European Societies
Lecturers: Ive Marx & Sarah Marchal
Introduction
The exam comprises 8 questions dealing with concepts that must be explained in 3 lines. Of
the 2 open questions, worth 6 points each, one question has a broader scope, the other is
more specific. On the broad open question, multiple answers may be right.
All concepts are integrated in this summary. They were made based on information found on
reliable web sites about the EU. Where considered appropriate for a better understanding of
this course, they are added as separate blocks throughout the main text. The others can be
found at the beginning of the summary. The concepts are of the requisite length for the
exam, considering the space provided.
Inhoudsopgave
Economic and monetary union............................................................................................................................3
Coordination of social security systems...............................................................................................................3
Ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision)........................................................................................................3
The European Parliament.....................................................................................................................................4
The Council of the EU...........................................................................................................................................4
The European Council...........................................................................................................................................4
The European Commission...................................................................................................................................4
The European Court of Justice (ECJ).....................................................................................................................4
The European Central Bank..................................................................................................................................4
Qualified majority voting (QMV)..........................................................................................................................4
Treaty of Rome.....................................................................................................................................................5
Four freedoms......................................................................................................................................................5
The single European market.................................................................................................................................5
The Single European Act.......................................................................................................................................5
The Schengen agreement.....................................................................................................................................5
Stability and Growth Pact (SGP)...........................................................................................................................5
Maastricht Treaty.................................................................................................................................................5
Maastricht rules...................................................................................................................................................6
Tariff.....................................................................................................................................................................6
Non-tariff barrier..................................................................................................................................................6
Comparative advantage in trade.........................................................................................................................6
EU regulation........................................................................................................................................................6
EU directive..........................................................................................................................................................6
EU recommendation.............................................................................................................................................6
,Economic cooperation within the EU.............................................................................................................. 7
Optimal currency area (OCA).............................................................................................................................10
Welfare states within the EU........................................................................................................................ 12
Welfare state......................................................................................................................................................12
Decommodification............................................................................................................................................12
Stratification.......................................................................................................................................................12
The public/private mix........................................................................................................................................13
EU-SILC (the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions).............................................................................14
Employment rate................................................................................................................................................14
Unemployment rate...........................................................................................................................................14
Long-term unemployment rate..........................................................................................................................14
The at-risk-of-poverty threshold (AROP threshold)............................................................................................14
The at-risk-of-poverty rate (AROP rate).............................................................................................................15
Severe material and social deprivation rate (SMSD rate)..................................................................................15
People living in households with very low work intensity..................................................................................15
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE)...................................................................................................15
Upward convergence.........................................................................................................................................16
SURE...................................................................................................................................................................17
NextGenerationEU.............................................................................................................................................17
Europe 2020.......................................................................................................................................................17
Automatic stabilizers..........................................................................................................................................17
Social dumping...................................................................................................................................................18
Social policy making within the EU............................................................................................................... 18
The supremacy of EU law...................................................................................................................................18
The Treaty of Lisbon...........................................................................................................................................18
The conferral principle.......................................................................................................................................18
The subsidiarity principle....................................................................................................................................19
The proportionality principle..............................................................................................................................19
Positive integration............................................................................................................................................19
Negative integration..........................................................................................................................................19
Social subsidiarity...............................................................................................................................................20
Fiscal federalism.................................................................................................................................................20
The social acquis................................................................................................................................................21
The homeland principle......................................................................................................................................22
The workland principle.......................................................................................................................................22
Aggregation of periods.......................................................................................................................................22
Exportability of benefits.....................................................................................................................................22
,Migration within the EU............................................................................................................................... 23
Frontex...............................................................................................................................................................23
Brain drain..........................................................................................................................................................25
Posting................................................................................................................................................................26
The Posted Workers Directive............................................................................................................................26
Third Country Nationals (TCNs)..........................................................................................................................27
The European Labour Authority.........................................................................................................................28
The creeping socialization of the EU............................................................................................................. 28
The European Social Fund..................................................................................................................................28
The Lisbon agenda (2000-2010).........................................................................................................................30
The European Semester.....................................................................................................................................30
The social convergence strategy........................................................................................................................30
The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR).......................................................................................................31
Holding environment..........................................................................................................................................31
Guest lecture in honour of the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration...............................................32
Migration pact....................................................................................................................................................33
The Copenhagen criteria....................................................................................................................................34
Discrimination....................................................................................................................................................34
Flexible solidarity................................................................................................................................................34
Exam questions and answers....................................................................................................................... 34
Economic and monetary union
The EMU has been established by the Maastricht Treaty (1992). The goal of the EMU is to
coordinate and harmonize EU member states in terms of economic, fiscal and monetary
policy. It involves three components: (1) a single currency: the euro; (2) a European Central
Bank, responsible for monetary policy; (3) the SGP rules that ensure budgetary discipline,
maintaining a stable financial system.
Coordination of social security systems
The coordination of social security systems is about the rules that the EU has implemented
in order to harmonize and coordinate the national social security systems of its members.
