terms and concepts Flashcards
acquis communitaire
the collection of COMMON RIGHTS and OBLIGATIONS that constitute the body of EU law - e.g. treaties, norms + CANDIDATES need to sign it before entering
institutional triangle
Commission, EP, EU Council
the Six
BENELUX, France, Italy, West Germany
eurosclerosis
brought by Oil Crisis in 1973 (countries responded individually rather than europeanly)
stagnating integration - no new treaties after ‘57 EEC until ‘86 SEA
three Communities
ECSC, EEC, EAEC/Euratom
Single Market
free movement of people, capital, goods and services
Agenda 2000
blueprint for enlargement
enlargement
= process - gradual adaptation undertaken by countries wishing to join + must meet accession criteria
= policy - principles, goals, instruments defined by EU to incorporate new members
copenhagen criteria
1 - stability of institutions, democracy, HR, rule of law, protection and respect for minorities
2 - functioning market economy able to compete within EU
3 - adherence to aims of political, economic and monetary union
Madrid EU Council - 4th - candidate must create conditions for its integration through adjustement of its administrative structures
accession process
- membership application submitted to the Council
- Council forwards to Commission
- Commission prepares Opinion
- Council decides to start negotiations
- screening process by Commission
- Negotiations led by Presidency on the basis of Negotiating framework
- Commission, EP, and MS endorse outcome of the negotiations
- MS and candidates ratify Accession Treaty
- everything decided by unanimity
theoretical perspectives on enlargement
- First 3 why it’s enlarging
- NEO-FUNCTIONALISM explains the entrepreneurial role of the Commission, the role of European interest groups, and the gradual and incremental nature of enlargement.
- LIBERAL INTERGOVERNMENTALISM explains the socioeconomic preferences behind member states’ support for enlargement.
- SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACHES explain member states’ commitment to enlargement despite the availability of alternative and less demanding options, such as association agreements.
- Following two looks more at “how”
- EUROPEANISATION helps explain the impact of EU enlargement on candidates’ domestic environment and draws attention to the reversibility and impermanent nature of EU influence.
- DIFFERENTIATED INTEGRATION explains the strategies to reconcile heterogeneity within the EU.
spitzenkandidat
CRUM 2023 (demoicracy article)
- German for lead candidate
- first only only used in 2014 (2019 was based on demoi-cracy principle => EP shares powers with the C + MS)
- after EP elections - Council decides who is going to be the new president first considering the candidate from winning group
- once approved by council - EP votes
yellow card
if 1/3 (or 1/4 in relation to freedom, security and justice) of NP feel that draft legislation could be better achieved by domestic legislation - Comm. must review the act
types of eurosceptic MEPs
BRACK 2015
1. absentee
- limited presence in the EP
- disinterest or refusal to engage in parliamentary work
- actively promoting euroscepticism in national public opinion
- public orator
- relatively present in the EP but uninterested in traditional parliamentary work (likes speeches)
- votes againsts majority of texts
- maintains good relationship with the press - pragmatist
- greater investment in EP’s daily work
- seek concrete results without compromising eurosceptic beliefs
- 2 categories
a. see themselves as watchdogs of EU institutions
b. primarily defend national and regional interests (greater activism in home country to get additional resources) - participant
- willingness to appear as a normal MEP
- adopts to EU rules
- serious investment in institutional work
intergovernmentalism within council system
individualistically oriented national actors focusing more or less on their own interests
supranationalism within Council system
member states officials’ engagement with work of Councils involves socialisation into collective decision-making system
high representative for foreign affairs and security policy
- blurs institutional boundaries between Comm and Council
- primary duties
1 - chairing monthly Foreign Policy Council
2 - attending European Council summits
3 - serving as Vice-President of comm + coordinating all external relations portfolios
4 - representing EU internationally (e.g. at UN) + conducting high level diplomacy through European External Action Service (EEAC)
council of europe
- not EU institution
- international organisation based in Strasbourg
- protects HR, democracy and Rule of law
comitology committee
- created by EU legislator (EP+Council or only Council)
- chaired by commission
- to consult implementing acts
binding rules for legislative acts
- when uniform conditions needed toimplement legislative acts
- e.g. EU-wide marketing authorisation for food additives etc.
