T2 Budget,desicion making process(1) Flashcards
Treaty of Rome
it laid out virtually every aspect of economic integration implemented up to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.
The Treaty of Rome was re-labelled as
“Four freedoms”: of Treaty of Rome
goods, service, workers and capital;
Main elements of the treaty of rome( 3)
Free trade in goods: eliminate tariffs, quotas and all other trade barriers
(customs union): - this element constitutes the difference with a free trade area - customs Union to prevent “trade deflection” or “tariff cheating”.
Ensuring undistorted competition (to avoid “deals” that offset trade barrier removal): - state aids are mostly prohibited; - anti-competitive behaviour regulated by Commission; - approximation of laws (i.e., harmonization); - taxes (weak restrictions but no explicit harmonization).
Main elements of treaty of rome (4)
Unrestricted trade in services: - principle of freedom of movement of services
Labour and capital market integration: - free movement of workers (extended to “people” in the SEA); - free movement of capital
Exchange rate and macroeconomic coordination
Common policy in agriculture
Tax policy
like social policies, tax policy directly touches the lives of most citizens and it is the outcome of a national political compromise. Thus, tax policies have been slightly harmonized (and it was not easy!) but not made equal.
Until the Maastricht Treaty, most integration initiative were decided with
supranational decision-making procedures.
supranational decision-making procedures. Two problems:
old debate between federalists and intergovernmentalists:
integration that was taking place outside of the EU’s structure (e.g. Schengen Accord).
old debate between federalists and intergovernmentalists
the ‘vanguard’ wished to spread European integration to areas not covered in the original Treaties;
- the ‘doubters’ worried that supranational decision-making procedures were producing an irresistible increase in the depth and breadth of European integration;
The Maastricht Treaty drew
a clear line between supranational and intergovernmental policy areas: the 3-pillar organizational structure.
The Lisbon Treaty has
a roof and only 2 pillars: one for supranational issues and one for intergovernmental issues.
One of the most unusual and important things about the EU is
its supranational legal system
By the standards of every other international organization in the world, the European legal system is
extremely supranational.
Main principles of EU LAW
direct effect: EU law can create rights which EU citizens can rely upon when they go before their domestic courts;
- primacy: Community law has the final say (e.g., highest French court can be overruled) so that it cannot be altered by national, regional or local laws in any member state;
- autonomy: system is independent of members’ legal orders.
The ‘Big-5’ institutions
the European Council(national leaders)
- the Council;
-Commission(excecutive branch - proposes law and budget)
- the European Parliament(like lower house)
- Court of Justice of the European Union (like supreme court)
The European Council is
the highest political-level body in the EU: it provides political guidance at the highest level
It consists of the leaders of each Member State, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission
The Lisbon Treaty created the ‘President of the European Council’ who chairs the European Council for two and a half years and is selected by qualified-majority voting in the European Council.
The European Council
It meets at least four times a year, with the most important meetings usually coming in June and December
One peculiarity is that the European Council has no formal role in EU law-making: its political decisions are translated into law following the standard legislative procedures.
Confusingly, the European Council and the Council are often both called ‘the Council’. And neither should be confused with the Council of Europe (an international organization set up in the 1940s and entirely unrelated to the EU).
The council
The Council is the EU’s main decision-making body.
It consists of one representative from each EU member authorized to commit its government to Council decisions, so Council members are the government ministers responsible for the relevant area.
It uses different names according to the issue discussed: - e.g., EcoFin for financial and budget issues, the Agriculture Council for CAP issues, General Affairs Council for foreign policy issues.
powers of the council in all first pillar areas
-to pass European laws (jointly with the European Parliament); -
to coordinate the general economic policies of the Member States in the context of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); -
to pass final judgment on international agreements between the EU and other countries or international organizations (a power it shares with the European Parliament); -
to approve the EU’s budget (jointly with the European Parliament).
In addition to these tasks linked to economic integration, the Council takes the decisions related to Common Foreign and Security Policies.
main decision making rules of the council
-unanimity: for most important issues (e.g., Treaty changes, accession of new members and setting the multi-year budget plan);
-‘qualified majority voting’ (QMV): for most issues (about 80% of all Council decisions).
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is
a new post created by the Lisbon Treaty
The commission
is made up of one Commissioner from each EU member (including the President and three Vice-Presidents).
Commissioners are
appointed all together and serve for five years.
Commissioners are chosen by
their own national governments and approved by the European Parliament. Commissioners are not supposed to act as national representatives and they are in charge of a specific area of EU policy, equivalent to a national ministry called Directorates-General (DGs).
