Introduction to European
Governance
- Summary Preface book:
o EU can best be studied from a comparative politics perspective
o Most of the questions that can be asked of domestic political systems can also
be asked of the EU, but the answers might not be the same
o Political parties in the EU, their organization and the role they play in EU
politics are different from the way they operate in most EU member states
o No two countries are identical and in studying them comparatively we will see
both commonalities and points at which specific countries are unique
o Practice exercises www.navigatingthe.eu
- Summary Chapter 1 The Historical Development Of The EU:
o 9 May 1950, French minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman, proposed a
plan that laid the foundation for today’s EU by proposing to set up a European
Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
o 9 May Europe day, but not everybody knows this. A press conference is not
as spectacular to celebrate as for example celebrating a rebellion (4 th of July in
the USA) or a revolution (14th of July in France)
o EU developed in 60 years into a unique form of political cooperation
comprising 28 member states and 500 million inhabitants, with a combined
income that is the world’s largest
o The term European Union suggests that we are dealing with an organization
that was swiftly put in place on the basis of a solid design, but we are in fact
looking at a patchwork that has been stitched together in a step-by-step
fashion over the course of six decades
o 1946 Winston Churchill, prime minister of Britain during the war proposed
to recreate the European family in a regional structure called the United
States of Europe, he urged France and Germany, the two arch-enemies, to
take the lead in setting up such a federation
o To make sure the Soviet Union could not expand their communism more
western, 3 different types of organization emerged:
Military cooperation found its beginnings in initiatives for a common
defense such as a Western European Union (WEU) and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Political cooperation emerged via organizations such as the Council of
Europe
Economic cooperation took root via the Organisation for European
Economic Co-operation (OEEC), the Benelux and the European Coal
and Steel Community (ECSC)
o Supranational organizations: organizations in which countries pool their
sovereignty on certain matters to allow joint decision-making
ECSC was the first
,o Intergovernmental organizations: organizations in which member states
work together on policies of common concern but retain their full sovereignty
o 18 April 1951 the Treaty of Paris was signed by BE, NL, LU, DU, FR and IT
which formally established the European Coal and Steel Community, with 4
main institutions:
A Council of Ministers, representing the member state governments
A High Authority, consisting of independent appointees, acting as a
daily executive
A Court of Justice, independent judges, to interpret the Treaty and
adjudicate conflicts between member states and High Authority
A Common Assembly, drawn from members of national parliaments,
to monitor the activities of the High Authority
o The 1950s: from one to three communities
o Ratification: procedure through which a member state formally commits
itself to a treaty, in most countries via a majority vote by its parliament
o The 1960s: progress and setbacks
o Customs duties or tariffs: charges levied on imports or exports, resulting in
higher prices for consumers buying those products
o Preferential trade agreement: countries agree on lowering the tariffs they
charge for importing goods
o Direct effect: a major legal principle in EU law holding that individuals can
directly invoke EU legislation in cases before national courts
o Supremacy: a major legal principle in EU law holding that if national
legislation is in conflict with EU law, EU law overrides national legislation
o Judicial activism: type of judicial behavior where judges take a broad and
active view of their role as interpreters of the law
o Qualified majority voting: 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
o Luxembourg Compromise: agreement allowing a member state to block a
decision in the Council if it declares the matter to be of ‘vital national interest’
o The 1970s: moving out of gridlock, slowly
o 1973 UK, Ireland and Denmark joined
o European Council (not the Council of Europe) provide political guidance to
the activities of the Community by identifying new areas of cooperation and
surveying the possibilities for developing policies in these domains
Decided to set up the European Monetary System
Discussed and tackled the major problems the Community faced
o Non-tariff barriers: 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
o 1997 first elections for the European Parliament – originally the Common
Assembly
o The 1980s: moves towards a single market
o There were so many barriers that a truly single market did not exist yet
,o 1987 Turkey and Morocco applied for membership. Morocco was
immediately turned down, was not a European country. The Turkish
application was the start of a very long accession process
o The 1990s: the road towards European Union
