UK-European Union Flashcards
treaties
treaty of rome
1957, est ECC
treaties
single european act
1985, single market est and QMV used as voting system
treaties
schengen agreement
1985, removed internal border control
treaties
maastricht treaty
1992, created EU and monitary union
treaties
eurozone
1999, euro created along with central european bank
treaties
lisbon treaty
2007, president of the EU and 45 more area agreed upon using QMV
aims
peace and stability
- promote peace and encourage democracy
- ECC aimed to heal 2 WWs and has expanded since
- collapse of USSR saw the expansion of the EU and the dismantling og the iron curtain
Aims
economic growth
- single market has created many jobs within poorer countries
- fairer distribution of wealth
aims
rights and freedoms
- has had mixed success
- has allowed for easy migration
- reciprocal healthcare within any EU country
- workers rights have improved (time directive 2003)
aims
Integration
- ‘ever closer union’
- adoption of a flag, anthem, passports, and EU citizenship
EU institutions
Executive
- European council (heads of state) have power of agenda setting ,meet 4x a year
- european commission (27 nominated politicians from each member state) who propose new laws , drafts budget , represents during negotiations
EU institutions
legislative
- european parliment ( 705 MEPs directly elected in each member state) can approve budgets, ammend and vote on laws proposed by commission
- Council of Eu (ministers from each member state) policy debate around different areas and negotiation eg japan trade deal
EU institutions
Judiciary
- european court of justice , highest court of appeal
- interprets EU law , checks nations and the EU itself
- made up of judges appointed by each member state
supranational
Aurthority above the nation eg EU commission
Intergovmental
national government co-operation eg european council
democratic defficit in EU political system ?
yes
- lack of direct democracy apart from MEPs
- thick layers of bureaucracy which make the sysetm difficult to understand eg council of eu and eu council 2 separate things
- too many complex systems not involving direct voting
no
- citizens of the EU directly vote for MEPs who act as representatives
- supranational bodies are indirectly elected as MEPs vote for those who are appointed to EU commission
Impact on Britain
5
constitution- EU law ha sbeen removed as one of the ssources of the constitution, human rights no longer have the ‘double lock’ of EU law
Sovereignty- now EU law can conflict with UK statute law and eu no longer takes precedence over parliment eg before , 1990 factortame case
Referendums- brexit has exposed the issues around how the public are informed about either outcome of a referendum,or the complexity of the issue cannot be simplified to yes or no
government- beforehand the government had to follow competition laws , by putting caps on certain buissnesses , no longer have to
political parties- extremely controversial topic which split in conservative party eg brexit party
Single Market advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
Free movement of goods, services, people and capital
Estimated to have created more than 2.5 million Jobs and increased EU GDP by 15%
Coordination for 2008 crisis
Disadvantages:
some regulations are costly for small businesses
Eurozone advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
Integration as 19 states are part of this zone
Ends exchange rate uncertainty and transaction costs
Disadvantages:
Loss of sovereignity and fiscal control
2012 fiscal compact treaty paved the way for further economic integration
EU
Explain and analyse three ways the EU could be seen to have achieved its aims
intro: origionally established as EEC in 1957 but has since become an international political union with 19 member states
1-Single market - introduced following the single european act 1992 , largely successful in terms of promoting economic growth across the EU
2-Promotion of democracy - EU requires member states to abide by democratic norms. eg after collapse of USSR in 1991 the EU oversaw the creation of new democratic states
3-Closer integration - seek an ‘ever closer union’, harmonisation of certain national economic policies: monetary, financial, tax, industrial, agricultural, etc eg flag anthem and passports
EU
Explain and analyse the powers of three EU institutions
intro: origionally established as EEC in 1957 but has since become an international political union with 19 member states
1-Court of justice of the EU : arbitrates, interprets and enforces EU law. also the highest court of appeal within EU
2-European parliament : Only directly elected institution. wide-ranging legislative, budgetary and control powers
3-European Commission : drawing up proposals for new European legislation and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
