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PoliSci340 EU > Midterm 2 > Flashcards

Midterm 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Accession criteria

A

States must meet the Copenhagen Criteria and the Acquis Communautaire

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2
Q

Accountability

A

It is harder for voters to hold the EU accountable especially in organizations like COREPER that are shielded from public perceptions. Only the EP is directly elected so they can’t always vote out people they don’t like.

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3
Q

Acquis communautaire

A

The massive set of laws that a state is required to integrate into it’s national law in order to join the European Union. Can take years to translate and integrate it.

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4
Q

Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ; aka Justice and Home Affairs, JHA)

A

Cooperation on border, migration, crime fighting, counter-terrorism, civil law, other internal security matters.
Pre-Maastricht little cooperation except for Schengen area. Maastricht addresses problems with this. Lisbon breaks 3 pillar structure. Pushes more into charter of fundamental rights and QMV
Agencies: Frontex, Europol, Eurojust

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5
Q

Clarity of responsibility

A

It’s hard to tell who is responsible for certain actions in the EU and who is doing what. It is an extremely complex system that average citizens likely won’t understand.

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6
Q

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

A

A market correcting policy meant to provide affordable food to Europe as well as provide higher environmental, food safety, and animal welfare standards.

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7
Q

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

A

A central Pillar of the EU created by the Maastricht Treaty that allows the Eu to function jointly on foreign policy.

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8
Q

Communitarization of Justice and Home Affairs

A

Communitarization brought the three pillars of JHA down and consolidated them into two main pillars. One dealt with Asylum, Immigration, and Judicial matters. The other dealt with police and judicial cooperation in judicial and criminal matters

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9
Q

Community method

A

Member states give up some sovereignty. central institutions are empowered to make decisions

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10
Q

Competitive authoritarianism

A

A system of authoritarianism that resembles a democracy except that the playing field is so skewed in favor of one candidate that one party stays in control. This is usually done through control of the media and procedural problems rather than repression or violence

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11
Q

Conditionality (enlargement)

A

All countries trying to enlarge have to meet all conditions for enlargement. However, there isn’t really a mechanism to hold them to it once they join

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12
Q

Constraining dissensus

A

Originally people tended to support the EU without really knowing what it did (Permissive Consensus) but recently as people start to understand what the EU does more and more they start to be less likely to blindly support it.

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13
Q

Convergence criteria

A

A monetary policy condition for becoming part of the EMU.
1. Budget deficits <3% GDP
2. Public debt <60% GDP
3. Inflation rates within 1.5% of lowest three EU members
4. Exchange rate stability

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14
Q

Copenhagen Criteria

A

The other set of criteria for joining the EU. It requires that a state have the existence of institutions guaranteeing democracy, human rights, the rule of law, a functioning market economy, the ability to cope with Union’s economic pressures, and adherence to the political, monetary, and economic obligations of the union

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15
Q

Democratic backsliding

A

Sitter and Bakke. Democratic Backsliding is a potential crisis for the EU. There are few measures to hold states accountable for backsliding once they are in the EU.

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16
Q

Democratic deficit

A

When a democracy falls short of fulfilling principles of democracy or is discredited in the eyes of the public. In EU this is attributed to:
Increased executive power
Disconnection from citizens
No European elections
EU too distant
EU locks in unpopular policies

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17
Q

Distribution of power among EU institutions under the ordinary legislative procedure

A

Commission proposes legislation, Council of ministers and Parliament review it, propose amendments and ultimately confirm it or vote on it

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18
Q

Division of competences

A

Who has the right to make policy. Building single market EU has exclusive competence. Market regulation(Correction and Cushioning) = “Shared”

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19
Q

Elections to the European Parliament as “second-order (national) elections”

A

Elections to the European parliament are elections that Europeans don’t think or care much about. They are second order elections like a local election.

