Volledige samenvatting European Union Politcs & Policy

EU Politics and Policy: hoorcolleges

Hoorcollege 1

What is the European Union?
 Nation? = a community whose members identify with eachother based on shared
language, ancestry, history, culture, territory, religions, myths and symbols  vaak een
bepaalde regio.

 State = a legal and political arrangement through wich all the large-scale political
communities are organized, legitimacy, territory and sovereignty.
 Westphalian system; betekent ‘staatssoevereiniteit’.

Een staat en natie gaan dus niet altijd samen met elkaar; zo is Friesland een natie, maar geen
staat.

 Federation = a system of administration involving two or more levels of government with
autonomous powers and responsibilities. Dus centrale autoriteit,
maar ook substaten die autoriteit hebben (Duitsland).
o Monnet-method: the creation of the European Coal and
Steel Community as a first step towards more integration
on other areas, with the eventual achievement of a
European federation  grondstoffen voor oorlog voeren
waren in gezamenlijk bezit. Monnet wou dus wel een
soort van federatie.
o Altiero Spinelli, critism: there is no political centre or
leadership to push this ‘method’ along in the EU. All structure, all kind of
organisations but there is no agency possible. So there is no federation possible.

Confederatie = a group of sovereign states with a central authority deriving
its authority from those states, and citizins linked to the central authority
through the states in which they live. Burgers geven dus legitimiteit aan de
centrale autoriteit.

International organisation = a body set up to promote cooperation
between or among states, based on the principles of voluntary cooperation,
communal management and shared interests.

De Europese Unie heeft kenmerken van alle vormen; natie, staat, federatie, con-federatie.

The EU as a political system = Multi-level government: Government  Governance.
 EU government = idea that EU institutions constitute a level of authority above that of the
member states, and that they have powers to make laws and drive the political agenda.
 EU 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 influece = breder.

The EU 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 lgeal framework.
- A political game  veel mensen willen invloed; strijd om macht en invloed.




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,Why did EU countries decided to integrate?
 WO 1  al opvatting van geen oorlog meer willen, maar:
 Great Depression in Duitsland; oorspong van WO 1.
 Na WO II  geen oorlog meer!
o Dus Duitsland niet heeeel zwaar straffen; maar landen afhankelijk maken van
elkaar (EGKS).
 1947: Marhsallplan.
 1950: Schumanplan.
 1952: Treaty of Paris (EGKS)
 Enzovoorts, enzovoorts  1993: Treaty of Maastricht (Euro).
 Dus steeds verdere uitbreiding van de EGKS.
Resultaat:
 27 staten.
 24 talen.
 500 miljoen inwoners.
 Europese instanties (Commissie, Parlement, Raad van Ministers…).
 Maar ook nog verschillen:
o Niet ieder land gebruikt de Euro.
o Niet ieder Europees land is lid (Noorwegen, Zwisterland).

Differentiated intergration move forward with some member states, give opt-outs to other
member states.
 Sweden-Denmark-(United Kingdom).

Reasons for this:
 Public opinion  from permissive consensus to constraining dissensus.
 More countries joining the EU, more diversity between policy and politics of
countries within the EU, more need for differentiation.
 One-size-fits-all policy solutions do not work anymore.

Slogan EU = United In Diversity



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, Why do countries want to disintegrate?
 Take back control: borders & migration.
 Single market yes; free movement of people no.
 Less bureaucracy, no spending money on EU projects a member state is not ‘benefetting
from’.
 Reconnecting with ‘the people’.

But the EU is resilient:
A history of crises:
 WO I, WO II, Cold War.
 Various financial, monetary and economic crises.
 Inefficient and expensive policies (e.g. CAP)
 War in Yugoslavia, Ukraine crisis
 European Convention, failed referenda
 Demographic crisis
 Refugee crisis
 Brexit
 Climate Change
 Rise of Eurosceptic political parties in member
 states

Explaining continuing integration: theories:
 Neo-functionalism (Ernst B. Haas).
o Regional integration = “political actors in several distinct national settings are
persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations, and political activities toward a
new center, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the pre-
existing national states.
 Result: world peace.
o E.B. Haas (1958): in addition to the cooperation that would automatically arise
from functional links (=functionalism), integration would need to be deliberately
encouraged by political and economic actors pursuing self-interest (=
‘neo-’functionalism).
 Spilover.
 Liberal intergovernmentalism (Andrew Moravcisk).
o S. Hoffmann (1965): national interests play a major role in European integration,
spillover only occurs in low politics (e.g. agriculture, trade) but not in high politics
(e.g foreign policy).
o A. Milward (1984): national self-interest, national governments and national
bureaucrats are key actors in the process of European integration =
intergovernmentalism.
o A. Moravcsik (1993, 1998): the position of member states’ governments are
decided at the domestic level, and European integration then moves forward as a
result of bargains reached among those governments negotiating at the European
level = two-level game.
 Historical institutionalism (Paul Pierson).


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