o The project of completing the single market proved to be quite successful and
led to renewed attention to achieving further integration in the fields of
economic and monetary policies
o Treaty of Maastricht broadened the areas that would be part of
Community policies, including a timetable to introduce a single currency, the
euro, expanded cooperation in fields of foreign policy through establishing a
Common Foreign and Security Policy, launched agreements on asylum and
immigration policies as well as judicial and police cooperation and increased
the EP’s legislative powers through the introduction of co-decision
o 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
UK and Denmark could keep their own currency
o Ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision): decision-making procedure that
is most commonly used in the EU for adopting legislation, giving equal powers
to the European Parliament and the Council
o The Maastricht Treaty also introduced European Union citizenship
o Sweden, Austria and Finland applied after the fall of the Berlin wall and their
applications were accepted, they joined in 1995
o Copenhagen criteria: fundamental conditions regarding institutions, human
rights and economic readiness aspiring member states have to meet before
being able to join the EU
Respect and promote the basic values of the EU
Stable political institutions that foster democracy and respect human
rights
A well-functioning market economy
The institutional capacity to work towards political, economic and
monetary union
o 2002 Euro coins and notes were brought into circulation and replaced the
national coins and notes within half a year
o The 2000s: further enlargements, difficult treaty revisions and the beginning
of financial crisis
o Intergovernmental Conference: meeting of the member states to discuss and
decide a revision of treaties. As its name indicates and IGC is a purely
intergovernmental affair that only involves representatives of the member
state governments
o Instead of calling for a new Intergovernmental Conference, in which member
states would debate the issue about how the EU could be made more
democratic, transparent and effective, they agreed on establishing a
convention
o After 16 months of plenary sessions and group meetings, the draft treaty
established a Constitution for Europe on which all delegates could agree. It
would do away with the patchwork of amending treaties that had made for
such a complex institutional set-up, it greatly simplified the legal structure of
, the EU by putting things in place and providing a clear overview of the Union’s
competences
o It also introduced a semi-permanent President for the European Council and a
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy who would
represent the EU in foreign policy matters
o 2007 Treaty of Lisbon changes in the treaty following concerns and
referendums of the citizens of member states, especially Dutch and French
citizens
o Treaty modification and ratification had proven to be very complex in a Union
of no fewer than twenty-seven member states
o 2008 global financial crisis
Banking crisis affected many so-called systemic banks in the Eurozone
Sovereign debt crisis, the public budgets of many Eurozone
governments faced increasing debts and deficits
o Eurosceptic: term used for people, member states or political parties that
have been highly critical of European integration
o Summary from book
The aftermath of the Second World War led to several initiatives for
European cooperation on the military, political and economic fronts.
The major challenge facing Europe was how to rebuild Europe and
ensure a peaceful recovery of Germany as an independent country
While most of the organizations that were set up were
intergovernmental in nature, France proposed an innovative scheme
by introducing a plan for a supranational community in which a High
Authority would be authorized to manage the common market of coal
and steel
The French proposal resulted in the establishment of the European
Coal and Steel Community through the Treaty of Paris in 1951 with six
founding members: France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries.
In 1975 the Treaties of Rome established the European Economic
Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom)
The basic institutional structure of the early Communities consisted of
a Commission entrusted to oversee the execution of policies, a Council
of Ministers representing the member states, a Court of Justice to
adjudicate conflict and a European Parliament representing the citizen
of the member states. From the mid 1970s the European Council –
bringing together the Heads of State and Government of the member
states – emerged as the institution providing further political direction
to the EU’s activities
Since the 1950s European integration has consisted of a gradual
incorporation of new policy areas, the establishment of new
institutions and the inclusion of new member states. The integration
process was marked as much by progress as it was by setbacks. While
treaty changes provided the clearest indications of further integrative
steps, other events such as the rulings of the Court of Justice or