- no impact on the basic act itself
delegated acts
- changing/complementing basic acts
monetary policy
exclusive competence of EU for euro area
- decisions taken by independent ECB
economic policy
matter of national legislative competence (even for countries in eurozone)
stability and growth pact (SGP)
- goal - ensure sound public finances and price stability
- set of rules for coordination of national fiscal policies in the EU
- countries in eurozone must submit “stability programme”
- other countries submit “convergence programme”
3 types
1 - soft elements - seen as largely ineffectual
2 - hard elements - inappropriate and lack credibility
3 - harder soft - to achieve goals where EU competence is limited + disagreements between MS
macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP)
- MS subject to surveillance using a “scoreboard” concerning possible internal as well as external imbalances
reference framework
EU’s targets concerning employment, research&development, climate change, energy, education, poverty and social exlusion
(each MS sets own targets every year -> NATIONAL REFORM PROGRAMME)
europeanisation
affects both EU and non-EU countries
3 approaches
- bottom-up
- top-down
- sequential
Bottom-up europeanisation
- how MS and domestic actors shape EU policies, politics and polity
Top-down europeanisation
- how EU shapes institutions, processes and political outcomes in MS and third countries
Sequential approach to europeanisation
- synthesises top-down and bottom-up
- analyses how MS shape EU (uploading), how EU feeds back to MS (downloading) and how MS react in changing properties of the EU (uploading)
worlds of compliance
FALKNER & TREIB 2008
- world of law observance
- A country sees priority of EU law over domestic concerns
- strict complaince
- transposition timely and correct
- e.g. Den, Fin, Swe - world of domestic politics
- The domestic policies are more important than the EU goals; EU laws will be taken up as long as there is no conflict of interest
- compliance depends on domestic interests
- transposition may be delayed or incorrect
- e.g. AU, Bel, Ger, NL, Esp, UK - world of transposition neglect
- Compliance of EU law is not a goal. There is national arrogance → the domestic interests are more important
- compliance is not a priority
- transposition might be ignored or rushed => poor implementation
- e.g. Fra, Gre, Lux, Por - world of dead letters
- These countries also copy-pasted the legislation → they didn’t change it so that it would fit the national legislation
- transposition is mostly successful
- enforcement is weak (slow courts, weak inspectorates)
- e.g. Irl, Ita, CZ, H, Sk, Sl
democracy
set of procedural rules arriving at collective decisions in a way which facilitates the fullest possible participation of interested parties
legitimacy
SCHMIDT 2012
generalised degree of trust that the governed have towards political system
2 types (but usually combined)
- input - people are sufficiently involved in decision-making even if the outcome is not always what they desire
- participation of citizens- improved over time
- Citizens committees
- European citizenship
- Due to lack of demos – common identity
- Elections of EP – representative democracy - output - people are satisfied with the policy outcomes produced by political system even if are not sufficiently involved in decision-making
– effectiveness of outcomes – reduced over time
- Policy outcomes work to the benefit of the people
- Financial crisis, Covid, migration crisis etc. - worse legitimacy for the EU (maybe except covid – was reacted to quickly)
- Eurosceptics – lack of solidarity, blame EU in times of crisis - throughput - governance process quality
– government processes – not doing well
- Internal governance
- Constructive vs institutional
- C = interest groups, citizen representatives etc. can be at the table with institutions at decision-making processes; ephasises how EU should look like – normative ideals – ideological approach
- I = accountability and transparency; need for effective government, rationalist approach – more tangible
- Yellow card (C)
- Trilogues – not transparent
- OLP – works well but trilogues diminishes it
- EU and UA relationship is not I approach (it’s not rational – UA won’t be a et contributor) -> it’s C approach (we don’t like the war and violation of HR etc)
Monnet’s method
sector-by-sector approach to EU integration based on strong technical EU Commission
solutions to democratic deficit
- supranational or federal - parliamentarisation => WON
- intergovernmental - NP should have the means of ensuring accountability of their ministers in the C
problems of parliamentarisation
- no demos = no common identity (partially adressed by european citizenship)
- no public sphere - EU media, EU political discussions
- small turnout at elections => second-order elections
committee of the regions (CoR)
- created by TofM
- represents both regional and loocal authorities
- allowed MS to be represented in the C by a regional minister according to legislative competence
3 types of democracy
- representative
- focuses on electoral process and representative role of EP - participatory
- focuses on importance of more regular and direct citizen involvement in collective decision-making - deliberative
- quality of deliberative processes
3 concepts for EU’s legitimacy
participation
- participation in elections, participation of multiple actors (interest groups, experts, national representatives)
civil society
- involvement in policy-making
- comm. took it further - to individual citizens as well (online)
transparency
- ex-post - control after decision is taken
- ante-post - control before decision is taken
- EU transparency initiative (ETI) - to increase openness, transparency and accountability
eurobarometer polls
- monitor public support for EU project
- available online
- published by the comm.
