Past Paper Questions Flashcards
European Parliament
The directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU).
Number of members of the European parliament
751
Established in (year)
1979 (first elections)
Functions and powers of the European parliament
- Legislative (can ammend or reject, but needs the commission to draft a bill)
- Budget (entire budget, equal footing to the council)
- Control of the executive (President of European Commission is approved and elected by parliament)
- Supervision (Appointment of members of the Court of Auditors and president and executive board of the ECB)
European Coucil
Comprises the heads of state of the member states, along with the council’s own president and the president of the Commission.
European Council formation
1961 (informally)
2009 (formally)
President of the European Council
Donald Tusk
President of the European Parliament
Martin Schulz
Powers and functions of the European council.
- Defines the EU’s policy agenda
- Lead in foreign policy
- Powers of appointment (own president, president of ECB, proposes to the parliament a candidate for president of the European Commission)
- No legislative power
European Commission
Executive body of the EU, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing day-to-day business of the EU.
Number of members of the European Commission
28 members (one from each member state). One of the 28 is the commission president, proposed by European Council and elected by the European Parliament.
Appointment of Commission members
Appointed by the European Council, subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.
President of the European commission
Jean-Claude Juncker
Responsibilities of the European Commission according to article 17 of the Treaty on EU
- Develop medium-term strategies
- Draft legislation
- Arbitrate in the legislative process
- Represent the EU in trade negotiations
- Make rules and regulations
- Draw up the budget of the EU
- Scrutinise the implementation of the treaties and legislation.
Lack of power in areas such as foreign policy (held by the council)
The executive power of the EU before the Treaty of Lisbon:
Held by the Council,
Powers of the European Commission
- Executive power
- Legislative initiative
- Enforcement
Dunkirk Treaty
Signed March 1947, between France and the UK agains a possible German attack in the aftermath of WWII.
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
An intergovernmental military alliance, constituting a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
North Atlantic Treaty signed in (year)
April 1949
Location of NATO Headquarters
Haren, Brussels
Single European Act
Signed in Luxembourg, & The Hague, 1986
First major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome.
Set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market.
Treaty of Lisbon
Signed December 2007, effective Dec 2009
Amends Maastricht Treaty, and Treaty of Rome.
Gave member states the explicit legal right to leave the EU.
Year of launch of the Erasmus Programme
1987
Profile of Robert Schuman
Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman
1886 - 1963 (Luxembourg)
Independent political thinker and activist.
2 time prime Minister of France.
Reformist Minister of finance and Foreign Minister.
Profile of Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet
1888-1979 (Cognac, Charente)
First President of the High Authority of the ECSC.
Regarded as chief architect of European Unity.
Political economist and diplomat, never elected to public office, worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.
Warsaw Pact
1955 - 1991
Was a collective defence treaty among 8 communist states of central and Eastern Europe, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland and Moscow.
Members: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Soviet Union, Albania
