Samenvatting European Societies - 2019/2020

Nina Reyn - SEW


European Societies
Inhoudstafel:
H0. Introductory Information
H0.1. Course material
H0.2. Exam
H1: Lecture 1: The European project: the good, the bad and the ugly
H1.1. Purpose of this lecture
H1.2. Introduction
H1.3. A short history of the project called the European Union
H1.4. What has it brought us?
H1.5. But of course, not all is well…
H1.6. Rest of today’s lecture
H1.7. Economic and other diversity in Europe
H1.8. Institutional and policy diversity
H1.9. Solidarity within Europe
H1.10. Were they right? A Greek Tragedy
H1.11. Concluding
H1.12. Reading
H2: Lecture 2: Institutional Architecture of the European Union
H2.1. Introduction to EU
H2.2. ‘Multi-level’ = multiple layers:
H2.3. ‘Governance’ = a particular way of governing
H2.4. Construction EU:
H2.5. European institutions
H2.6. Interest Groups
H2.7. The EU Multi-level Governance system
H2.8. Clustering of policy domains
H2.9. Policy domains: definitions
H2.9.0. Domains
H2.9.1. Redistributive policies
H2.9.2. Regulatory policies
H2.9.3. Internal security: justitie en binnenlandse zaken
H2.9.4. External policies
H2.9.5. Macro-economic policies
H2.9.6. EU Policy architecture
H2.9.7. Policy domains: decision-making
H2.10. The European supranational legislative procedure
H2.11. The intergovernmental decision-making procedure
H2.12. Policy modes
H2.13. Policy domains:
H2.14. The European Commission:
H2.15. The European Parliament:
H2.16. The Council of Ministers:
H2.17. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
H2.18. The European Council:
H2.19. The European Courts
H2.20. The Consultative Committees
H2.21. Other bodies of the European Union
H2.22. Interest Groups
H3: Lecture 3: Europe as a social entity

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, Nina Reyn - SEW

H3.0. Introductory information
H3.1. Social subsidiarity:
H3.1.0. Introduction?
H3.1.2. Why?
H3.1.3. An ex post evaluation:
H3.1.4 Extra résumé
H3.1.5. Policy Conundrum
H3.1.6. What can be done
H3.1.7. Where to start?
H4: The European project as an economic project: fundamental flaws?
H4.1. EU emerges as “peace through economic cooperation” project
H4.2. Single European Market
H4.3. The EURO
H4.4. Fundamental design error in the EU?
H4.4.1. Introductory:
H4.4.2. Economic and other diversity in EU
H4.4.3. Institutional and policy diversity
H4.4.4. Solidarity within Europe
H4.4.5. Were they right? A Greek Tragedy
H5: The European Social Funds: Instruments to bypass or to strengthen national welfare states?
H5.1. Poverty and social exclusion in European welfare states
H5.2. Minimum Income
H5.3. Bottom-up social response
H5.4. European funding
H5.4.1. European Social Fund
H5.4.2. Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD)
H5.4.2.1. Specific target groups
H5.4.2.2. Operational Programs
H5.4.2.3. Mission
H5.4.2.4. Budget
H5.4.2.5. Redistributive and targeted
H5.4.2.6. Fostering the institutionalization of food aid
H5.5. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)




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, Nina Reyn - SEW

H0. Introductory Information
H0.1. Course material
 Texts on BB.
 Some are compulsory, some optional (background reading)
 We will provide guidance as to how to read and study these
H0.2. Exam
 Written exam at the end of the semester
 Three types of questions:
 Explain concepts and terms used in the various lectures and key texts (8/20)
- See Europe in 12 lectures + two text  very important for the exam
- Concepts namely from lesson 1&2.
 Interpret and discuss a graph or table pertaining to one of the lectures (6/20)
 Discussion question pertaining to one the lectures (6/20)
- Heel breed, niet één antwoord
- Essential to understand material + to try to reflect
 You can answer in Dutch

