parliament MEPs sit according to their political rather than national allegiance.
Q: What are the biggest groupings in the 2019-24 EU Parliament?
A: The centre right European People’s Party (EPP) with 182/705 seats and the Party of European Socialists (PES) with 154/705 seats.
Q: What is the role of the Council of Ministers?
A: This is the EU’s legislative branch and through the co-decision process it passes EU laws in partnership with the European Parliament.
Q: Who comprises the Council of Ministers?
A: The relevant elected ministers from member states, who attend to discuss and vote on laws specific to their responsibilities.
Q: What example is given to illustrate how the Council of Ministers operates?
A: For example, if a new EU agriculture law is proposed by the commission, all the member states’ agriculture ministers attend to vote upon it.
Q: How has voting power been weighted in the Council of Ministers as the EU has expanded?
A: As the EU has expanded, voting power has been weighted to take member states population sizes into account.
Q: What countries are given as examples of having the largest and smallest vote shares in the Council of Ministers?
A: Germany and France thus have the largest vote share and Malta and Luxembourg the smallest.
Q: What has happened to qualified majority voting (QMV) on the Council of Ministers since the Single European Act (1986)?
A: Since the Single European Act (1986), all EU treaties have increased policy areas where qualified majority voting (QMV) is used on the Council of Ministers, so challenging state sovereignty.
Q: What is the role of the European Council?
A: The European Council comprises the heads of government from every member state. It usually meets four times a year and agrees the most important EU policies, such as admitting new members, treaty changes and the overall direction of the EU.
Q: What significant power do EU leaders have in the European Council?
A: Significantly, EU leaders can exercise the veto on proposals that threaten their national interest.
Q: What does the intergovernmental basis of the European Council protect?
A: The intergovernmental basis of the European Council therefore protects the sovereignty of EU members, limiting its supranational authority.
Q: What action did Prime Minister David Cameron take in 2013?
A: In 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed an update to the Treaty of Lisbon, meaning that the remaining members went ahead with the treaty and the UK was exempt from its requirements.
Q: When was the position of European Council President established?
A: The position of European Council President was established in 2009 to provide the European Council with more consistent direction and leadership.
Q: How was the presidency of the European Council structured before 2009?
A: Previously, the presidency of the European Council rotated every six months between member states.
Q: Who was elected President of the European Council in 2019?
A: In 2019, former Belgian prime minister Charles Michel was elected President of the European Council by its 27 heads of government.
Q: Where is the European Court of Justice situated?
A: The European Court of Justice is situated in Luxembourg.
Q: What is the role of the European Court of Justice?
A: It is the judicial branch of the EU and ensures that member states act in accordance with EU law in cases where EU law exists.
Q: What additional powers does the European Court of Justice have?
A: In addition to this, EU member states cannot pass domestic laws that do not comply with EU law and the court can fine member states that do not comply with its judgments.
Q: How many judges are on the European Court of Justice?
A: The court has 27 judges, one from each member state.
Q: Where is the European Central Bank located?
A: Located in Strasbourg.
Q: What is the role of the European Central Bank?
A: The European Central Bank determines EU monetary policy and so sets a common interest rate for the 20 members of the Eurozone (2023).
Q: Which EU members are not yet part of the Eurozone?
A: Six members of the EU (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Sweden) will join the Eurozone when they have fulfilled the criteria for membership.
Q: Which EU member state has secured an opt-out from joining the Eurozone?
A: Denmark has, however, secured an opt-out, which means it does not have to join the Eurozone.
Q: Where can a summary of the decision-making process in EU institutions be found?
A: The decision-making process in EU institutions is summarised in Table 22.3.
Q: What is the debate regarding EU membership and state sovereignty?
A: Debate: Does EU membership erode state sovereignty?
Q: What evaluation is provided regarding the EU and member state autonomy?
A: Evaluation: Although the EU is committed to a more unified federal Europe, its member states still retain significant autonomy on key areas of policy as well as their own national identities.
Q: What are the arguments for EU membership eroding state sovereignty?
- Since the Single European Act (1986), qualified majority voting (QMV) on the Council of Ministers has continually been extended in all subsequent treaties. This has eroded state sovereignty by limiting those occasions when the national veto can be used.
- In areas where the EU has legislated, EU law takes precedence over domestic law. The European Court of Justice is the ultimate body for deciding whether EU members are acting in accordance with EU law.
- The European Central Bank sets monetary policy for the 20 members of the Eurozone.
- The Treaty of Rome (1958) is based on a shared commitment to ‘ever closer union’, so the aim of the EU is the elimination of the nation state within a shared EU identity.
- Since the Lisbon Treaty (2009) all member states are required to legislate in accordance with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Q: What are the arguments against EU membership eroding state sovereignty?
A: - On the European Council of Ministers member states still possess the veto on foreign and security policy, taxation and immigration. Consequently, in these important areas of statehood they retain sovereignty.
- Member states have the power of veto in the European Council to protect their national interests, for example through treaty changes or new members.
- The Lisbon Treaty (2009) provides a mechanism under which states may leave the EU.
- The Lisbon Treaty (2009) also included a commitment to the principle of subsidiarity, whereby decisions are retained by member states and their populations as much as possible.
- Poland and Hungary have highly conservative social values and authoritarian governments. The extent to which they conform to EU liberal democratic values is therefore questionable.
Q: What information is provided in Table 22.3 regarding decision-making in EU institutions?
- European Commission: Supranational, because the commissioners represent the interests of the EU rather than their own nation states.
- European Parliament: Supranational, because MEPs amend and vote on laws according to political rather than national identity.
- Council of Ministers: Intergovernmental and supranational, because although in some cases decisions are reached by qualified majority voting (QMV), in others the national veto still applies.
- European Council: Intergovernmental, because heads of government have veto power over treaties and major changes to the EU.
- European Court of Justice: Supranational, because EU law takes precedence over domestic law in cases when EU law applies.
- European Central Bank: Supranational, because the Central Bank determines monetary policy for the 20 members of the Eurozone.
Q: What is the global influence of the EU?
A: The global influence of the EU is multifaceted, encompassing structural, soft power, economic, and political/military influence.
Q: How did the Lisbon Treaty (2009) enhance the EU’s opportunities to exert global influence?
A:
* By providing it with full legal rights to join intergovernmental organisations and negotiate international treaties.
