This document contains a summary for the course European Governance. A third year bachelor course, given at the USBO. The summary covers chapters 1-4, 6 & 8-10.
EG SUMMARY
Chapter 1: The Historical Development of the EU
-supranational organizations: organizations in which countries pool their sovereignty on
certain matters to allow joint decision-making
-intergovernmental organizations: organizations in which member states work together on
policies of common concern but retain their full sovereignty
-two important elements in Schuman’s speech (which ‘founded’ the EU)
*proposing the institution of an impartial body
*the limited scope
-the four main institution of the European Coal and Steel Community
*a Council of Ministers
*a High Authority
*a Court of Justice
*a Common Assembly
-Table 1.1 page 9
-ratification: procedure through which a sovereign state formally commits itself to the
obligations that arise from the signing of an international treaty
-ECSC -> EEC -> EU
-preferential trade agreement: when countries agree on lowering the tariffs they charge for
importing goods
-direct effect: a major legal principle in EU law holding that individuals can directly invoke EU
legislation in cases before national courts
-supremacy: a major legal principle in EU law holding that if national legislation is in
conflict with EU law, EU law overrides national legislation
-judicial activism: type of judicial behaviour where judges take a broad and active view of
their role as interpreters of the law
-qualified majority: decision-making rule in the Council which requires a majority that is
substantially larger than a simple majority of 50% + 1, but does not require unanimity
-unanimity voting: decision-making rule in the council which requires all member states to
support a proposal. This requirement gives every member state the possibility to veto a
proposed decision
-Luxembourg compromise: informal agreement between the member states allowing a
member state to block a decision in the Council if it declares the matter to be of ‘vital
national interest’
-non-tariff barriers: are all kinds of conditions, restrictions or regulations that do not consist
of tariffs, but still make the import or export of products difficult or impossible
-opt-outs: specific exceptions that are granted to a member state when it is unwilling or
unable to fully accept all provisions of a treaty or a law
-ordinary legislative procedure: decision-making procedure that is most commonly used in
the EU for adopting legislation, giving equal powers to the EP and the Council
-the institutional structure for different policies was captured by referring to three pillars
*supranational/Community pillar
*CFSP pillar
, *JHA pillar
-Copenhagen criteria: fundamental conditions regarding institutions, human rights and
economic readiness aspiring member states have to meet before being able to join the EU
-European Economic Area: Area that comprises the EU member states and Iceland, Norway
and Liechtenstein. Through the EEA agreement these three countries take part in the EU
single market and commit themselves to applying all applicable EU legislation
-Intergovernmental Conference: meeting of the member states to discuss and decide a
revision of treaties. As its name indicates, an IGC is a purely intergovernmental affair that
involves only representatives of the member state governments
-sovereign debt: refers to the public debt of a country which it finances through issuing
bonds
-Euroscepticism: term used to describe people, member states or political parties that are
highly critical of European integration
Chapter 2: Analysing the EU
-neo-functionalism: integration theory which states that member states will work together
to reap economic benefits, setting in motion a process in which ever more tasks are
delegated to the supranational level
*developed at the end of the 1950s
*Haas
*rooted in the pluralist school
*groups are not restricted to the boundaries of their country but can forge transnational
alliances with like-minded groups in other countries
*European integration was primarily an elite-driven process and shows that ordinary
people were not very well informed or concerned about it
*4 steps that drive integrations:
>recognizing the possibility of mutual economic gains, governments decide to start
cooperation in a specific policy area. They set up a supranational body which is
responsible for administering and implementing their arrangement
>after the arrangement has been put in place, all parties realize that further economic
gains can be arrived at only if adjacent sectors are integrated as well, spurring additional
integrative steps. The result is called a spillover of integration into other fields
>the creation of a new centre of authority fosters the emergence of new transnational
interests that put additional pressure on governments to move towards further
integration. This process is advanced by the new supranational institutions as well, who
are eager to take up new responsibilities in order to advance their status as
policy-makers
>the increased complexity of several functional arrangements will lead to further
institutionalization at the supranational level in order to coordinate policy-making. The
result is a peculiar form of policy-making somewhere in between that of a purely
intergovernmental organization and a fully-fledged federal state
*integration is a self-perpetuating process
*spillover is the major drive of integration
-political elites: consist of the relatively small number of people at the top of a political
system who exercise considerable influence or power over political decisions
, -transnational organizations: organizations that connect subnational levels of governments
or bring together any other type of organization from different countries
-spillover: refers to the phenomenon where an integrative step in one policy area generated
pressures to take further integrative steps in other policy areas so that steadily more
competences are shifted towards the EU level
*functional spillover
>technical in nature
>based upon the insight that the full benefit of integrative steps can be attained only if
further moves in neighbouring fields are made
*political spillover
>result of the deliberate pressure exerted by national interests because they expect to
benefit from further integrative steps
*cultivated spillover
>points to the role of supranational actors such as the Commission, European Parliament
and Court of justice
>supranational institutions are not simply implementing and administering the
agreements between the member states, but play an active role in fostering further
integration
-policy entrepreneur: when one successfully influences decisions made by others, by skilfully
mobilizing support, building coalitions and proposing solutions in the direction of an
outcome close to its own preferences
-Intergovernmentalism: integration theory which holds that member states are fully in
charge of cooperative steps they take and collaborate only with a view to their direct
self-interest
*Hoffmann
*governments are the sole players in the international political arena and act with a view to
maintaining the vital stakes of the nation-state, which are political rather than economic
*low politics: e.g. economics
>governed by a logic of integration
>may lead to collaboration
^because nations share the same interests
*high politics: e.g. territorial security and sovereignty
>governed by a logic of diversity
>nations prefer the self-controlled uncertainty of national self-reliance to the uncontrolled
uncertainty of the blending process
-Postfunctionalism
*2000s
*Hooghe and Marks
*previously political elites had been able to take far-reaching integrative steps because of a
permissive consensus among the general public and mainstream political parties
*it highlights the significant effect that domestic public opinion and party politics have
upon the integration process
*the permissive consensus has been replaced by a constraining dissensus
-permissive consensus: refers to the generally broad support that existed amongst citizens
for European integration during the first decades after WW2
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