H1: Lecture 1: The European project: the good, the bad and the ugly
H1.1. Purpose of this lecture
 To consider some of the main issues and challenges facing European Societies today
 EU has design flaws  Not a coherent “geheel”.
 Brexit = first time EU is getting smaller instead of bigger.
 How the EU is dealing with these challenges  National level and supranational level 
particular attention to the European Union
 Pick out some interesting issues
 Guest lectures on specific topics
 Important question
 How did the European Union project emerge?
 What have been some big accomplishments?
 What are big challenges ?
 Focus today: is there a fundamental design flaw in the European Union project?
- Very important question, especially today (Brexit, anti-European parties in many
countries like Italy, resentment…)

H1.2. Introduction
 So how did we get from the first to last picture?
 Introduction about what we will talk about
 Picture dia 9: explosion in Antwerp in 1944  start of Meir at Frankrijklei
 Ex-nazi’s in Belgium still get a pension today from Germany  still relevant today
 Place was in ruins, chaos  not very probable that EU would emerge
 75 years later:
 Picture (dia 16) of refugees on Mediterranean see:
- People are risking their lives (even children, baby’s)
- How bad must their lives have been to risk their lives + lives of their children to go to
Europe?
 Picture dia 18:
- Enclave of Spain: people trying to get in vs people who live affluent lives

H1.3. A short history of the project called the European Union
 Not that “Europe” is in any way new…  relevant point
 It had been united in some form or another: different governments and territories

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, Nina Reyn - SEW

 Large areas of Europe had previously been united by empires such as:
 The Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Frankish Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Ottoman
Empire, the First French Empire, Nazi Germany…
- These were successful for a long time but disappeared after time.
 Long ago..
 More peaceful consolidation of European territories also provided by dynastic unions
 And country-level unions
- Such as the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austro-Hungarian Empire.
 Map dia 23: Roman empire with Roman law, currency, institutions
 Parts of GB were part of Roman empire, sphere of influence  very exceptional
 GB: has been independent for 1000 years  still want to be independent
 Other countries like FR, Germany, Spain:
- Also have strong national identity
- BUT were part of other political identity like Roman Empire, French Empire
 Beginnings after WWII
 End of the Second World War left Europe divided between the communist
- Soviet dominated, eastern bloc, and the largely democratic western nations
- Stalin wanted big piece of Europe as a repayment for getting rid of Nazi’s
 Fears over what direction a rebuilt Germany would take, perceived need to bind Germany
into pan-European democratic institutions
- Feeling that Germany had to repay damage  mistake
- They had to involve them with Europa instead of separating and isolating them
 Expansion of the communist east.
 War had left Europe exhausted, with industry greatly damaged
- Buildings, industry, factories destroyed
- Rebuild economy if we work together
 Six neighboring countries agreed in The Treaty of Paris (early 50) to form an area of free
trade for several key resources including coal, steel and iron ore, chosen for their key role in
industry and the military
- They needed resources to rebuilt industry  work together
- Secure peace between Europe’s victorious and vanquished nations and bring them
together as equals, cooperating within shared institutions
 European Coal and Steel Community and involved Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy
and Luxembourg.
- ECKS (Europese Commissie voor Kolen en Staal)
- It began on 23 July 1952 and ended on 23 July 2002, replaced by further unions  birth
of EU as we know it
 To manage the ECSC, a group of ‘supranational’ (a level of governance above the nation
state) bodies were created to legislate, develop ideas and resolve disputes:
- Council of Ministers, Common Assembly, Court of Justice
- From these key bodies the later EU would emerge
 Treaty of Rome – verdrag van Rome
 Success of the ECSC led to the member nations signing two new treaties in 1957
- Both called the treaty of Rome.
 Created two new bodies:
- The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)
- The European Economic Community.
 Atomic energy was seen as the future  EAEC important body
 This EEC created a common market among the member nations, with no tariffs or
impediments to the flow of labor and goods.
- Free trade for steel, iron, cole
 Expanded to trade for other goods in these countries
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