Polina Bondur 2024-2025
The European Union
Politics and Policies
Jonathan Olsen 2021
1
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
Table of contents
Different views about ‘being European’ ………………………………… 4
Different views on EU democracy ……………………………………… 4
Chapter 1 - What is the EU? ……………………………... 4
Chapter overview ………………………………………………………... 4
The role of the state ……………………………………………………… 5
How did the EU evolve? ………………………………………………… 8
What has the EU become? ………………………………………………. 11
Questions to consider ……………………………………………………. 12
Chapter 5 - The European Commission …………………. 13
Chapter overview ……………………………………………………… 13
Evolution ………………………………………………………….. ……. 14
Structure …………………………………………………………………. 15
How the Commission works …………………………………………….. 17
Questions to consider ……………………………………………………. 18
Chapter 6 - The Council of Ministers & The European Council 19
Chapter overview 19
Evolution of the Council of Ministers 20
Structure of the Council of Ministers 21
How the Council of Ministers works 23
Evolution of the European Council 24
Structure of the European Council 25
How the European Council works 26
Conclusions 27
Questions to consider 27
Chapter 7 - The European Parliament 28
Chapter overview 28
Evolution 29
Functioning 30
Structure 31
How the Parliament works 35
Questions to consider 36
Chapter 8 - The Court of Justice of the EU 37
Chapter overview 37
Evolution 37
Structure 38
Source of EU law 39
How the Court works 40
Questions to consider
42
2
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
Chapter 9 - The European Central Bank and other EU bodies and Agencies 42
Chapter overview 42
Financial institutions 42
Agencies of the EU 45
Other EU bodies 47
Institutional balance 48
Questions to consider 49
Chapter 13 - Agricultural and Environmental Policy 50
Chapter overview 50
Agricultural policy 50
Environmental policy 52
Questions to consider 53
Chapter 15 - Security and Global Power 54
Chapter overview 54
Toward a Common Foreign Policy 54
Toward a Common Security Policy 55
Trade Policy and Soft Power 56
Questions to consider 57
Chapter 16 - The EU and the World 58
Chapter overview 58
The Transatlantic Relationship 58
Explaining US-EU differences 60
Enlargement and the EU’s neighborhood 61
The EU’s rocky relationship with Russia 62
Relationship with BRIC countries 63
The EU’s relationship with the Global South 64
Questions to consider 66
3
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
Introduction to the topic ……………………
Different views about ‘being European’ …………………………………
● European citizenship =/= european identity
● Gevoel europese identiteit stijgt wel (bv. Polen)
● Not everywhere people feel the same about the EU (diversity)
Different views on EU democracy ………………………………………
● We need to find a way to include everyone in the democratic process
Part 1: History ……………………………...
Chapter 1 - What is the EU? ……………………………...
Chapter overview ………………………………………………………...
EU: unique political arrangement
● Much more than a conventional international organization
● Less than a European superstate
● For some: an actor
● For others: sui generis = something very particular, the only 1 of its kind, not comparable to
anything else
● EU as a state (although no one would claim that)
● Initially: debate dominated by explanations generated by the subdiscipline of international
relations (IR)
➢ EU as an international organization
➔ Driven by decisions among governments of member states
➔ European institutions: less important than national institutions
● Now: EU as a political system in its own right
● There is no single, generally accepted theoretical framework
➢ 2 broad categories: theories of how the EU evolved & theories of what it has become
Conclusions
● The EU: a distinct ‘political arrangement that defies easy categorization’
● Acknowledge that talking about ‘the EU’ requires nuance:
4
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
➢ Consider what and who is (not) meant by ‘the EU’
➢ Consider that the EU means different things to different people (across Europe and
beyond)
● The EU = 27 Member States
● The EU = various EU institutions/actors
● Europe ≠ European Union
The role of the state ………………………………………………………
● How we approach the EU depends on how we view the role of the state
● State = legal and physical entity that:
1. Operates within a fixed and populated territory
2. Has authority over that territory
3. Is legally and politically independent
4. Recognized by its people and other states
● States have many critics
➢ Accused of dividing humans
➢ Encourage people to place sectional interests above the broader interests of humanity
➢ Identification with states: often associated with nationalism
➔ But: few states coincide with nations & most European states consist of multiple
national groups
➔ Can lead to internal instability, belief in a national superiority, ethnocentrism,
racism, genocide, war within & between states
➔ Americans: less difficulties with nationalism than Europeans
❖ Historically: more stable & united
● Criticism contributed to the growth of international cooperation in 20th century (particularly after
1945)
➢ International organizations (IOs) & much more
➢ IOs include: intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) (representatives of national
governments & promote voluntary cooperation among those governments) &
international nongovernmental organizations (individuals or representatives of private
associations rather than states)
➔ UN is an IGO
● International organizations
➢ = bodies that promote voluntary cooperation & coordination between or among their
members but have neither autonomous powers nor the authority to impose their rulings
on their members
● Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)
➢ = “organizations with at least 3 state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as
