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Summary - European Public Policy
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European public policyIntroduction
The EU has been prized and criticized since its beginning. It has been prized because;
the European experiment brought peace,
revitalized the European marketplace,
its changing definition of Europe,
and altering the global balance of power.
It has been criticized because;
there is unemployment,
problems with productivity,
labour market restrictions,
a declining and ageing population.
Undermining the sovereignty of states
Sullying the quality of European democracy
European commission: administrative and executive arm of the EU.
Drafts new laws
Oversees the laws execution
Manages the EU budget
The council of ministers: intergovernmental body comprising of ministers from each member
state.
- Shares power with the European parliament
- Adopts new laws
European parliament: represents the interests of the European voters.
- Shares power with the council of ministers
- Adopts new laws
The European court of justice: EU’s constitutional court.
- Interpreting the treaties
- Issuing judgments on cases involving parties in a dispute over EU law
- Issuing rulings in cases in national courts where the EU law is at stake
Chapter 1
States and nations
For the past 300-400 years, the state has been the usual means for organizing large-scale
political communities. The modern state was born in Europe sometime in the Middle Ages as
competition for power and influence among empires, kingdoms, duchies and the Catholic
church changed territorial boundaries.
The state: a legal and political arrangement through which all large-scale political
communities are organized, combining territory with sovereignty, independence and
legitimacy.
Sovereignty: the authority to rule, control and/or make laws, usually associated with states
and incorporating territorial integrity and political independence.
The qualities of the state:
Territory: states operate within fixed and populated territories, marked out by legal
boundaries.
Sovereignty: the institutions of the state have a monopoly over the expression of legal and
political power within its boundaries.
Independence: States do not come under the jurisdiction or control of other states or
international organizations.
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,Legitimacy: The authority of a state and its institutions is recognized by the inhabitants of the
territory and by the governments of other states.
Concept - The Westphalian system: the international state system is often known as the
Westphalian system after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. States had begun to emerge well
before 1648, and the worldwide reach of the state system did not accelerate until the break-
up of European empires after1945.
If a state is a legal and political entity, then a nation is mainly a cultural entity: a community
whose members identify with each other on the basis of a shared history, language and
culture.
Nationalism: a belief in the primary interests of nations and the promotion of nation-states
founded on self-determination.
International organizations
Since the end of World War 2 the number of states grow, but also the interstate cooperation
grew. States cooperated in order to promote peace, international trade, share ideas and they
addressed shared problems. Most of their efforts had been channelled through bilateral and
multilateral contacts between governments, but states have also sometimes found it more
efficient to create an IO (a body set up to promote cooperation between or among states,
based on the principles of voluntary cooperation, communal management and shared
interests). Most IO’s fall into two categories.
International nongovernmental organizations: their members are individuals or the
representatives of private associations.
Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs): their members are states and their goal is
to promote cooperation among state governments.
The qualities of an international organization
Voluntary cooperation: IOs rely on consent and voluntary cooperation. States have
governments and systems of law that can be used to force their citizens.
Communal management: IOs organize themselves and make decisions on the basis of the
shared views of their members. States are self-governing.
Shared interests: IOs provide a forum within members can identify and work on shared
interests. States usually make decisions based on self-interests.
Minimal autonomy: the institutions set up to manage the interests of the IO have few,
independent powers, and can typically do only what the member states allow. International
cooperation can evolve into regional integration
Concept - Regional integration: the promotion of cooperation and collective action among a
group of states based on the identification of shared interests, common goals and the
creation of opportunity.
Regional integration association (RIA): An organization within independent states work to
encourage cooperation and the pooling of authority and resources for the mutual benefit of
its members.
Stages in the process of integration
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,From federalism to neo-functionalism
Concept - Federalism: promotion or support for the idea of federation. This means a belief in
the merits of working towards replacing the European federation, or a United states of
Europe.
Monnet method/ federalism by instalments: the creation of the ECSC was the first step and
the experience would spread to other areas of policy, with the eventual achievement of a
European federation. Looking beyond the state to solve common problems could encourage
new cooperative links and new habits of working together.
Realism: a theory which argues that humans are self-centred and competitive , that we live in
a global system with no rules or authority above the level of the states that is capable of
helping them manage their interactions.
Functionalism: the theory argues that the best way to achieve global peace is through the
creation of functionally specific interstate institutions, which bind states into a web of
cooperation.
Grand theory: a theory that explains the entirety of a phenomenon, which has so far been
lacking in efforts to explain and understand European integration.
Neo-functionalism: the theory that states are not only important actors in efforts to integrate,
and that supranational institutions, interest groups and political parties all play a key role.
Integrative potential: a measure of the extent to which states will be able to integrate
successfully, based on a combination of economic and political factors.
The spotlight moves to governments
intergovernmentalism: a theory/model based on the idea that key cooperative decisions are
made as a result of negotiations among representatives of the states involved.
Supranationalism: a theory/model based on the idea that IGOs become the forum for the
promotion of the joint interests of the states involved in cooperation, and that there is a
transfer of authority to those IGOs.
Liberal intergovernmentalism: a theory which combines elements of neo-functionalism and
intergovernmentalism.
Constructivism: a theoretical approach that focuses on the social construction of interests
and the manner in which they influence and shape institutions.
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, Chapter 2
Where to start?
Five approaches to understand the EU
Think as the EU as an IO: its institutions have little or no autonomy, and the EU makes its
most important decisions through negotiations and bargains among governments.
Think as the EU as a regional integration association (RIA): it is comparable with other
regional blocs such as ASEAN.
Acknowledge that the EU is unique: has unique qualities and goals, might never be
replicated elsewhere.
Think as the EU as a political system in its own right: its structure can be compared with
conventional states. (focus on federalism and confederalism)
Thinks as the EU as a hybrid system: it is a mix of all of the above.
The comparative approach
comparative politics: the study of different political systems, often based on cases, and
aimed at drawing up general rules about how those systems function.
Comparative method: one of the core methods for all research, based on drawing
conclusions from the study of a small number of samples.
Regime: the rules and norms that lie at the basis of a system of government.
New institutionalism: a traditional study of the institution of government that focus as much
on social interactions as on the formal rules of government.
Government: the institution and officials that make up the formal structure by which states or
other administrative units are managed and directed.
Governance: an arrangement by which decisions, laws and policies are made without the
existence of formal institutions of government.
Multilevel governance: an administrative system in which power is distributed and shared
among different levels of government, from the supranational to the local, with considerable
interaction among the parts.
Cooperative federalism: describes an arrangement in which national, state and local
governments work together to address and solve common problems, rather than working
separately on policy.
Consocianationalism: describes an arrangement in which power is shared among groups in
divided societies. Mutual veto-right and the representation is based on the population of each
group.
Federalism
Concept - Federation: an administrative system in which authority is divided between two or
more levels of government, each with independent powers and responsibilities.
Quasi-federation: an arrangement by which powers are divided between central and regional
government, resulting in some of the features of federalism without the creation of a formal
federal structure.
Confederalism if the EU is not a federation, then maybe it is a confederation.
Concept - Confederation: an administrative system I which independent states come
together for reasons of security, efficiency, or mutual convenience, retaining the powers they
consider best reserved to themselves, and working together through joint institutions on
matters best dealt with together.
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