European Public Policy
2021-2011 Summary
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,Week 1
Chapter 3
Identity
Identity is a term used to describe how people understand or see themselves.
Citizenship
Citizenship refers to a person’s status of being citizen. A citizen is a person who is member
of a state and who enjoys social and political rights, such as the right to live, the right to
freedom of speech, and the right to hold a passport. The EU has created its own concept of
citizenship, European citizenship.
European citizenship
European citizenship is a concept developed by the EU to provide its citizens with more of a
transnational sense of belonging. All people who are citizens of one of the member states of
the EU are also EU citizens. This means that citizens have national as well as EU
citizenship, with extra rights and duties in addition to the rights and duties of their home
country. As written in the Treaty of Lisbon, EU citizenship is additional to and does not
replace national citizenship.
European rights
The right to move and live freely within the territory of the member states
The right to vote and stand as a candidate in local and European Parliament elections
The right to seek the help of any EU embassy
The right to address EU institutions in any of the official languages of the EU
Patriotism
Patriotism is the love for, or devotion to, one’s country, driven by a sense of identification with
the history and achievements of that particular country. The idea that Europeans might
identify more actively with Europe is further complicated due to the absence of all usual
factors that give people a sense of belonging to a community, such as religion, culture, and
language. The EU has worked to create EU symbols, however, these have not yet attracted
the same level of association with Europe or the EU as national and state symbols.
Symbols of the EU
The EU flag
The EU anthem ‘’Ode to Joy’’
The EU motto ‘’United in Diversity’’
Annual Europe Day 9 May
Identity and Europe
As symbols are an important element of belonging, Europeans are constantly reminded of
their differences. The EU has tried to overcome these differences by addressing activities
aimed at drawing attention to Europe’s common cultural heritage while preserving diversity.
However, while such projects have value, it is up to the Europeans themselves to developed
a sense of European identity, which means understanding what they have in common.
European ideals
Peace
Prosperity
Power
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, Week 2
Chapter 1
State
A state is a political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined
territorial borders and exercises authority via a set of permanent institutions.
Features of a state
Government
Population
Legitimacy
Territory
Sovereignty
Nation
A nation, or cultural entity, is a group of people who identify with one another on the basis of
shared features such as language, history, culture, and religion. Identification with nations
may spawn nationalism.
Nationalism
Nationalism holds that the nation and state should be congruent. Nationalists tend to
promote the interests of a specific nation with the goal of gaining and maintaining sovereignty
over one’s homeland in order to establish a nation state.
IOs
IOs are formal institutions whose principal members are states. IOs are established to
promote international cooperation between states and founded on the principles of shared
interests, voluntary cooperation, and communal management. In addition, IOs have very little
autonomy. With minimal autonomy is meant that institutions can only do what member states
allow them to do and with communal management is meant that decisions are made based
on the shared views of their member states.
Regional integration
International cooperation between states can evolve into regional integration and a
regional integration association. Regional integration involves the creation of institutions
that have the competence to make new rules and policies in areas where their members
have agreed to cooperate.
Functionalism
Functionalism is a theory in which states should work together without interfering unduly from
each other. According to Mitrany, the best way to bring about peace was not through
alliances and agreements among governments but by setting up a network of international
institutions dealing with relatively non-controversial matters. Mitrany advocated for the
decline of national sovereignty and the emergence of a new international community.
Neofunctionalism
Neofunctionalism is a theory based on the thoughts of Haas in which the main idea is the
spill-over effect. According to Haas, if two or more states agree to cooperate in a specific
area, the full benefits of integration will not be felt until cooperation in other relates areas is
established.
Spillover
The main idea of neofunctionalism is the effect of spillover. Spillover describes the
pressures through which cooperation among states in one area lead to pressures to
cooperate in other areas.
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