College 1: H1-2: Introduction
Joint decision making and transfer of policy authority between:
- EU
- National level
- Regional/local level
What does the EU do:
- Single market (leglislation) (movement of goods, services, people)
- Euro
- Foreign policy & military cooperation
The production of eu laws and legislation is slowing down since 2017. Estitmates
of % EU impact in total of rules vary 20-70%. Rules at each level need to be
aligned to each other.
The EU does not directly enforce is own laws
The EU steers and constrains member states and vice versa
The EU does checks the member states on implementation. They rely on the
information given by the member states.
How the EU matters:
An identity/ control crisis: national governments are trying to get control back
from the EU governemnt. A consquence of the current decision making a
increasing role of the EU parlement. The democratic issue is the lower turnout of
35%.
The challenge is how much does it really matter?
The EU is designed not to be a democray, but it turned out to be. What is the EU?
1. An international organization or a state
An international organization has member states. But also a state
because of the citizenship. A state has 5 key features: government,
population, people, territory and sovereignty.
2. Federal system vs confederal system
Every member state has its own constitution. Members may withdraw
from the EU. Surpremacy of EU law does not exist in all policy areas.
Federalism may refer to different things.
3. Powerhouse vs lame duck
Supranational decision powers, but not in all policy areas. Finds it
difficult to make politically salient descisions, therefore risk-averse
descision-making. Difficult to move policies away from status quo.
4. Democratic vs technocratic
European Parlement limited through media attention. National politics
dominate public debate. European Council attentive of national
interests. System depends on interaction between EU and member
states.
5. Unique or not?
, The EU is unique in the features that it has. The policy theories are not
unique but used everywhere.
1. It is a little bit of both all the time but mostly a Own political system.
Because of the integration, reach, law and policy of the EU
The EU as a federal system: a federation is a system of administration
involving two or more levels of government with autonomous power. This is the
opposite of a unitary state. There are 3 forms of federalism:
1. Dual federalism: national and local levels are distinct from each other.
2. Cooperative federalism: layers are intermingled and its difficult to see
whom is responsible.
3. Picket fence federalism: national and local levels have their own subject of
authority
The EU as a confederation: federalism with more loose form of association.
Sovereign states with their own responsibility over citizens without the
interference of the national government. Or discussion see pg 36. The EU is not a
confederation because of 5 reasons:
1. Confederation is a weak form of federation
2. It is never formally declared
3. Confederalism pleases no one (pro and anti EU)’
4. There are no formal models of confederalism
5. Europe has always lived with states, and a confederation is not a state.
So it is not a federation or a confederation but rather a political union with both
elements
Cooperation
To cooperate states create international organizations (IO’s) in 2 categories:
1. International nongovernmental organizations (NGO’s) like Greenpeace,
Red Cross
2. Intergovernmental organizations (IO’s) like NATO, WTO
States also create Regional Integration Association (RIA) for collective economic
cooperation. The EU was in the beginning a cooperation between a few nations in
the form of federalism. But this needed strong institutions to prevail to much
power of state governments like the French. This led to functionalism: federalism
without the interference of states about things that don’t concern each other.
The ECSC.
Than economic integration led to more political integration neofuctionalism
In this way agencies could work together and the role of the governments was
only to control the regional institutions. This form of working together and the
success (integrative potential) of it depends on:
- Economic equality
- Shared values of the political top
- The presence of group activity
- The capacity of member states to respond to public demands.
, But this neofunctionalism did not lead to showing the national preferences in political action. This led
to the idea of intergovernmentalism. This is in contrast to supranationalism because there was no
meeting place for the states. A combination of these two led to liberal intergovernmentalism where
domestic politics and governments make decision together which they can sell in their own country.
College 2: H4-7: History
After WWII there was a need for support for the smaller nations to protect itself
from larger nations. There were 3 urgent priorities for European states:
1. Economic reconstruction
2. Between the battlefield between US and Sovjet Union
3. Cooling down nationalism
The first attempt was the Bretton Woods system: currencies, free trade, non-
discrimination etc. But also the IMF and World Bank. The marshall plans lead to
the first coorperation: organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).
1946-49: External threats and the founding of NATO
1945-1951: runup to the ECSC (coal and steel community).
Occupation of Germany by allied forces
Soviet control over East-Europe
Reconstruction of Europe
Pushes for european integration:
Marshall Plan: aid to EU cooperation
Fear of communist revolts in Italy en Germany
Germany and Italy looked for ways to re-gain international legitimacy
Interdepence as solution to inter-states rivalries, fits earlier idea of
ferderalisation
1951: European Coal and Steel community (ECSC)
ECSC starts with 6 member states: NL, Belgium, luxemburg, germany,
france, italy.
Intergovernmental cooperation
Council of Europe (Human Rights)
The ECSC was revolutionary because of:
- Independent from the member states
- Very far reaching authority
- Law is enforced by court
- Consists of high authority, council of ministers, assembly, court of justice
(for tasks see slides)
1950-56: European Defence Community (EDC). Western European Union
(WEU) and European Political Community (EPC).