euroenthusiasm
period leading to TofM
euroneutral
neutrality regarding the image of EU among citizens + lack of knowledge about EU
public attitudes towards integration
5 types:
- political economy and rationality
- domestic proxies and attitudes to the NG
- mass public and political elites
- political psychology - cognitive mobilisation and identity
- the media - framing the EU
political economy and rationality
- egocentric approach - individuals are for or against if they were/will be harmed/benefit from the EU
- sociotropic approach - citizens might be more supportive if their country benefited from integration
domestic proxies and attitudes to the NG
elections - fought on national rather than EU issues
referendums - vote on EU issues according to contentment with NG
mass public and political elites
political elites
- helping to determine citizens’ attitudes in top-down approach
- view cueing process as a form of flowing info from elites to citizens
mass opinion
- eites can assume citizens views on integration in a bottom-up manner
- when political parties are united in their positions towards EU = strengthens their position on the public
political psychology - cognitive mobilisation and identity
- the more people know about the project the less fearful they are
- social identity theory = theorities are extremely important to people
- integration might be viewed as a threat to national identities
the media - framing the EU
- media => responsible for public opinion
- written press (provider of reliable news) - in decline -> TV, Internet, social media = more common
- news media - arena of contestation - political actors compete for attention of the public
- apply selective bias - focus on national actors as protagonists of eu stories -> role of EU actors/institutions often misinterpreted - politicisation of the EU - polarises population along pro- and anti-European
2 perspectives:
1. normative - news media and journalism = motor of democratisation of the EU - perform as control agency of EU institutions and decision-making processes
2. institutional - EU actors become professional media players - e.g. social media
permissive consensus
- Automatic agreement with the legislation
- Functional expertise is more important than democratic participation
- As long as the institution is performing, it is permitted to continue.
- This was used in the earlier days up until the Maastricht Treaty
- people don’t participate a lot, they give permission to leaders to do whatever they want eith belief that they make it better
constraining dissensus
- Politicians have to consider public opinion,individuals play a vital role
- more critical-looking at what politicians do, public opinion is so important than even non popular political parties need public consent in some way
euroscepticism
- first used after Thatcher’s Bruges speech
- crises fuel euroscepticism
- can be seen as a threat or a helathy form of oppositions
- “I become a Euroskeptic at least once a day,” Jean-Claude Juncker
2 types:
simpler
- soft - qualified opposition
- hard - complete rejection
more nuanced
- Flood - (doesn’t use term euroscepticism) 6 categories from rejection to full support
- Kopecký & Mudde - 4 categories
1 euro-enthusiasts - support integration
2 eurosceptics - support ideals but doubt EU’s form
3 europragmatists - oppose integration but support EU for practical reasons
4 eurorejects - oppose both integration and EU
- Krouwel & Abts - 5 point scale form euroconfidence to euro-alienation with euroscepticism in the middle
3 main approaches:
1 utilitarian - education and icome predict eu support
2 identity - national identity and cultural attachement influence views
3 cue-taking - voters only rely on political party recommendations
anti-europeanism
- People that don’t believe in Europe at all
- Radical part of euroscepticism
- They are eurorejects
von der Leyen’s agenda
European Green Deal
Digital Project
strengthening Europe’s role in the world
European economy that works for people
4 important developments likey to have impact on Union
- continuing legacy of eurozone crisis - single currency regime is not stable and not complete
- ustable borders - migration from Mediterranean + Russia’s (cyber)attack
- euroscepticism - EU is both arena and target for them
- international system - relationships with USA
