The EU Flashcards
How many member states of the EU are there?
27
What are the fundamental aims of the EU known as the ‘four freedoms’?
• freedom of movement of people
• freedom of movement of services
• freedom of movement of capital
• freedom of movement of goods
What is freedom of movement of people?
The right of EU citizens to live and work in any other EU country and enjoy equal access to public services
What is freedom of movement of services?
Professionals, businesses and the self-employed have their qualifications recognised across all EU states. In short, until the UK left the EU, if you were qualified as a nurse in Spain, you were equally qualified to work in the NHS and vice versa
What is freedom of movement of capital?
The ability to move money and capital around the EU without many restrictions
What is freedom of movement of goods?
The ability to buy and sell products across the EU without border checks,
import duties or the need to meet additional national standards. Countries are not allowed to protect domestic industries by way of tariffs and national regulatory requirement
Why are these freedoms important?
These freedoms are cornerstones of the European Single Market. They strengthen trade within the EU. Two-
thirds of all goods produced in the EU are exported to another EU country.
What are some wider aims of the EU?
• peace and stability
• promotion of economic growth across member states
• the promotion of individual rights and freedoms
• the promotion of different cultures and languages
• integration into an ‘ever closer union’
What is the role of the European Commission?
• Initiates EU Legislation
• Drafts the EU budget and allocates
funding
• Represents the EU in international
negotiations
What is the significance of the European Commission?
• Sits separately from National Governments
• 27 commissioners, one from each EU country
•Commissioners are 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 of the Council of the European Union?
• Main decision-making body of the EU
(together with the European
Parliament)
• Co-ordinates policies of EU nations
• Approves legislation from the Commission (as does the European
Parliament)
• Approves the EU budget (as does the
European Parliament)
What is the significance of the Council of the European Union?
• Intergovernmental body (made up of
members from national governments)
• Government ministers from each of the member nations attend and make decisions together
• Ten 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 of the European Council?
Decides the direction of the EU and
policy priorities
What is the significance of the European Council?
• Intergovernmental body (made up of
members from national governments)
• Heads of government (or state) for all EU nations meet four times a year
What is the role of the European Parliament?
• Approves legislation from the
Commission (as does the Council of
the European Union)
• Approves the EU budget (as does the
Council of the European Union)
• Provides democratic supervision of EU institutions
What is the significance of the European Parliament?
• The EU’s only directly elected body
• 705 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
• 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
What is the role of the Court of Justice of
the European Union (CJEU)?
• Judiciary of the EU
• Interprets the law and ensures it is
applied in the same way across the EU
• Rules against EU nations that infringe
the law
• Ensures that the EU acts appropriately
and in accordance with its own laws
What is the significance of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)?
Judges are appointed by national governments
What are the key features of the Treaty of Paris 1951?
Established the European Coal and Steel Community. It also established the High Authority in order to supervise the
market, monitor compliance with competition rules and ensure price transparency
What is the impact of the Treaty of Paris 1951 on EU membership?
Membership was just six
countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg
What are the key features of the Treaty of Rome 1957?
Established the European Economic Community (EEC) and created a wider common market. It effectively laid the foundations of an ‘ever closer union’
What are the key features of Enlargement Round 1 1973?
The first significant expansion in EEC membership
What are the impacts on membership of Enlargement Round 1 1973?
Denmark, Ireland and the UK
joined the EEC. Greece (1981) and
Spain and Portugal (1986) both
joined subsequently.
What are the key features of the Single European Act 1985?
A single European market was created. Qualified majority voting (OMV) rather than unanimity was adopted for votes on legislation to do with the single market.
What are the key features of the Schengen Agreement 1985?
Removed internal border controls, so effectively created a single travel area within the EEC/EU.
What is the impact of the Schengen Agreement 1985?
The UK and Ireland secured an
opt-out from the agreement.
What are the key features of the Maastricht Treaty 1992?
Created the EU, and established a timetable for economic and
monetary union and increased cooperation between member
states in foreign and security policy
What are the key features of Enlargement Round 2 1995?
Austria, Finland and Sweden joined bringing membership to 15
What are the key features of the Amsterdam Treaty 1997?