Examples include the homeland principle, the workland principle, aggregation of periods,
exportability of benefits, and the non-discrimination principle. They are not always
successful. For example, it is the exportability, not the sufficiency of benefits that is
guaranteed.
Ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision)
The ordinary legislative procedure is the main law-making process of the EU. There are
different schemes: for the European Parliament, a simple majority is a majority of the votes
cast, a qualified majority is a majority of the component members. For the Council of the EU,
, a simple majority is a majority of member states, a qualified majority means at least 55% of
the member states representing at least 65% of the EU population vote in favour.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament is the EU’s decision-making body. It has three main roles:
legislative: passing EU laws, together with the Council of the EU; budgetary: establishing the
EU budget, together with the Council of the EU; supervisory: conducting a democratic
scrutiny of EU institutions. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years.
The Council of the EU
The Council of the EU is the meeting of the ministers of EU countries. It is the main decision-
making body of the EU. It decides on the EU budget, together with the European Parliament.
Depending on the issue on the agenda, different ministers meet (e.g., ministers of
agriculture, finance). Each country holds the presidency in the Council of the EU on a 6-
month rotating basis.
The European Council
The European Council is the meeting of the heads of states of EU countries. It does not have
legislative powers, but it establishes the European compass by deciding on the EU’s overall
direction and political priorities. It meets 4 times a year, but this may be more frequently
due to urgent issues (e.g., Covid-19 pandemic, financial crisis). Its president has a mandate of
2,5 years, being once-renewable for another 2,5 years. The current president is António
Costa.
The European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the EU. It acts in the general interest of
the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation. It makes sure that laws and policies are
followed up by the member states, companies and persons. If not, it may fine them or
forward them to the European Court of Justice. Its current president is Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ)
The ECJ interprets and enforces EU legislation. It may annul policies when they are deemed
to violate fundamental human rights. Citizens and companies can initiate cases before the
ECJ when not being treated in line with EU legislation. The ECJ consists of one judge per
country, plus eleven advocates general. The ECJ is situated in Luxembourg.
The European Central Bank
The ECB is the monetary institution of the EU. It manages the euro and keeps prices stable
by controlling inflation. It conducts monetary policy by setting the nominal interest rate,
managing the money supply and foreign currency reserves, and lending money to
commercial EU banks. Its president is Christine Lagarde. The ECB is situated in Frankfurt.
Qualified majority voting (QMV)
QMV is the way of decision-making in the Council of the EU. A qualified majority is reached
when at least 55% of member states (15 out of 27) vote in favour and they represent at least
65% of the EU population. It is also called the double majority rule. QMV is used in policy
Lecturers: Ive Marx & Sarah Marchal
Introduction
The exam comprises 8 questions dealing with concepts that must be explained in 3 lines. Of
the 2 open questions, worth 6 points each, one question has a broader scope, the other is
more specific. On the broad open question, multiple answers may be right.
All concepts are integrated in this summary. They were made based on information found on
reliable web sites about the EU. Where considered appropriate for a better understanding of
this course, they are added as separate blocks throughout the main text. The others can be
found at the beginning of the summary. The concepts are of the requisite length for the
exam, considering the space provided.
Inhoudsopgave
Economic and monetary union............................................................................................................................3
Coordination of social security systems...............................................................................................................3
Ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision)........................................................................................................3
The European Parliament.....................................................................................................................................4
The Council of the EU...........................................................................................................................................4
The European Council...........................................................................................................................................4
The European Commission...................................................................................................................................4
The European Court of Justice (ECJ).....................................................................................................................4
The European Central Bank..................................................................................................................................4
Qualified majority voting (QMV)..........................................................................................................................4
Treaty of Rome.....................................................................................................................................................5
Four freedoms......................................................................................................................................................5
The single European market.................................................................................................................................5
The Single European Act.......................................................................................................................................5
The Schengen agreement.....................................................................................................................................5
Stability and Growth Pact (SGP)...........................................................................................................................5
Maastricht Treaty.................................................................................................................................................5
Maastricht rules...................................................................................................................................................6
Tariff.....................................................................................................................................................................6
Non-tariff barrier..................................................................................................................................................6
Comparative advantage in trade.........................................................................................................................6
EU regulation........................................................................................................................................................6
EU directive..........................................................................................................................................................6
EU recommendation.............................................................................................................................................6
,Economic cooperation within the EU.............................................................................................................. 7
Optimal currency area (OCA).............................................................................................................................10
Welfare states within the EU........................................................................................................................ 12
Welfare state......................................................................................................................................................12
Decommodification............................................................................................................................................12
Stratification.......................................................................................................................................................12
The public/private mix........................................................................................................................................13
EU-SILC (the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions).............................................................................14
Employment rate................................................................................................................................................14
Unemployment rate...........................................................................................................................................14
Long-term unemployment rate..........................................................................................................................14
The at-risk-of-poverty threshold (AROP threshold)............................................................................................14
The at-risk-of-poverty rate (AROP rate).............................................................................................................15
Severe material and social deprivation rate (SMSD rate)..................................................................................15
People living in households with very low work intensity..................................................................................15
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE)...................................................................................................15
Upward convergence.........................................................................................................................................16
