Regionalism and the European Union Flashcards
Why did the EU win the Nobel peace prize in 2012
Honoured for 6 decades of contributions to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe
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Regionalism
The theory of practice of coordinating social, economic, political activites within a geographical region comprising a number of states
Ranges from intergovernmentalism to supranationalism
Economic regionalism
Refers to the creation of greater economic opportunities through cooperation through states in the same geographical region
Security regionalism
Refers to the forms of cooperation designed to protect states from their enemies, both neighbouring and distant ones
Political regionalism
Attempts made by states in the same area to strengthen or protect shared values, thereby enhancing their image and reputation and gaining a more powerful diplomatic voice
Economic regionalism EG - may protect domestic trade
EU is protectionist over its agricultural industry - the CAP offers farmers subsidies which enable them to produce cheaper goods, thereby encouraging EU citizens to buy these goods instead of ones outside the regions
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Political regionalism EG
EU is a member of the G20 and observer state for the UN
Arab League and ASIS
Security regionalism EG
EU has tried to gain more influence over security policy:
- Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Lisbon Treaty - more powers for EU to protect/project its own unified foreign and security
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Economic regionalism EG - Trade agreements
- Trans-Pacific Partnership 2016 (states of pacific rims excluding China and US)
- Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (EU AND USA)
- NAFTA (Canada, Mexico and US, reduction of trade barriers)
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Building block
- Regionalism and globalisation are the same thing
- Markets open up around the world, the only way of remaining competitve is to do the same within their own regions
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Stumbling block
- Regionalism is a response to globalisation rather than being some sort of accommodation with it
- Nation states are effectively looking for a safe harbour to shield them from the unpredictable forces of the global economy
- Regionalism may be providing nation states with a means of protecting their economic and political interests in a globalising world
4 arguments with examples for building block
- Regional blocs enhance globalisation by essentially compartmentalising the globe - making it ‘smaller’ and more manageable (Mercosur and NAFTA embraced free trade and free movement of capital - own single market)
- Regional blocs organise states into those who have similar goals, making the processes of global governance more effecient
(EU convergence criteria) - Regionalism is compatible with globalisation - similar processes of coop, multilateralism and governance on a smaller scale (UN, Trans Pacific Partnership)
- Outwardly looking regional blocs want to make the most out of global networks are are simply acting as a larger unit than a nation state (ASIS, ASEAN want to make a trade deal with the EU)
3 arguments with examples for stumbling block
- Inwardly looking regional blocs display a regional egoism - only concerned with their own region - isolationist and protectionist policy that impinges free movement of global trade (EU tarriffs under CAP - 40% of EU budget)
- Regionalism is incongruous with globalisation because instead of enhancing global community and a global civil society, further divides world into segments (ASEAN allows smaller countries of East Asia to formulate policy that best represents their interests against bigger neighbour countries)
- Regional blocs are all quite different in character - cannot effectively organise global relations (some are more interconnected and supranational than others - EU V NAFTA (USMC)
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Federalism
- Relies on the process of conscious decision making by the political elites
- Appears to offer a solution to the problems of the state system as peace will only be achieved if states transfer at least a measure of their sov to a higher federal body - pooled - LIBERAL
- Earliest theory of regional or even global integration
Federalism implications for sovereignty
- Consultative rather than autonomous decision making
EG Europian Central Bank - can make economic decisions on the Eurozone on its own behalf
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Functionalism
- ‘Form follows function’
- Cooperation only works when it is focused on specific activities that would be performed more effectively through collective action than by individual states - creating pressure to construct institutional structures
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Functionalism implications for sovereignty
- Gradual erosion of sov and loss of democratic legitimacy
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Neofunctionalism
- Recognises the limitations of the traditional functionalist idea that integration is largely determined by recognition of growing interdependence in economic and other areas
- Places greater emphasis on the interplay between economics and politics
- Functional coop tends to produce transnational constituencies of advocates for closer coop, creating a dynamic that leads to wideer political integration (spillover)
Neofunctionalism implications for sovereignty
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What is the African Union
- Came into existence July 2002 with the goal to propel African States towards peace and prosperity as the basis for achieving the ultimate goal of political and economic integration of its member states
- Reasonable success through direct contribution and collab with the international community - trouble spots in Sudan, resolving post-election violent conflicts in Kenya, forcing military coup-makers to hand back power to civilian regimes
- China makes them pay more attention to international development coop
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What was NAFTA and the purpose of it?
- North American Free Trade Agreement to lift tariffs on virtually all goods traded amongst US, Canada, and Mexico
- Makes it easier for companies in the 3 countries to do business and increase economic prosperity
Can Trump pull out of NAFTA and have the US lost jobs because of NAFTA
- With 6 months notice, he can set it in motion without congressional approval, april he requested a renegotiation of the terms of the agreement
- Economic Policy Institute said in 2013 that 700K jobs lost as production moved to Mexico with California, Texas and Michigan amongs the worst hit states
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Who benefits from NAFTA and who loses?
- Trade quadrupled among the three countries, surpassing 1tn in 2015 reported Reuters new agency
- Severe impact on income among blue collar workers in US Labour market in 2016 - college dropouts working in industries that depdned heavily on tariff protections in place prior to NAFTA - wage growth drop by as much as 17%
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If NAFTA is not to blame for manufacuting job losses, what is?
- Manufacutring employment already in decline before NAFTA was signed
- Automation in US industry
- Competition from Chinese exports
- US tariff cuts on Mexian trade under NAFTA were implimented at roughly the same time as tariff cuts with most other countries as the US entered the WTO in 1995
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What is NAFTA’s impact on Mexico and Canada?
- Council of Foreign Relations, NAFTA gave a major boots to Mexican farm exports - tripled since the implimentation - auto-manufcatuing jobs have been created - hundreds of thousands
- Mexico econ grow at an average rate of just 1.3% between 1993 and 2013 during when Latin America was undergoing a major expansion
- Canada has seen strong gains in cross border investment in NAFTA, according to CFR - since 1993, Mexican and US investments tripled - agriculture saw a boost
- BUT - ‘productivity gap’ between Canada and US economies remain wide - Canada’s labour productivity remains at 72% of US levels
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Functionalism strengths
- Generally had expectations about the extent to which integration and international cooperation are possible
- Political loyalites are realitively easy to transfer away from nation states towards new functional organisations as the latter have been effective in delivering goods and services
Functionalism weaknesses
- Overemphasises the willingness of states to hand over their responsibilities to functional bodies, especially in areas more political than technical
- Little evidence than international organisations are capable of acquiring a level of popular legitimacy that rivals the nation state
