Regionalism and the EU Flashcards
What are the two types of regional organisation?
- Intergovernmentalism: AU: states make decisions together and can’t be forced to comply, retaining sovereignty and being more democratic
- Supranationalism: EU: the organisation can force decisions and polcies onto its members, possibly having a non-state bureacracy, affecting sovereignty and having a democratic deficit.
What functions does the European Union serve?
- Peace and Security
- Economic Union
- Political and Social Union
- Judicial and Policing
- Human Rights
- The Environment
- Poverty
How has the EU been successful in maintaining peace and security?
Having just exited WWII, and the natural resources across Europe a key point of conflict during, France, West Germany and the Benelux countries established the ECSC which would later become the EU. It has used liberal principles like the Democratic Peace Thesis and interconnectedness to ensure that states are unlikely or unable to declare war, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for its ‘six decades’ contribution to peace, security, democracy, and human rights in Europe - Countries with historic rivalries like Germany and France now would never think to go to war.
How can one criticise the EU’s maintenace of peace and stability?
Poverty and conflict are inextricably linked, creating and perpetuating one another, ‘Fortress Europe’ and the internal free market makes it difficult for developing states to break into the free market and impossible for people to escape conflict into Europe - Pia Klemp, a captain in civillian SAR operation to recue people drowing in the Mediterranean Sea said the aim of European Borders “is not to protect people fleeing but to protect the EU from people fleeing.”; the Doha Rounds.
How has the EU been successful in is monetary union?
In an attempt to foster prosperity in member states, the 4 freedoms of movement across the European Single Market (people, goods, capital, and services) was created alongside the Euro in 1999 (fully in 2002) - More than ⅔ of the EU is under the Euro and almost ½ of all of Europe; in 2015 alone, goods worth €2.8tn moved across Schengen borders easily.
Give a criticism of the success of the EU’s moetary union.
Challenges to the advantage of interconnectedness and liberal economics which the EU advertises have continued and became especially prominent after the 2008 recession and many countries having to lend money to Greece to avoid a debt crisis that may have led to the end of the Euro. Additionally, not all countries accept economic policy, 1/3 live without the EU. Finally, although the at-risk-of-poverty rate has gone up by 5% since the 70’s this may be due to widening.
How has the EU been successful in is political and social union?
The EU has also exists to help states work together to build binding international treaties and programmes to tackle problems that exist across Europe - 10% of the EU’s budget is spent on the European Social Fund to reduce unemployment, which helped halve unemployment after the effects of 2008; helped to regulate pharmaceuticals and encourage sustainability through banning appliances that use too much energy.
Give a criticism of the EU’s political and social union.
There is fear of democratic deficit, the bodies that actually make legislation are supranational, also affecting state sovereignty which is being increasingly combatted by nationalist movements, far-right Patriots for Europe is now the third largest party in Parliament; additionally, part of the reason the UK left the EU was that they believed that the directives were becoming too overzealous and excessive, one of them being on the shape and ‘curvature’ of bananas.
How has the EU improved judicial and policing services? Give a criticism.
Aimed to improve law and order cooperation across borders to ensure maximum safety, also to deal with international threats like terrorism
Evidence of its impact includes: The European Arrest Warrant allows police forces to arrest individuals for crimes committed in another member state, removing the need for extradition,
16,000 were issued in 2020 alone and one was used to catch the Berlin Market Bomber in Italy. But, the European Commission notes that member states do not always execute EAWs within the prescribed time limit.
How has the EU been successful in promoting human rights?
Human rights agenda in Europe predates the EU itself, with the ECHR created 7 years before the EEC; additionally,
- The European Civil Protection and Human rights Organisation provides humanitarian aid, money, and emergency aid workers
- Tthe EU also has its own dedicated EU Charter of Fundamental Rights that sets out more specific rights for all EU citizens, such as the abolition of the death penalty
- Due to the great soft power of the EU, many countries have been willing to better their human rights protection in order to join, such as Romania which has improved minority rights, freedom of speech, and gender equality
How has the EU’s human rights mission been criticised?
Their lack of means and will to intervene militarily in major human rights abuses, such as the genocide in Former Yugoslavia in 1995, relying on the UN and NATO to respond; additionally, not every country agrees with the rights they set out, Liberties reporting that the wave of populism has caused an “overall decline across the EU” of rule of law.
How has the EU’s environmental mission been successful?
The EU has been able to take an especially successful role in tackling climate change, both due to its small size and relative similarity between economies (compared to COP agreements that have to balance the responsibilities of developed and developing states) - The EU has created the legally binding ‘20-20-20 by 2020’ goals
They have also taken a strong structural role in climate discussions, with observer status in the UN and a permanent invitee of the G20; they have also helped to create agreements like Copenhagen and promote Paris
What are the EU’s ‘20-20-20’ goals?
- 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions
- 20% of energy from renewable sources
- 20% improvement in energy efficiency
Give a criticism of the EU’s environmental mission.
Carbon neutrality goals may be too ambitious, requiring states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% of 1990 levels by 2030, especially for fossil fuel-dependant states like Poland and coal; they are also still fighting climate scepticism, 1/4 of Norwegians don’t believe in man-made climate change.
How has the EU been useful for addressing poverty?
10% of the EU’s budget is spent on the European Social Fund to reduce unemployment, which helped halve unemployment after the effects of 2008, leading donor of Official Development Assistance, providing 75bn euros in 2019 and the EU Recovery Fund included unanimous support for 800bn euro stimulus and decision to pool debt to aid recovery. However, the economic union also serves to mitigate poverty, poverty in Romania is 1/3 of that in 2000.
How can the EU’s poverty mission be criticised?
It’s very Euro-focussed, often negatively affecting other developing states - the CAP has made it harder for some developing states to have equal footing with European states when selling their produce as it subsidies farmers and allows them to keep prices lower than those outside the EU, the Doha rounds also shows their unwillingness to change.
Outline economic regionalism
Agreements like the USMCA are based on regional trade deals, often free trade, where states will agree to remove tariffs and trade barriers between one another; others, such as the EU’s, include regional protectionism, where barriers are put on goods coming from outside the region to foster an internal market.
Outline political regionalism.
Agreements like the AU focus on tackling probems faced within the region, such as piracy or global warming; it can be deeper because it relies on shared cultural ties and a common value system, also benefitting from pooling sovereignty. The Arab League, for example, agrees common positions for the North Arican and Middle Eastern members.
Outline security regionalism.
Agreements like NATO are based on the acceptance of a common threat, usually to borders, and the necesity to defend one another (usually a collective security pact). This can also involve common border policy.
Does regionalism act
- Cooperation v Differences inhibit cooperation
- More efficient globalisation v dividing global community
- Outwardly looking regional blocs v regional egoism
How can outwardly
What is the liberal view of regionalism?
Cooperation is always good and regionalism is a beneficial way for like-minded states to do so in an increasingly interconnected world, where problems like terrorism and the movement of people can’t be dealt with alone.