4 scenarios on the future of Europe
1 disintegration - transformation, less europe
2 piecemeal adjustement - adaptation, less europe
3 functional federalism - adaptation, more europe
4 federation of nation states - transformation, more europe
disintegration
- influenced by crises (migration, eurozone, brexit) + rise of authoritarian leaders (orban, pis)
piecemeal adjustement
- small steps rather than transformative change
- “meddling through” approach- incrementalism and satisficing rather than search for comprehensive solutions
functional federalism
- centralisation on sectoral rather than polity basis
- 4 pillars of future EMU:
1 integrated financial framework (banking union)
2 integrated budgetary framework (fiscal integration)
3 integrated economic policy framework (economic policy coordination)
4 ensuring necessary democratic legitimacy and accountability of decision-making within EMU
european sovereignty (future)
- kind of federation (favoured by J. Delors)
- term sovereignty used by Macron
- no change will happen without citizens consent
globalisation
- transnational relationships and dynamics
- one of strongest forces in 21st century politics
europe as model and as actor - external environment shaping its future
model:
- testing ground for governance beyond national borders
- exemplar of peaceful reconciliation among warring states
- successful advancement of highly developed form of transnational integration
actor:
- under considerable pressure (to strengthen its collective capacity) across a wide range of foreign policy fields e.g. international trade, investment, development coop, int. services etc.
challenge of heterogeneity and leadership for future of the EU
- diversity in wealth, geography, culture, tradition, language
- differentiated integration - not all MS participate in all policy regimes) -> eurozone, banking Union, Schengen, JHA and PESCO (permanent structured coop) => form of enhanced coop + covid, green deal and digital agenda = important to all
brexit reasons
long-standing british euroscepticism
anti-eu sentiment within conservative party
rise of populism (across europe) fueled by immigration, economy and anti-establishment concerns
- media coverage
- economy and immigration = most important reasons
brexit campaigns
1 remain - britain stronger in eu
- key issue - economic security with u membership
2 leave - vote leave
- key issue - regaining control of borders and immigration
What is the idea of ‘an ever-closer union’?
- Moving object
- Ideally going forward
- Started to emerge with the EEC treaty in 1957
- Purpose: to create a unity (step by step)
- Progress cannot be measured only in terms of treaties (we have little or many treaties => we are stagnating or progressing)
- Nowadays not always moving forward (no new members, brexit) - stagnation or even moving backwards
WHY - Emerged in 1957 with the EEC treaty as a means to unite EU in reality, not only in name
- At first as a means to stop the violence after the world wars between European countries
- Affected various areas – agriculture, transport, market, or law
- Establish common ground and figure out what was the role of the EU – if it was above the national governments or it was only some kind of a mediator that would navigate but the final decision was not up to the EU
Absorbtion capacity (nowadays integration capacity)
- narrative that EU doesn’t change but it changes with every enlargement and now with UA it is also proved
- The EU’s capacity to integrate new members. While the acceding countries must be ready and able to fully assume the obligations of membership, the Union must be able to function effectively and to develop
4 foundational narratives
DE VRIES 2022
1. EU as a peace project= avoiding conflict after WW2.
- It was one of the main objectives of the then ECSC.
- EU is forged in crisis= crises shape EU through time and help to increase integration and drive it forward.
- Not always true but generally applicable to EU strategies. - Deeper economic interdependence fosters political change: econ. Integration has implications for EU internal and external dynamics.
- Concept of losers’ consent: Europe relies too strongly on output legitimacy, - Law can replace power politics in the EU: larger member states take the reins during crises meaning that the EU frequently engages in power topics.
