Lecture 1 (Week 36) - Introduction to EU Flashcards
Explain supranationalism
Supranationalism is defined as the voluntary association of three or more independent states willing to yield some measure of sovereignty for mutual benefit.
A large amount of power given to an authority, which in theory is placed higher than the state (EU).
Supranationalism: Policy areas where sovereignty has been ceded or ‘pooled’ by member states in
(EEC/EU) institutions.
7 important achievements of the EU is?
- Free movement of people, goods & services
- The euro (common currency)
- Level of welfare in the EU (health, education etc)
- Peace between member states
- Common agricultural policy
- The EU’s economic power
- The EU’s political and diplomatic influence in the rest
of the world
Pros and cons associated with supranationalism
Supranationalism has provided European countries with the ability to compete economically in the global marketplace.
Difficulties have been in the areas of cultural and historical differences that have influenced the continuing economic and political challenges.
What is a federal state (federalism)?
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism).
In relation to EU:
The post-WW2 drive towards integration was rooted in efforts to maintain peace in Europe -> Federalist aspirations – to avoid the nationalism of the ‘old order’ – Jean Monnet
OEEC is short for?
The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) formed (1948).
The Marshall plan (Marshall aid) is?
US offered financial and food aid to Europe to help with the economic recovery after WW2.
US hoped that this would lead to finance trade between Europe and America and trade between the European states themselves.
Marshall aid was tied to the removal of barriers to trade and commerce between member states.
Explain intergovernmentalism
Intergovernmentalism treats states (and national governments in particular) as the primary actors in the integration process.
Intergovernmentalism: Cooperation between sovereign states in which the national veto is maintained.
National Veto is maintained
“Both a theory of integration and a method of decision‐making in international organizations, that allows states to cooperate in specific fields while retaining their sovereignty.”
ECSC is short for? And the six memberstates was?
European Coal and Steel Community (1951)
It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by:
Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany.
Bonus (the aim):
Transfer to a supranational level, sovereignty over two crucial ‘war industries’: steel and coal. To rationalize and manage the development of two key industries.
The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states. Divide the EU institutions into the two groups:
Intergovernmental: Supranational:
The European Council The Commission
The Council of Ministers The European Parliament
The European Court of Justice
The Truman Doctrine is?
Military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey provided by the US during the cold war. It was to prevent the Soviet Union to pressure countries in Europe.
What is the spill-over effect (EU)?
The spillover effect is when an event in a country has a ripple effect on the economy of another, usually more dependent country. Spillover effects can be caused by stock market downturns such as the Great Recession in 2008, or macro events like the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Give an explanation to the term “sovereignty”
Sovereignty is a political construct.
Two conceptions of sovereignty are opposed: one is the state-centred and puts forward that sovereignty is located at one particular level of power, the parliament and government emanating from it. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the post-sovereignist understanding conceives the concept in a multi-level approach., It imagines sovereignty through new lenses, arguing from the outset that the concept itself has become outdated, being challenged by globalisation and integration. From this post-sovereignist perspective, ‘the capacity and right of the existing states to exercise supreme authority within their territory, control access to it and speak for their citizens outside it, have all become harder to sustain’ (Bellamy 2003, 167). Globalisation, transnational commerce, culture and travel – to mention but a few – challenged the effective capacity of the state (Walker 2003, 10). To accommodate these transformations, ‘sovereignty is “pooled” or shared with other states’ because ‘states and their representatives are the prime actors within organisations such as NATO, the WEU, of the EU’ and because ‘their interactions and collaborations are so numerous and intense’ that they have modified their independence of action (Bellamy 2003, 176).
The Treaty of Rome (1957) created two new communities, which?
1) European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)
2) European Economic Community (EEC)
6 original member states
Bonus citat (thoughts behind): Commitment to an “ever closer union”, to economic and social progress “by a common action to eliminate the barriers which divide Europe” and to “the constant improvement of the living and working conditions of their people.” (Preamble).
(Background: Focus on the economic rather than political aspects of European integration).
The EEC i short for? The EEC was (mention the two characteristics)?
The EEC was a common market.
The EEC was (and the EU still is) a customs union.
Bonus:
The EEC involved the liberalization of trade and commerce between member states.
EFTA is short for?
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) formed separately among non-EEC members (1960)
