The aims of the EU

Question 1

Where are the aims of the EU set out?

Answer 1

In article 3 of the consolidated EU treaties

Question 2

List the six main aims for the EU

Answer 2

• Promoting peace and the EU’s values
• Establishing a single European market
• Promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion
• Establishing an EMU
• Establishing an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers
• Combating discrimination and promoting equality

Question 3

What values is the Eu founded upon according to the European Commission?

Answer 3

Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities

Question 4

What has EU membership been particularly helpful at doing for certain member states?

Answer 4

Embedding liberal democracy in places that were previously under authoritarian or communist rule

Question 5

What are the two main counter arguements against the EU launched by Eurosceptics?

Answer 5

• That the EU has ignored popular concerns about integration
• That democracy is rooted in the nation state

Question 6

What is a Eurosceptic?

Answer 6

Someone who is critical of the extension of supranational authority in the EU and is hostile to further integration

Question 7

What is the single European market?

Answer 7

An area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital is ensured

Question 8

What are the 4 freedoms guaranteed by the single market?

Answer 8

• Free movement of goods
• Free movement of services
• Free movement of people
• Free movement of capital

Question 9

Explain the idea free movement of goods

Answer 9

Member states cannot impose duties or taxes on goods from another member state, or directly discriminate against them. Goods that met the minimum standards in one EU member state could be freely traded in others. Physical restrictions, like border controls, have been removed

Question 10

Explain the idea of free movement of services

Answer 10

Businesses and professionals can offer their services across the EU. Qualifications in one EU member state are recognised in others

Question 11

Explain the idea of free movement of people

Answer 11

Any member of a member state has the right to seek employment in another EU member state without discrimination on the basis of their nationality. They have the same workers’ rights as national employees

Question 12

Explain the idea of free movement of capital

Answer 12

Many restrictions on capital movements between EU and member states have been removed

Question 13

Which one of the four freedoms was particularly contentious during the Brexit debate?

Answer 13

Free movement of people

Question 14

What is the single market widely regarded as?

Answer 14

One of the EU’s greatest successes

Question 15

Why has removing non tariff barriers through the single market been so beneficial?

Answer 15

It has created 2.5 million more jobs across the EU and has helped increase GDP by 9%

Question 16

What are non-tariff barriers?

Answer 16

An obstacle to international trade that it not an import duty

Question 17

Give three examples of a non-tariff barrier

Answer 17

Quotas, customs delays and technical barriers

Question 18

Give two sectors that the single market has struggled to open up

Answer 18

Energy and public procurement

Question 19

What do UK critics say about EU single market regulations?

Answer 19

That they are too costly for small and medium sized enterprises

Question 20

What did the creation of the single market prompt?

Answer 20

A greater EU role in social, regional and employment policy

Question 21

What is the EU’s aim when they get involved in policy?

Answer 21

To reduce disparity between and within member states

Question 22

What are the three main things that the EU promotes when it gets involved in policy?

Answer 22

Employment, workers rights and and social protection

Question 23

Where do poorer regions receive money from?

Answer 23

The EU Structural Funds

Question 24

Why has EU social and economic policy been criticised from the right?

Answer 24

For imposing costs on businesses and not doing enough to improve competitiveness

Question 25

Why has EU social and economic policy been criticised from the left?

Answer 25

For imposing public spending cuts and failing to tackle inequality

Question 26

What did countries have to do to abolish their currency and join the euro?

Answer 26

Meet the Maastricht Treaty’s convergence criteria of low levels of inflation and debt

Question 27

What does the European Central Bank (ECB) do?

Answer 27

Implements monetary policy for the eurozone, seeking to maintain low inflation

Question 28

How many states joined the EMU in 1999?

Answer 28

11

Question 29

How many EU member states were part of the eurozone as of 2021?

Answer 29

19 of the 27

Question 30

What is differentiated integration?

Answer 30

A form of integration in which states move at different speeds or towards different objectives

Question 31

Give an example of differentiated integration?

Answer 31

The fact that EU member states have joined the eurozone at different times

Question 32

What are the two major benefits of the EMU?

Answer 32

• It brought an end to exchange rate uncertainty
• It eliminated transaction costs on cross-border trade

Question 33

What is the major risk behind the EMU for member states?

Answer 33

It involves a loss of sovereignty as national governments must cede control over their currency

Question 34

What are the two major downsides to the ECB?

Answer 34

• Its one size fits all policy on interest rates may not suit all member states
• Its rules ensuring budgetary discipline were not implemented properly, leading to the sovereign debt crisis

Question 35

What two things did the EU do in response to the sovereign debt crisis?

Answer 35

• Created funds to bail out the 5 member states in crisis
• Passed the 2012 fiscal compact treaty; establishing stricter rules on budget deficits and paving the way for further economic integration through things like banking unions

Question 36

What is required in order to have freedom of movement?

Answer 36

Common measures on issues like external border controls, asylum and immigration

Question 37

Give an example of an EU cross border cooperation mechanism

Answer 37

The European Arrest Warrant

Question 38

What do critics say about the systems in place to facilitate freedom of movement?

Answer 38

That this ‘fortress Europe’ prevents refugees from entering

Question 39

What has replaced freedom of movement in the UK following Brexit?

Answer 39

A new points based immigration system

Question 40

Why did some Brexiteers feel as though the UK was being exploited by freedom of movement?

Answer 40

Because 3.7 million EU citizens lived in the UK, while just 1.3 million UK citizens lived in the EU

Question 41

When did migration from EU states become a big issue in British politics?

Answer 41

After the 2004 eastward enlargement

Question 42

What did the leave campaign focus on?

Answer 42

Immigration, claiming that leaving the EU was the only way for the UK to take back control of its borders. This notion was helped by the 2015 migrant crisis, despite only 3% of EU asylum applications being placed in the UK

Question 43

List the rights afforded to EU citizens?

Answer 43

• The right to vote in European parliamentary and local elections
• The right to work and reside within any EU member state
• The right to acquire permanent residence in another member state if they have lived there legally for 5 years
• Discrimination on the grounds of nationality is prohibited
• Extended workers rights by limiting working hours and improving health and safety

Question 44

When did the 2000 EU Charter of Fundamental Rights become legally binding?

Answer 44

Under the 2007 Lisbon Treaty

Question 45

What did the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights do?

Answer 45

Entrenched rights established by ECJ case law and those rights enshrined by the European Convention on Human Rights

Question 46

Make the case that the EU has achieved its aims

Answer 46

• The single market of 450 million consumers is the largest in the world and has promoted trade, investment and prosperity
• It has protected and extended workers’ rights and promoted economic developments within its poorer regions
• It has extended citizens rights through the ability to live and work in other member states
• The EMU has eliminated transaction costs within the eurozone
• Increased political cooperation has delivered coordinated cross-border responses to issues like criminal justice and immigration
• It has cemented democracy and the rule of law within member states that had previously been under authoritarian rule

Question 47

Make the case that the EU has failed to achieve its aims

Answer 47

• The single market is incomplete and over-regulated
• EU economic growth has been weak and socio-economic inequality is increasing
• Free movement of people and EU migration policy has proved controversial
• The EMU has experienced problems like less experienced states running up debts and then being required to introduce austerity measures
• It has not been able to resolve major challenges like the migration crisis
• There is significant popular opposition to increased integration, as seen in the rise of populist parties and Brexit