European Union Politics and Policy - hoorcolleges
European Commission
Bestaat uit 27 commissarissen. 1 uit elke lidstaat. De commissie rkepresenteert de belangen
van de EU.
Neofunctionalisme:
Om het voordeel van integratie te bereiken, moet er op meerdere beleidsterreinen
geïntegreerd worden. Het is dus functioneel. Zo ontstaat er functionele spillover. Er is ook
een politieke spillover. Politieke actoren zien dat integratie op bepaalde beleidsterreinen
werkt en willen dit daardoor ook op een ander terrein stimuleren.
1. Verwachting I: integratie is een geleidelijk proces
2. Verwachting II: integratie leidt uiteindelijk tot volledige opneming van alle nationale
taken door de EU (dat wil niet zeggen dat ze zeggen dat dit een goede zaak is).
3. Verwachting III: Europese Commissie is een van de aanjagers van integratie, samen
met het ECJ
De Ruiter, R. (2021). Interactions between EU institutions: The European Commission and
the European Court of Justice[Presentatieslides]. Brightspace.
https://brightspace.universiteitleiden.nl/content/enforced/94906-6452511Y_2122_S1/Brights
pace%20EUPP%202021%202022%20session%203.pdf
(slide 25,26,27, week 3)
Liberal-intergovernmentalism:
Bij liberaal-intergouvernementalisme is integratie het resultaat van onderhandelingen door
lidstaten (‘deals’ tussen regeringen.) Integratie wordt bepaald door ‘nationale’ belangen:
coalitie van grotere lidstaten is de sleutel in het verklaren van uitkomsten (Duitsland,
Frankrijk)
1. Verwachting I: EU-structuur en -beleid is het resultaat van onderhandelingen tussen
EU-lidstaten
2. Verwachting II: Europese integratie gaat alleen door als in lijn met de nationale
belangen van de lidstaten
(slide 22,23, week 2)
De Ruiter, R. (2021). Interactions between EU institutions: The Council and the European
Parliament [Presentatieslides]. Brightspace.
,https://brightspace.universiteitleiden.nl/content/enforced/94906-6452511Y_2122_S1/Brights
pace%20EUPP%202021%202022%20session%203.pdf
Historisch institutionalisme
Actoren die de Europese Gemeenschap op het moment 't' hebben opgericht, zullen
waarschijnlijk de langetermijngevolgen van die oprichtingshandeling niet begrijpen
De voorkeuren van actoren op ‘t+n’ zullen moeten opereren in een context bepaald door
keuzes gemaakt door (andere) actoren op ‘t’. De nadruk ligt hier op onverwachte gevolgen
van keuzes gemaakt door rationele actoren. Het is daardoor padafhankelijk. Er is aandacht
voor kritische momenten (= een grote gebeurtenis).
Actoren zijn allemaal rationeel, maar ze hebben niet alle informatie. Maar in tijdsperiode N
moeten de actoren omgaan met de beslissingen die genomen zijn door de beslissingen van de
actoren in de tijd T.
Verwachting I: EU-structuur en -beleid is het resultaat van keuzes gemaakt door actoren die
niet perfect op de hoogte zijn van de gevolgen van deze keuzes
Verwachting II: Integratie is een padafhankelijk proces, vaak in gang gezet door een kritiek
moment.
(slide 32,33 week 4)
De Ruiter, R. (2021). From the internal market to EMU and the economic crisis (2020–2021
[Presentatieslides]. Brightspace.
https://brightspace.universiteitleiden.nl/content/enforced/94906-6452511Y_2122_S1/Brights
pace%20EUPP%202021%202022%20session%203.pdf
What is the European Union?
- Upo? = Unidentified political object. So strange that you can not compare it to
anything else (jacques delors)
- Nation: A community whose members identify with each other based on shared
language, ancestry, history, culture, territory, religion, myths and symbols. U belong
to a certain community and are aware that you belong to that nation.
- State: a legal and political arrangement through which all large-scale political
communities are organized, combining government population, legitimacy, territory
, and sovereignty. > Westphalian system. The book says that you can not say that the
EU is a state in a Westphalian system.
- Federation: central authority and a sub-central authority. It is a system of
administration involving two or more levels of government with autonomous powers
and responsibilities. Central government > people and States > people.
Monnet-method: the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community as a first step
towards more integration in other areas, with the eventual achievement of a European
federation. Monnet wanted to create a federation. He thought that that was the solution for
stopping war in Europe.
So they started to make coal and steel together so when they wanted to start war against each
other they did not have the resources for themselves. Because the goods were now in
common.
Altiero Spinelli, criticism: no political centre or leadership to push this method along. All
structure no agency.
- Confederation: a group of sovereign states with a central authority derives its
authority from those states, and citizens linked to the central authority through the
states in which they live. U can legitimize this system through the citizens. A central
authority gets legitimacy through the states.
- International organisation: a body set up to promote cooperation between or among
states, based on the principles of voluntary cooperation, communal management and
shared interest.
U could doubt whether the EU is voluntary. You can get out but it is hard. A lot of transfer of
sovereignty. The EU is not the typical international organisation.
The EU is compared to an elephant. What is it? Blind men and an elephant. It depends on
where you look (feel) how you view the EU.
The EU as a political system: multi-level governance
Government > Governance
EU Government: certain organizations or institutions and above the level of the member
states (EU). They have power to make law and set the political agenda.
Governance:arrangement in which laws and policies are made and implemented as a result of
interactions among a complex variety of actors, including member state governments, EU
institutions, interest groups and other sources of influence. There is much more interaction.
There is also a lot of involvement of non-state actors.
, The EUj as a political system: multi-level governance
- It is about governance not government
- Refers to a particular kind of relationship that is not hierarchically ordered
- A negotiated order and not defined by formalized legal framework
- A political game
A lot of groups try to influence policies.
Multi level governance;
We can put all kinds of actors in these categories.
1. EU level:
2. Member state level:
Citizens vote for National Parlement member state and EU level (EP).
We have national courts and the European court of Justice (hierarchical)
The national governments sends people to the council of ministers. The council of ministers
is not that visible but the European Council is much more visible. They talk about big
problems and you can see the head of states travel to the Council
The national ministers send civil servants through European Commission
Why integrate?
Why did European countries decide to integrate?
We have to go back to the WOI. And after the second World War that would be too
devastating. After the first World War there was the Great Depression. There was high
inflation in Germany which is one of the causes of the Second World War.
Monnet said that we needed to make links between countries so they would not make war
against each other. It started to link as much as possible between member states. It started
with Coal and Steel. And at various times something was added to Coal and Steel. They
started with 6 member states.
They took slow steps and you can see there is some time between the plans. At that time they
were negotiating and it happened a lot that the member states did not agree with each other.
Reasons for start integration
- World War I and II: no more war in Europe
- 1929: Economic crisis
Result:
- 1947: Marshallplan
- 1950: Schumanplan
- 1952: Treaty of Paris (coal and steel)
- 1958: Treaty of Rome (start Economic integration)