well as regular meetings & budgets”
5
The European Union
Politics and Policies
Jonathan Olsen 2021
1
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
Table of contents
Different views about ‘being European’ ………………………………… 4
Different views on EU democracy ……………………………………… 4
Chapter 1 - What is the EU? ……………………………... 4
Chapter overview ………………………………………………………... 4
The role of the state ……………………………………………………… 5
How did the EU evolve? ………………………………………………… 8
What has the EU become? ………………………………………………. 11
Questions to consider ……………………………………………………. 12
Chapter 5 - The European Commission …………………. 13
Chapter overview ……………………………………………………… 13
Evolution ………………………………………………………….. ……. 14
Structure …………………………………………………………………. 15
How the Commission works …………………………………………….. 17
Questions to consider ……………………………………………………. 18
Chapter 6 - The Council of Ministers & The European Council 19
Chapter overview 19
Evolution of the Council of Ministers 20
Structure of the Council of Ministers 21
How the Council of Ministers works 23
Evolution of the European Council 24
Structure of the European Council 25
How the European Council works 26
Conclusions 27
Questions to consider 27
Chapter 7 - The European Parliament 28
Chapter overview 28
Evolution 29
Functioning 30
Structure 31
How the Parliament works 35
Questions to consider 36
Chapter 8 - The Court of Justice of the EU 37
Chapter overview 37
Evolution 37
Structure 38
Source of EU law 39
How the Court works 40
Questions to consider
42
2
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
Chapter 9 - The European Central Bank and other EU bodies and Agencies 42
Chapter overview 42
Financial institutions 42
Agencies of the EU 45
Other EU bodies 47
Institutional balance 48
Questions to consider 49
Chapter 13 - Agricultural and Environmental Policy 50
Chapter overview 50
Agricultural policy 50
Environmental policy 52
Questions to consider 53
Chapter 15 - Security and Global Power 54
Chapter overview 54
Toward a Common Foreign Policy 54
Toward a Common Security Policy 55
Trade Policy and Soft Power 56
Questions to consider 57
Chapter 16 - The EU and the World 58
Chapter overview 58
The Transatlantic Relationship 58
Explaining US-EU differences 60
Enlargement and the EU’s neighborhood 61
The EU’s rocky relationship with Russia 62
Relationship with BRIC countries 63
The EU’s relationship with the Global South 64
Questions to consider 66
3
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
Introduction to the topic ……………………
Different views about ‘being European’ …………………………………
● European citizenship =/= european identity
● Gevoel europese identiteit stijgt wel (bv. Polen)
● Not everywhere people feel the same about the EU (diversity)
Different views on EU democracy ………………………………………
● We need to find a way to include everyone in the democratic process
Part 1: History ……………………………...
Chapter 1 - What is the EU? ……………………………...
Chapter overview ………………………………………………………...
EU: unique political arrangement
● Much more than a conventional international organization
● Less than a European superstate
● For some: an actor
● For others: sui generis = something very particular, the only 1 of its kind, not comparable to
anything else
● EU as a state (although no one would claim that)
● Initially: debate dominated by explanations generated by the subdiscipline of international
relations (IR)
➢ EU as an international organization
➔ Driven by decisions among governments of member states
➔ European institutions: less important than national institutions
● Now: EU as a political system in its own right
● There is no single, generally accepted theoretical framework
➢ 2 broad categories: theories of how the EU evolved & theories of what it has become
Conclusions
● The EU: a distinct ‘political arrangement that defies easy categorization’
● Acknowledge that talking about ‘the EU’ requires nuance:
4
, Polina Bondur 2024-2025
➢ Consider what and who is (not) meant by ‘the EU’
➢ Consider that the EU means different things to different people (across Europe and
beyond)
● The EU = 27 Member States
● The EU = various EU institutions/actors
● Europe ≠ European Union
The role of the state ………………………………………………………
● How we approach the EU depends on how we view the role of the state
● State = legal and physical entity that:
1. Operates within a fixed and populated territory
2. Has authority over that territory
3. Is legally and politically independent
4. Recognized by its people and other states
● States have many critics
➢ Accused of dividing humans
➢ Encourage people to place sectional interests above the broader interests of humanity
➢ Identification with states: often associated with nationalism
➔ But: few states coincide with nations & most European states consist of multiple
national groups
➔ Can lead to internal instability, belief in a national superiority, ethnocentrism,
racism, genocide, war within & between states
➔ Americans: less difficulties with nationalism than Europeans
❖ Historically: more stable & united
● Criticism contributed to the growth of international cooperation in 20th century (particularly after
1945)
➢ International organizations (IOs) & much more
➢ IOs include: intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) (representatives of national
governments & promote voluntary cooperation among those governments) &
international nongovernmental organizations (individuals or representatives of private
associations rather than states)
➔ UN is an IGO
● International organizations
➢ = bodies that promote voluntary cooperation & coordination between or among their
members but have neither autonomous powers nor the authority to impose their rulings
on their members
● Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)
➢ = “organizations with at least 3 state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as
well as regular meetings & budgets”
5