Joint decision making and transfer of policy authority between:
- EU
- National level
- Regional/local level
What does the EU do:
- Single market (leglislation) (movement of goods, services, people)
- Euro
- Foreign policy & military cooperation
The production of eu laws and legislation is slowing down since 2017. Estitmates
of % EU impact in total of rules vary 20-70%. Rules at each level need to be
aligned to each other.
The EU does not directly enforce is own laws
The EU steers and constrains member states and vice versa
The EU does checks the member states on implementation. They rely on the
information given by the member states.
How the EU matters:
An identity/ control crisis: national governments are trying to get control back
from the EU governemnt. A consquence of the current decision making a
increasing role of the EU parlement. The democratic issue is the lower turnout of
35%.
The challenge is how much does it really matter?
The EU is designed not to be a democray, but it turned out to be. What is the EU?
1. An international organization or a state
An international organization has member states. But also a state
because of the citizenship. A state has 5 key features: government,
population, people, territory and sovereignty.
2. Federal system vs confederal system
Every member state has its own constitution. Members may withdraw
from the EU. Surpremacy of EU law does not exist in all policy areas.
Federalism may refer to different things.
3. Powerhouse vs lame duck
Supranational decision powers, but not in all policy areas. Finds it
difficult to make politically salient descisions, therefore risk-averse
descision-making. Difficult to move policies away from status quo.
4. Democratic vs technocratic
European Parlement limited through media attention. National politics
dominate public debate. European Council attentive of national
interests. System depends on interaction between EU and member
states.
5. Unique or not?
, The EU is unique in the features that it has. The policy theories are not
unique but used everywhere.
1. It is a little bit of both all the time but mostly a Own political system.
Because of the integration, reach, law and policy of the EU
The EU as a federal system: a federation is a system of administration
involving two or more levels of government with autonomous power. This is the
opposite of a unitary state. There are 3 forms of federalism:
1. Dual federalism: national and local levels are distinct from each other.
2. Cooperative federalism: layers are intermingled and its difficult to see
whom is responsible.
3. Picket fence federalism: national and local levels have their own subject of
authority
The EU as a confederation: federalism with more loose form of association.
Sovereign states with their own responsibility over citizens without the
interference of the national government. Or discussion see pg 36. The EU is not a
confederation because of 5 reasons:
1. Confederation is a weak form of federation
2. It is never formally declared
3. Confederalism pleases no one (pro and anti EU)’
4. There are no formal models of confederalism
5. Europe has always lived with states, and a confederation is not a state.
So it is not a federation or a confederation but rather a political union with both
elements
Cooperation
To cooperate states create international organizations (IO’s) in 2 categories:
1. International nongovernmental organizations (NGO’s) like Greenpeace,
Red Cross
2. Intergovernmental organizations (IO’s) like NATO, WTO
States also create Regional Integration Association (RIA) for collective economic
cooperation. The EU was in the beginning a cooperation between a few nations in
the form of federalism. But this needed strong institutions to prevail to much
power of state governments like the French. This led to functionalism: federalism
without the interference of states about things that don’t concern each other.
The ECSC.
Than economic integration led to more political integration neofuctionalism
In this way agencies could work together and the role of the governments was
only to control the regional institutions. This form of working together and the
success (integrative potential) of it depends on:
- Economic equality
- Shared values of the political top
- The presence of group activity
- The capacity of member states to respond to public demands.
, But this neofunctionalism did not lead to showing the national preferences in political action. This led
to the idea of intergovernmentalism. This is in contrast to supranationalism because there was no
meeting place for the states. A combination of these two led to liberal intergovernmentalism where
domestic politics and governments make decision together which they can sell in their own country.
College 2: H4-7: History
After WWII there was a need for support for the smaller nations to protect itself
from larger nations. There were 3 urgent priorities for European states:
1. Economic reconstruction
2. Between the battlefield between US and Sovjet Union
3. Cooling down nationalism
The first attempt was the Bretton Woods system: currencies, free trade, non-
discrimination etc. But also the IMF and World Bank. The marshall plans lead to
the first coorperation: organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).
1946-49: External threats and the founding of NATO
1945-1951: runup to the ECSC (coal and steel community).
Occupation of Germany by allied forces
Soviet control over East-Europe
Reconstruction of Europe
Pushes for european integration:
Marshall Plan: aid to EU cooperation
Fear of communist revolts in Italy en Germany
Germany and Italy looked for ways to re-gain international legitimacy
Interdepence as solution to inter-states rivalries, fits earlier idea of
ferderalisation
1951: European Coal and Steel community (ECSC)
ECSC starts with 6 member states: NL, Belgium, luxemburg, germany,
france, italy.
Intergovernmental cooperation
Council of Europe (Human Rights)
The ECSC was revolutionary because of:
- Independent from the member states
- Very far reaching authority
- Law is enforced by court
- Consists of high authority, council of ministers, assembly, court of justice
(for tasks see slides)
1950-56: European Defence Community (EDC). Western European Union
(WEU) and European Political Community (EPC).
