Single Market Flashcards
1
Q
History
A
- 1951 - ECSC
- Treaty of Rome - Creation of the EEC (= Customs Union) + Free movement of persons, services and capital
- Acceleration Agreement
- Empty-chair crisis
- Stagflation - Many non-tariff barriers emerge
- Snake-in-the-tunnel strategy - Fails
- 1978 - The European Council in Bremen creates the EMS (MS link their currencies to avoid too much difference) and the ERM
- Fontainebleau
- Delors Commission
- SEA - Introduction of QMV
- Issues in transposition, enforcement, certain controversial issues…
2
Q
1990s
A
- Maastricht Treaty - Creation of the single market + Convergence criterion
- Most MS cannot reach the criterion
- Germany wins most fights against FR (Name of the currency, geographical position of the ECB) but France gets to have his candidate for the 1st President of the ECB
- Maastricht criterion shall be permanent - Failed because still too discretionary
3
Q
2000s
A
- 2006 - Services Directive, freedom of services is much easier - When there is no EU standard, the national standard applies
- Eurozone crisis - Failure of states to follow rules - Failure of EU institutions to implement the rules - The rules themselves are too weak - Lack of political, economic and fiscal integration
- Greece has a budget deficit way higher than reported
- 2011 - The ECB injects money into Europe’s struggling banks + Outright Monetary Transactions (pledge to take over the sovereign debt)
- ESM of €500 billion is set up
4
Q
What were the French and German positions regarding the single market?
A
- FR - Wanted a monetary union, accountable to the MS, but GR won because FR was busy with Algeria and Suez Canal
- GR - Wanted an economic union, independent
5
Q
What were the reasons for the single market?
A
- To avoid national protectionism
- To avoid war
- To promote economic expansion - The Marshall Plan had stopped so the EU needed to get bigger to compete
6
Q
What areas were problematic?
A
- Tax harmonisation and company law - The idea was to avoid a lot of regulations and paperwork in each MS, but this was considered to be the door to reach more politically sensitive areas (like public services) and was never included
- Telecommunications and energy - Heavily supported by national governments, strong monopolies - Originally excluded but included later on
- Services - Vocal political opposition - Because of the ‘country-of-origin’ principle (from Cassis de Dijon) - Employers and trade unions from countries which had higher wages and conditions of service were alarmed - The Commission removed the ‘country-of-origin’ principle - Instead, they have been regulating everything at EU level
7
Q
What would be the consequences of Brexit for the Single Market for the EU?
A
- Politically weakened
- Euro-scepticism
- Germany will become the big leader
8
Q
What would be the consequences of Brexit for the Single Market for the UK?
A
- Decrease of exports
- Employment issues where there is a lack of skilled workers in the UK
- Delays at borders
- Complex trade agreements take time
- Less imports and exports
- Decrease in overall welfare
Theresa May said they will leave the single market and the customs union.
9
Q
What are the key points of Juncker’s State of the Union 2017?
A
- To complete an Energy Union, a Capital Markets Union, a European Social Standards Union, a Digital Single Market and a Banking Union - To expand it to every MS, and that every MS adopts the Euro
- More trade agreements with Mexico and Latin America
- To protect the external borders better
- Stronger single market - More QMV
- For the ESM to transform to a European Monetary Fund which will be permanent and applicable to Eurozone MS
10
Q
Explain the Single Market with the integration theories
A
- Original decision - Liberal inter-governmentalism
- Acceleration Agreement - Neo-functionalism (cultivated spillover, internal pressures)
- Success of the SEA - Neo-functionalism
- 1992 Programme - Neo-functionalism