SURE...................................................................................................................................................................17
NextGenerationEU.............................................................................................................................................17
Europe 2020.......................................................................................................................................................17
Automatic stabilizers..........................................................................................................................................17
Social dumping...................................................................................................................................................18
Social policy making within the EU............................................................................................................... 18
The supremacy of EU law...................................................................................................................................18
The Treaty of Lisbon...........................................................................................................................................18
The conferral principle.......................................................................................................................................18
The subsidiarity principle....................................................................................................................................19
The proportionality principle..............................................................................................................................19
Positive integration............................................................................................................................................19
Negative integration..........................................................................................................................................19
Social subsidiarity...............................................................................................................................................20
Fiscal federalism.................................................................................................................................................20
The social acquis................................................................................................................................................21
The homeland principle......................................................................................................................................22
The workland principle.......................................................................................................................................22
Aggregation of periods.......................................................................................................................................22
Exportability of benefits.....................................................................................................................................22
,Migration within the EU............................................................................................................................... 23
Frontex...............................................................................................................................................................23
Brain drain..........................................................................................................................................................25
Posting................................................................................................................................................................26
The Posted Workers Directive............................................................................................................................26
Third Country Nationals (TCNs)..........................................................................................................................27
The European Labour Authority.........................................................................................................................28
The creeping socialization of the EU............................................................................................................. 28
The European Social Fund..................................................................................................................................28
The Lisbon agenda (2000-2010).........................................................................................................................30
The European Semester.....................................................................................................................................30
The social convergence strategy........................................................................................................................30
The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR).......................................................................................................31
Holding environment..........................................................................................................................................31
Guest lecture in honour of the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration...............................................32
Migration pact....................................................................................................................................................33
The Copenhagen criteria....................................................................................................................................34
Discrimination....................................................................................................................................................34
Flexible solidarity................................................................................................................................................34
Exam questions and answers....................................................................................................................... 34
Economic and monetary union
The EMU has been established by the Maastricht Treaty (1992). The goal of the EMU is to
coordinate and harmonize EU member states in terms of economic, fiscal and monetary
policy. It involves three components: (1) a single currency: the euro; (2) a European Central
Bank, responsible for monetary policy; (3) the SGP rules that ensure budgetary discipline,
maintaining a stable financial system.
Coordination of social security systems
The coordination of social security systems is about the rules that the EU has implemented
in order to harmonize and coordinate the national social security systems of its members.
Examples include the homeland principle, the workland principle, aggregation of periods,
exportability of benefits, and the non-discrimination principle. They are not always
successful. For example, it is the exportability, not the sufficiency of benefits that is
guaranteed.
Ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision)
The ordinary legislative procedure is the main law-making process of the EU. There are
different schemes: for the European Parliament, a simple majority is a majority of the votes
cast, a qualified majority is a majority of the component members. For the Council of the EU,
, a simple majority is a majority of member states, a qualified majority means at least 55% of
the member states representing at least 65% of the EU population vote in favour.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament is the EU’s decision-making body. It has three main roles:
legislative: passing EU laws, together with the Council of the EU; budgetary: establishing the
EU budget, together with the Council of the EU; supervisory: conducting a democratic
scrutiny of EU institutions. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years.
The Council of the EU
The Council of the EU is the meeting of the ministers of EU countries. It is the main decision-
making body of the EU. It decides on the EU budget, together with the European Parliament.
Depending on the issue on the agenda, different ministers meet (e.g., ministers of
agriculture, finance). Each country holds the presidency in the Council of the EU on a 6-
month rotating basis.
The European Council
The European Council is the meeting of the heads of states of EU countries. It does not have
legislative powers, but it establishes the European compass by deciding on the EU’s overall
direction and political priorities. It meets 4 times a year, but this may be more frequently
due to urgent issues (e.g., Covid-19 pandemic, financial crisis). Its president has a mandate of
2,5 years, being once-renewable for another 2,5 years. The current president is António
Costa.
The European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the EU. It acts in the general interest of
the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation. It makes sure that laws and policies are
followed up by the member states, companies and persons. If not, it may fine them or
forward them to the European Court of Justice. Its current president is Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ)
The ECJ interprets and enforces EU legislation. It may annul policies when they are deemed
to violate fundamental human rights. Citizens and companies can initiate cases before the
ECJ when not being treated in line with EU legislation. The ECJ consists of one judge per
country, plus eleven advocates general. The ECJ is situated in Luxembourg.
The European Central Bank
The ECB is the monetary institution of the EU. It manages the euro and keeps prices stable
by controlling inflation. It conducts monetary policy by setting the nominal interest rate,
managing the money supply and foreign currency reserves, and lending money to
commercial EU banks. Its president is Christine Lagarde. The ECB is situated in Frankfurt.
Qualified majority voting (QMV)
QMV is the way of decision-making in the Council of the EU. A qualified majority is reached
when at least 55% of member states (15 out of 27) vote in favour and they represent at least
65% of the EU population. It is also called the double majority rule. QMV is used in policy