Extended the role of the EU into further areas such as some aspects of immigration and security
What are the key features of the Eurozone created in 1999?
Eleven countries abolished their national currencies and adopted the euro. This marked another significant stage in
economic integration. It meant monetary policy for those states, such as setting interest rates, was in the hands of the European Central Bank, not national governments
What was the impact of the Eurozone?
Four countries did not join the
eurozone including the UK. Since
1999, a further eight EU member
countries have adopted the euro.
What is a key feature of the Nice Treaty 2001?
Created a European security and defence policy
What are the key features of Enlargement Round 3 2004?
Created the largest single influx of new members, mainly eastern European countries that gained independence after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
What is the impact on membership of Enlargement Round 3?
Cyprus, Czech Republic. Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta.
Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia all
joined. They were joined by
Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and
Croatia in 2013.
What are the key features of the Lisbon Treaty 2007?
This further reformed EU institutions. Qualified majority vote was extended to over 45 policy areas in the Council of
Ministers, and it created the important posts of President of the European Council and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
What are the key features of the UK EU Referendum 2016?
By the margin of 52%-48%, the UK voted to leave the EU. It was the first member state to leave, although Norway rejected
joining in a referendum held in 1972 after its government had
negotiated membership
What are the impacts on membership of the UK EU Referendum 2016?
The UK left the EU, leaving it with
27 members. As of 2022 9
countries are wishing to join the
EU; Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova,
Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Difference between Schengen Area and single market
All EU member states are part of the single market, in which the four freedoms operate. Most EU nations have also chosen to join the Schengen Area, a
group of 26 European countries (22 of whom are EU members) between which there are no border controls.
How is the EU democratic?
The EU is based on democratic values: the European Parliament is elected and any country wishing to join the EU must be a democracy.
Weaknesses of EU’s response to COVID-19
The initial lack of a coordinated EU response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw the temporary reimposition of internal border controls, different approaches to lockdown and squabbles over the sale of personal protective equipment (PPE]. It made for a poor public image of European unity and cohesion. France, Germany and several other European countries rejected EU officials’ attempts to lift controls on the
export of protective medical gear. Some of the worst-hit countries, such as Italy, complained of less badly affected nations denying help and supplies.
Strengths of the EU’s response to COVID-19
The pandemic also saw unprecedented intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB) and a coordinated response by EU leaders. After delays and lengthy negotiations, in April 2020 EU finance
ministers agreed a €500 billion rescue package for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
A few weeks later, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on member countries to back a €750 billion recovery plan, commenting that: ‘The crisis has huge externalities and spill overs across all countries and none of that can be fixed by any single country alone.’ Overall, the pandemic ultimately pulled the economies and public finances of member countries closer together
Impact of the EU on the UK constitution, sovereignty and referendums
• no parliamentary Act could conflict with EU law
• the Brexit vote saw a clear mismatch in opinion between the Remain majority among MPs, and a slim Leave majority among the population
Impact of the EU on the UK constitution, sovereignty and referendums
• no parliamentary Act could conflict with EU law
• the Brexit vote saw a clear mismatch in opinion between the Remain majority among MPs, and a slim Leave majority among the population
Impact of the EU on UK government and parliament
• made it harder for governments to bail out struggling industries, as EU approval needed to be sought to ensure competition rules were being adhered to
• created stronger political
partnerships between the UK government and our EU neighbours
• tortuous progress of Brexit through parliament between 2017 and 2020 also created an unusual gridlock in UK parliamentary procedure, and briefly in 2019 saw the chamber seize control of the parliamentary timetable from the government
The impact of the EU on the UK judiciary
• UK judges had to give precedence to
EU law when making judgements
• factortame produced a number of significant judgements on British constitutional law, and was the first time that courts held that they had power to restrain the application of an Act of Parliament pending trial and ultimately to disapply that Act when it was found to be contrary to EU law
Impact of the EU on political parties
• Conservatives who were most divided
by Europe. Sharp divisions emerged between Eurosceptics
• the EU served as a rallying and unifying issue for some parties, including the Welsh and Scottish nationalists. The Liberal Democrats, too, embraced a pro-EU stance, and promised to revoke Article 50 in their 2019 election manifesto.
