The European Union: Establishment and Development

Question 1

tell me about 1965 (early)

Answer 1

Merger Treaty (establishing a single institutional structure for the ECSC, EEC and EAEC) signed
-at first, v good between the six.  tariff reductions introduced and common policies drafted

Question 2

tell me about 1965 (late)

Answer 2

• empty chair crisis
• in opposition to a scheduled move to qualified majority voting (QMV), French ministers refused to participate in Council meetings. The seven-month ‘empty chair’ crisis threatened to paralyse decision-making and was only resolved with the adoption of the ‘Luxembourg Compromise”

Question 3

what happened in 1967?

Answer 3

EEC, EAEC, ECSC combined into one org known as European Community
• Also customs union was established that regulated tariffs and trade
• Final major EEC institution was the european court of justice (ECJ) which ruled that EEC law took precedence over national law

Question 4

what was the hauge summit?

Answer 4

• 1969
• further integration was discussed and accession negotiations were soon opened
• move towards economic and monetary union (EMU) through an exchange rate system for the EC
• established the use of summitry- the use of European summits to set the political agenda for the community

Question 5

why were the ‘70’s a lil difficult for the European Communities and its growth?

Answer 5

the 1970s proved to be a challenging period for the Communities and for integration. International currency instability, the 1973 oil crises, and inflation brought an end to the unprecedented sustained economic growth of the post-war period. Governments in Europe generally reacted to the economic crisis by pursuing national as opposed to coordinated European responses.

Question 6

Single European Act?

Answer 6

• came into force in 1987
• expanded social policy competences
• expanded the decision-making role of the EP
• extended the use of qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council
• helped bring about the creation of an internal single market

Question 7

Treaty of Rome

Answer 7

-1957, established EEC and EAEC

Question 8

TEU/Maastricht Treaty

Answer 8

• established the EU (1992)
• prepared for the EMU (economic and monetary union)
• introduced elements of political union (citizenship, common foreign affairs policy)

Question 9

The Maastricht treaty established a pillar-based EU

Answer 9

The mix between two ideologies (intergovernmentalism and supranationalism) made the EU less of a union than people originally hoped or feared for and it undermined the EU as a union
-I: European Communities (EEC, ECSC, EAEC)
II: Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
III: Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)

Question 10

1996 IGC 3 key aims?

Answer 10

1) bringing the EU closer to its citizens
2) improving its functioning in preparation for enlargement
3) providing it with greater external capacity

Question 11

the 1996 IGC claimed that the 3 pillar structure was not functioning well. why?

Answer 11

• intergovernmental nature of decision-making in Pillar III was a significant constraint on the development of JHA cooperation
• As for Pillar II, its inherent weaknesses had been highlighted by the EU’s ineffective foreign policy response to the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

Question 12

what did the 1996 IGC propose?

Answer 12

• QMV extension proposed to protect against decision-making paralysis
• much discussion of ideas concerning a ‘core Europe’, variable geometry, and a multispeed EU

Question 13

Treaty of Amsterdam

Answer 13

• 1997 (amended the TEU and the European Community treaties)
• incorporated Schengen cooperation into the EU
• Pillar III was refocused on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (PJCCM), and the pillar renamed accordingly
• defined more precisely the EU’s concept of security (Petersburg Tasks)

Question 14

2000 IGC

Answer 14

• Focus on integration (underway for 10 eastern and central european countries )
• Protocol for next enlargement= the commission would consist of one national representative per member state and the weighting of votes within the council would be modified either via a reweighting or a dual majority system of voting
• France, holding the council presidency, managed the IGC and accusations were made saying that France was abusing their position to push personal interests rather than EU interests.

Question 15

Treaty of Nice

Answer 15

2001

• paved the way for enlargement in 2004 and afterwards
• QMV extended, reduction in the size of the Commission, EP members capped, - Creation of the European Rapid Reaction Force (ERRF)

Question 16

the “future of europe” debate focuses on 4 issues. what are they?

Answer 16

• How to establish and monitor a more precise delimitation of powers between the EU and its member states
• The status of the charter of fundamental rights proclaimed at Nice
• A simplification of the EU treaties to make them clear and better understood
• Role of national parliaments in the european architecture