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20
Q

EU agencies: Europol, Eurojust, Frontex

A

There are a ton of EU agencies of the ones we’ve talked about:
Europol: European Police - Think Interpol but EU
Eurojust: Leads the judicial response to EU criminal threats
Frontex: Border Security like ICE

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21
Q

EU citizenship

A

EU citizenship means that you have citizenship in all European countries and the rights given to you by the EU. You also have the ability to go to any EU country’s embassy abroad and get help.

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22
Q

EU crises, various: causes, consequences, similarities, differences

A

Covid - Mostly handled by MS but EU helped coordinate.
Brexit - Britain left EU which hurt EU but crippled Britain. Similar to Populism crisis. Nationalism had a huge effect. it was economically stupid.
Populism - No way to punish countries for democratic backsliding. Hungary, Slovakia having problems.
Ukraine - EU wants to help Ukraine but is realizing it can’t always rely on US for defense. It may need to step up funding or work towards a united European defense force.

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23
Q

European Central Bank (ECB)

A

The European Central Bank is the bank of the European countries that use the Euro. It primarily maintains price stability and tackles inflation.

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23
Q

Euro Crisis (including Hall’s arguments concerning the sources of the crisis)

A

The Euro crisis happened because there was monetary integration in a region that was not a OCA. Greece was running a deficit twice as high as it was reporting. This sparks a crisis of confidence in the EU. Banks start demanding money back and decreasing loans. North blames PIIGS for living above their means. In reality, northern banks had been predatorily lending to places that couldn’t pay it back. Without separate monetary policy, poorer nations lose everything and have to pay austerity measures to bail the banks out. Germans pay them because they would collapse without money. In the end instead of creating an OCA, the EU goes back to normal.

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24
Q

European Monetary System (EMS)

A

an adjustable exchange rate arrangement set up in 1979 to foster closer monetary policy cooperation between members of the European Community. Step up from Bretton woods and led to the single currency and EMU

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25
Q

European Stability Mechanism (ESM)

A

European stability mechanism is a fund for distressed EMU countries. it can lend up to 500 Billion euros. Created to be a defense in the event of another Eurocrisis

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26
Q

Europeanization

A

The broad idea that Europe keeps becoming more integrated. As Europe becomes more integrated it has effects on member states.

26
Q

Euroscepticism

A

“Doubt and distrust on the subject of
European integration” Some people are skeptical of the EU and they tend to fall into four camps. Euroenthusiasts support EU and “ever closer union”. Europragmatists have no principled support, but EU is useful. Eurosceptics belive integration not bad per se, but oppose how it is
realized today. Eurorejects oppose the ideal of integration and reality of EU

27
Q

Exclusive vs. inclusive national identity

A

How people think of national identity. Are they inclusive of others or exclusive of others in how they think of their place in Europe? Do they have only a sense of national identity, National over European, or European over national.

28
Q

Explanations of attitudes toward the EU (utilitarian/economic [egocentric, sociotropic], ideology, social identity)

A

Utilitarian/Economic: are based on the costs vs benefits of EU membership. Can be either egocentric(working in self-interest) or sociotropic(societal average)
Ideology theory: Based on political leanings center right and left tend to be more tolerant of EU. Extreme right an left opposed
Social Identity: Based on ideas of nationality. Inclusive vs exclusive. Is EU a threat to national identity?

29
Q

“Failing forward”

A

The idea that European integration tends to make policy that is an attempt to integrate more but it doesn’t go far enough. This leads to failures and crises which in turn drive reforms to fix those failures.

30
Q

General Data Protection Regulation

A

The GDPR is a massive bill that aims to protect consumers privacy and data in the EU. It was the subject of the documentary. It creates transparency and ensures that data is used with consent for legitimate purposes and that there is accountability with data.

31
Q

Immigration and asylum policies

A

Under fire recently form the migrant crisis. Greece and southern states ignored the Dublin Regulation on migrants and started bring in more refugees. Most ended up in Germany when Germany let them in. Have caused rifts in the EU about the Schengen area.

