The EU Flashcards
What is the role and significance of the European Commission?
Role
- Initiates EU legislation
- Drafts EU budget and allocates funding
- Represents EU in international negotiations
Significance
- Supranational body
- 28 commissioners, one from each EU country
- Not directly elected, national governments nominate commissioners and the European Council nominates the president of the Commission
- Nominees are confirmed by the European Parliament
What is the role and significance of the European Council of the EU?
Role
- Main decision-making body of the EU
- Coordinates policies with EU nations
- Approves legislation from the Commission
- Approves EU budget
Significance
1. Intergovernmental body
2. Government ministers from each of the member nations attend and make decisions together
3. 10 different types of meetings, attended by the appropriate ministers
E.g. finance ministers at the meeting on economic and financial affairs.
What is the role and significance of the European Council?
Role
1. Decides the direction of the EU and policy priorities
Significance
- Intergovernmental body
- Heads of government for all EU nations meet 4 times per year
What is the role and significance of the European Parliament?
Role
- Approves legislation from the Commission
- Approves the EU budget
- Provides democratic supervision of EU institutions
Significance
1. The EU’s only directly elected body
2. 751 Members of the European Parliament
3. Each EU nation is allocated a number of seats in the European Parliament that reflects its size
E.g. Germany has 96 and Cyprus has 6.
Have the EU been effective in their aims and achievements?
- Yes, the EU promote peace and the wellbeing of its citizens
E.g. the member nations of the EU have not fought each other since WW2
E.g. rising living standards have coincided with the EU’s existence
No, it does not
E.g. the EU faces new threats from an increasingly aggressive Russia and an unstable middle east
E.g. the rise of populist anti EU parties shows the frustration felt by citizens who feel the EU has not enriched their lives
- Yes, border free movement
E.g. 22 of 28 EU member states are members of the Schengen Area, in which there are no border controls
No, countries are opting out
E.g. since the 2015 migration crisis, border controls have been reintroduced by Austria and Denmark, to stop migrants from arriving via other countries in the Schengen area
- Yes, there has been balanced economic growth
E.g. the EU has led to the development of competitive economies, encouraging eastern European countries to transition from communist states into flourishing capitalist economies
No, there has been growing unemployment in certain EU countries
E.g. 20.9% in Greece in 2018, and overall unemployment rate is higher in the EU than the USA (7.3% in the EU in 2017, compared to 4.1% in the USA)
- Yes, the EU respects its rich and cultural linguistic diversity
E.g. the EU has 24 official languages and provides funding for language learning
E.g. every year 2 EU cities are selected das European capitals of culture
No,
E.g. EU’s goal that every citizen should speak 2 languages in addition to their mother tongue has failed, only 25% have done this
E.g. A number of EU countries such as France in 2010 and Denmark in 2018 have banned face-coverings worn by Muslim women
How were the UK cautious about the EU between 1970s-1990s?
- Many politicians were divided over membership
E.g. the Labour government held a referendum in 1975, with a result that the UK would remain - Labour then moved to the left and in 1991 committed to leave the EEC if it won a general election (it did not)
E.g. this prompted four high-profile members to leave Labour and form a new pro-EU party, the Social Democratic Party which later merged with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats - The UK distanced themselves from the EU
E.g. UK governments negotiated an EU budget debate in 1981 and a selection of opt-outs from EU policies and treaties
(reduced the impact of EU membership on the UK)
How were the UK increasingly eurosceptic between 1990 and 2016?
- Parties were divided over the EU
E.g. John Major found his government plagued by rebellions carried out by eurosceptic Conservative MPs - There was rising concern over immigration
E.g. Blair authorised the 2004 EU expansion from eastern Europe, but was criticised by right wing newspaper such as the Daily Mail and the Sun due to increased immigration - ??
E.g. in 2014 UKIP won the UK elections to the European Parliament, pushing the Conservatives into third place.
How were the UK divided over Brexit, the EU referendum
?
What was the impact of the EU on UK politics?
- Cautious involvement 1970s-1990s
- Rising euroscepticism 1990s-2016s
- The 2016 EU referendum
What has been the impact of Brexit?
- The changing of leadership
E.g. Cameron resigned as PM after leading a Remain campaign, replaced by May - Brexit could be extremely damaging for the union of UK nations and threatens the future of devolution
E.g. the SNP have called for a second Scottish independence referendum once the Brexit deal has been made. - Could cause conflict in Northern Ireland
E.g. Northern Ireland faces the prospect of having border controls imposed between itself and the Republic of Ireland, which would horrify Republicans and potentially pit the hard won peace process at risk
(out of date??)
?more points?
What were the impacts of EU on UK policy making?
- (economy)
The economy has had an impact of UK policy making
E.g. the EU negotiated trade polices on behalf of the UK and other members
E.g. the UK is the net contributor to the EU budget, so UK governments had to pay more into the EU than they receive back - (agriculture)
Agriculture has an impact on UK policy making
E.g. the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provided EU subsidies for all EU farmers, but it has prevented the UK from developing its own farming policies
(under CAP many wealthy land owners receive money and it promotes farming that damages the environment) - (fisheries)
Fisheries have had an impact on UK policy making
E.g. the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has prevented the UK from protecting its fishing industry from competition
(all UK fishers have access to British waters) - Immigration has had an impact on UK policy making
E.g. freedom of movement prevented UK governments from restricting immigration from EU countries, it was around 190,000 per year before the 2016 EU referendum - Social policy has had an impact on UK policy making
E.g. EU social policy has led to increased rights for UK workers, such as paid holidays - The environment has had an impact on UK policy making
E.g. EU environmental laws forced UK governments to introduce more environmentally friendly policies, leading to lower levels of air and water pollution.
‘3 ways in which the EU has had an impact on UK politics’
- The impact on government
E.g. David Cameron’s decision to hold a referendum
and his subsequent resignation, the selection of Theresa May as leader, and the impact on the
cabinet of a mix of Brexiteers and Remainers (Boris Johnson resigning) - The impact on the constitution
E.g. Brexit will involve a massive change to the UK constitution as EU law will no longer supersede UK law (impact on sovereignty of parliament, the threat to devolution) - The impact on political parties
E.g. the division within Conservatives and Labour, formation of new parties such as Liberal Democrats and
UKIP.
‘Despite claims of a democratic deficit, the EU is a profoundly democratic organisation’
- Yes, many EU institutions are directly elected
E.g. the European Parliament is directly elected and has the role of passing all legislation
(this means that all EU laws have been approved by democratically elected MEPs)
No, many EU institutions are not directly elected
E.g. the EU Commission has the sole power to initiate EU legislation, but is not directly elected
- Yes, even non-directly elected EU institutions have a mandate
E.g. as all EU countries are themselves democracies, even non-directly elected EU institutions still have a democratic mandate as their members are chosen by
democratically elected national governments
No, most UK citizens have little understanding of what the EU institutions are or how they work.
E.g. the sense that the EU was being run by faceless bureaucrats behind closed doors contributed to the anti-EU sentiment that resulted in the Brexit vote.???
- Yes, non-directly elected bodies are scrutinised
E.g. the European Parliament also has the task of supervising other EU institutions, providing democratic scrutiny of non-directly elected bodies.
No, it undermines parliamentary sovereignty
E.g. Parliament’s laws could be overturned by the European Court of Justice, leading to fears for the sovereignty of parliament.??
