Institutions midterm Flashcards
1
Q
The EU Council
A
- In Brussels
- Where the heads of state/government come together
- Decide on the general political direction of the EU
- It has a president; pre Lisbon served for 6 months, post Lisbon serves 2.5 years with max 2 terms.
- It can amend treaties
- It is the intergovernmental part of the executive branch, similar to a cabinet.
2
Q
EU Commission
A
- In Brussels
- Has legislative power, and usually proposes laws or proposes amendments of laws. Other institutions adopt the laws though
- It is a supranational body that safeguards the interests of the EU as a whole
- Manages EU budget
- Ensures nations comply with laws, treaties or directives; this is done by giving nations warnings if they are not complying and if this does not work, they bring in the Court of Justice
3
Q
EU Parliament
A
- In Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg
- Adopts laws like any other legislative parliament
- Protects the interests of the EU citizens as a whole
- Decides on EU law with the council
- Decides the budget set by the Commission
4
Q
EU Council of Ministers
A
- In Brussels and Luxembourg
- Represents the interests of the nations, similar to the US senate
- Decides on legislation
- Coordinates policies
- With the parliament it decides on the budget set by the Commission
5
Q
EU Court of Justice
A
- In Luxembourg
- The judicial branch of the EU
- Interprets EU law
- One judge per nation
- Most common thing they do is the preliminary reference procedure; national courts send them procedures for clarification of Eu terms in legislation.
6
Q
EU Court of Auditors
A
- An independent guardian for EU citizens that checks if the budget is spent properly
7
Q
Committee of the regions
A
- Represents local regions and authorities
- If legislation is adopted they check on it
8
Q
European investment bank
A
- The main lender of the EU
- Focuses on environmental issues
- Supports small and medium businesses
9
Q
High representative
A
- Sort of like a minister/ministry of foreign affairs for the EU
10
Q
The difference between primary and secondary law
A
- Primary law decides how institutions function and secondary law is the law made by those institutions
- Primary law for the EU for example is: TFEU, TEU and the charters
- Secondary laws are:
- Regulations: a general application that is binding to all nations and directly applicable
- Directive: leaves more leeway than a regulation. Gives a general overview of what to do, but leaves it up to the member state, what way they want to implement it, how they interpret it or the extent to which it is applied to the nation.
- A decision: shall be binding in its entirety
11
Q
The different layers of primary law
A
- The TFEU: the treaty on the functioning of the EU, also known as the treaty of Rome. signed in 1957. Originally known as the TEC (treaty establishing the European Community)
- The TEU; the treaty on European Union. Also known as the Maastricht treaty and signed in 1992, but slightly altered for the treaty of Lisbon in 2009
12
Q
Article 4 of the TEU
A
- States that competences are not conferred, meaning that the EU can only gain new responsibilities if they are given to them by the member states
13
Q
What are charters?
A
- Documents that give basic rights to people, either as individuals or to groups
14
Q
The Council of Europe and the European Council
A
- Are completely different things and have nothing to do with each other
- The Council of Europe has nothing to do with the EU; has 46 members and all EU members are also members of this one. It was established in 1949 in the treaty of London. Created to achieve greater unity between its members and protect human rights as set by the European convention on human rights
- The Council of Europe also has its own court separate from the EU court of Justice. It is called the European court of Human Rights and they interpret the European convention of Human Rights
15
Q
The Hague conference
A
- In 1948
- Political and economic leaders came together to discuss the future of European integration and challenges a EU would create and potential solutions to these problems
- Also created an international publicity campaign
- One side were the unionists who were against the taking away of national sovereignties
- Other side were the federalists who wanted a strong federal government that united all of Europe
- Became the start of the foundation of the Council of Europe; which is separate from the EU
16
Q
Schuman declaration
A
- By the French Foreign minister Robert Schuman in 1950
- Claimed we should be working towards a more united Europe and was based around the idea that the interests of France and Germany should be balanced and prioritized
- This unity would principally start with a unity of coal and steel production. A stronger solidarity of these things would make the idea of war between France and Germany untenable
17
Q
The treaty of Paris
A
- In 1951, was the first real treaty
- Created a free trade market for coal and steel
- Laid the foundation for an economic union which would lead to the creation of a political union
- Created EU institutions which possess supranational characteristics
18
Q
Institutions of the ECSC
A
- the high authority (of the ECSC) which would eventually become the EU Commission. Each member had at least one member, but they were expected to not see themselves as delegates
- The council of ministers where representatives of national government came together. Depending on the matter, different kinds of majorities were needed
- The common assembly, which would later become the EU Parliament, but back then it was made up of members of national parliaments.
- All of these were supervised by the Court of Justice of the ECSC
19
Q
The treaty of Rome (TFEU)
A
- In 1957, established the EEC and Euratom
- EEC was about the start of the creation of a common market and Euratom about the control of nuclear energy
- Made the High Authority into the European Commission and the general assembly into the European parliament
- EEC created a common external tariff for all the members as this would otherwise create competition among the nations. It also tried to make a more fair market within the Union by going after monopolies and other unfair practices in the market
- The EEC and ECSC had very similar institutions and these would later merge in the way described above
20
Q
The discrepancies between nations in the 1960’s
A
- The Benelux wanted more supranationalism, but France wanted more intergovernmentalism, as they saw the former as a threat to their sovereignty
- In 1965 France created the empty chair crisis by not nominating people they were supposed to and therefore it stopped those places from operating.
- This crisis created the Luxembourg compromise: if one member state really opposed something, there were certain systems and procedures that could be tapped into and generally unanimity should prevail over other majorities
21
Q
Important precedents set by court in ‘63 and ‘64
A
- 1963: European law would trump those of the nations and European law would apply to both the national governments but also to individual people from each nation
- 1964: the treaties established a whole new legal system and nations which became members would integrate the laws into their own legal system. Also claimed that national law cannot override European law which meant that there was a permanent limitation placed upon national sovereignty, this is the case whether the laws made by the nations were made before or after the treaty