32
Q

Impact of EU membership on: national governments, national legislatures, sub-national authorities, national court, political parties, interest groups, citizens, national policies and policy-making, balance of power between domestic institutions in the member states

A

MS executive: Power sharing, less control but some policy leadership opportunities. Net Loss
MS Legislatures: Weak position, no say in EU policies. Net Loss
MS Courts: subject to higher rulings less autonomy but part of a larger legal order. Hard to say
Subnational authorities: Subject to decisions at 2 levels but part of multinational governance and get regional funds. Net gain in unitary states but if not net loss
Political parties: More parties part of larger system complexity resource problems. But opportunities for policy coordination. Challenge and opportunity
Interest groups: more competition/costs. more opportunities/alliances/venue shopping. Positive for large, negative for small

33
Q

Legitimacy

A

The EU has taken power from member states but doesn’t always have the legitimacy to support it. Legitimacy gets even more complicated with the 2 levels of the EU and Member states sharing power

34
Q

Market-building policies

A

Single market is almost but not completely integrated. Still some areas where there is room to integrate:
* Services
* Transportation
* Tax systems
* MS labor markets

35
Q

Market-correction policies

A

Policies meant to correct markets.
Example 1: Import tariffs, Price intervention, and Subsidies created overproduction and market manipulation. CAP reformed this with price cuts, moving to income support, and better safely, environmental and welfare standards.
Example 2: Structural and cohesion funds. Meant to reduce disparities btw. regions &
social groups through development, alleviating costs of structural change and infrastructure (esp. human resources)

36
Q

Market-cushioning policies

A

Policies meant to cushion people in the event of market crashes/problems.
Example: social regulation by creating occupational health and safety
standards like
* Working-time directive
* Environmental policy
* Consumer protection
* Anti-discrimination

37
Q

Market-regulation policies

A

Passes legislation which is then transposed into member state’s laws. Examples are anti trust/competition legislation or environmental policy

38
Q

Multi-level governance

A

The idea that governing happens at multiple levels in Europe. EU works at its level and then the member states are bound by the EU but can make policies on their level.

39
Q

Multi-speed Europe (aka Europe à la carte, variable geometry)

A

Europe integrates at different speeds due to opt outs. Some are unwilling to take measures that others are. Related to Monetary policy or AFSJ.

40
Q

Impact of multilingualism on EU politics

A

When their is no shared language, everyone is required to do their best to understand the intention of the speaker rather than the words they use. Language becomes depoliticized, utilitarian, and neutral to get the point across. The process and the arguments made become unemotional and logical.

41
Q

Optimal currency area (OCA)

A

A geographical region where economic efficiency is maximized with a single currency that has systemic economic shocks or methods to deal with systemic shocks. This could mean a high degree of labor mobility or automatic fiscal transfers to redistribute money to different regions. The EU is not an OCA

42
Q

Ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision procedure)

A

The normal procedure to make legislation in the EU. The Commission makes a proposal. Then the Parliament and Council of Ministers meet and propose amendments. If they can’t agree they will do this a second round

43
Q

Permissive consensus

A

In Europe people had no opinion about he government’s actions or supported integration. Prevalent before the 90s but as Maastricht was signed, more opposition appeared. Eurocrisis and Migrant Crisis deepened opposition and attention to the EU chipping away at permissive consensus.

44
Q

PIIGS

A

Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain. These were the countries blamed for the Euro crisis by northern Europeans. They were blamed for living above their means to take any pressure off the German banks that were loaning to them predatorily

45
Q

Populism

A

An ideology where society is ultimately
separated into two homogeneous and
antagonistic camps. The pure people vs the corrupt elites. Argues that politics should follow the general will. It is anti-liberal and anti-pluralist. They try to change institutions to suit their will and gain power

46
Q

Populism and democracy

A

Populists will try to take power for themselves and make the playing field uneven for opponents. It looks like a democracy but isn’t in actuality. This is a problem for the EU because there are very few measures to eliminate countries experiencing democratic backsliding.

47
Q

Qualified Majority Voting (QMV)

A

A system of voting where a certain majority of votes for a policy can bind all European nations into following it. Currently using QMV to pass a policy you would need over 55% of the member states representing over 65% of the European people to pass legislation.

47
Q

Positive integration and negative integration

A

Positive integration is making new laws to bind MS. Negative integration is taking away existing MS laws to open up cooperation and remove barriers. Historically easier to use negative integration.

48
Q

Reasons for entering a monetary union (economic, political)

A

Interest rates between currencies are fixed. Economic motivations, fixed exchange rate prevents against speculation, No currency risk = more trade. OCA potential
Political Motivations: EMU possible, Binds Germany to Europe, credible commitment to exchange rate stability, reap trade effects.

49
Q

Representation (static and dynamic)

A

Who represents you? European Parliment. Small piece of EU. Ministers/Commission appointed
Static- Is parliament passing laws people would support?
Dynamic - Can civilians raise concerns and be heard by EU?
Mostly fits static but not really dynamic

50
Q

Spitzenkandidaten

A

The idea that the President of the European commission should be from the majority party in the European parliament. Fell through in 2019, will it come back?

50
Q

Schengen

A

The area of the EU where all people are free to move across borders without being stopped.

51
Q

Stability and Growth Pact

A

A set of rules designed to ensure that countries pursue sound public finances and coordinate their fiscal policies. Some conditions from convergence criteria that were reaffirmed in the SGP.
1. Budget deficits < 3 % of GDP.
2. Public debt < 60 % of GDP.
3. Inflation rates within 1.5% of lowest
three.
4. Exchange-rate stability

52
Q

Structural and cohesion funds

A

Structural and cohesion funds. Meant to reduce disparities btw. regions &
social groups through development, alleviating costs of structural change, and infrastructure (esp. human resources)

53
Q

“Sword” vs. “shield” in the AFSJ/JHA

A

Went from Sword of justice to enforcement and protection to Shield of individual rights and protections for EU citizens

54
Q

Lessons from “Democracy – im Rausch der Daten” about EU policy-making * The “one size does not fit all” problem in the Eurozone

A

Most policy is done in shadow meetings. There is party politics rather than state politics. There are tons of interest groups and lobbyists trying to get concessions. Policy takes a long time. Every little bit of wording is meticulously debated until everyone is satisfied with the bill.

55
Q

Theories of integration (neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, suprnationalism)

A

Intergovernmentalism: Nations can compromise in low politics like the economy but wont compromise with large things like national security. As opposed to Neofunctionalism: The idea that Europe will slowly and incrementally integrate leading to spillover in economic and political spheres which would drive more integration in a self sustaining cycle.
Liberal intergovernmentalism: Similar to intergovernmentalism in that member states will cooperate on low politics but with more detail on the process, arguing that states make bargains and have preferences and commit to EU institutions to be credible with bargains
Supranationalism: Institutions should hold some power over the states. Not Federalism. Member states retain sovereignty and participate willingly

56
Q

Transposition/implementation of EU law

A

When the EU makes a law, EU members must bring those laws into force within a set transposition period

57
Q

Trends in public opinion regarding the EU

A

Public opinion of the EU is slowly going down as people start to understand what the EU actually does

58
Q

Ukraine war as potential impetus toward a common EU defense capability

A

Will the Ukraine war push the EU into worrying about defense and push them into high politics? Will Europe recognize the need to stop free riding on US security?

59
Q

Uneven multilingualism under a veil of language equality

A

Every language of an EU member is an official language but not all of them are used very much. Often people default to English, French, and German because more people speak those languages so it makes it easier to communicate

60
Q

Ursula von der Leyen

A

Current President of the European Commission. Also sits in on European Council meetings

61
Q

Intergovernmental method

A

The theory that power should be concentrated in the hands of the member states rather than the institutions. Institutions should be advisory. As opposed to Supranationalism

PoliSci340 EU (3 decks)

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