Politics, lecture 1:
What are the four words to describe the EU?
IDEAS (at a more conceptual level, values, history of which the EU is built)
INTERESTS (on a day-to-day basis, we can see the EU is a political system in which different
interests compete and interact)
INSTITUTIONS (the EU consists of a wide variety of institutions)
INDIVIDUALS (the public, politicians, the media)
Ideas
Historical roots
In ideas, we covered the Schuman declaration which came about at the end of WW2.
There were three critical needs at the end of ww2, what were these?
-Economic reconstruction
-Cold war tensions
-Fear of French-German hostility
So times were tense.
What was the council of Europe?
The council of Europe was created in 1949, it was not part of the EU. It was set up to
promote human rights, that was its main focus. If you want to promote human rights, that
would also include democracy and protection of the rule of law in Europe. Those three
reasons are why it came into being. It still exists today and has the exact same flag as the
European Union.
,Which countries were part of the council of Europe?
- Germany
- France
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
In ideas, we covered the Schuman declaration, what was this?
This is the first important idea. It was after the end of WW2. The big question was how can
we make sure that countries structurally cooperate, and we prevent wars? So in 1950,
these six countries signed a treaty to run their heavy industries (coal and steel) under a
common management (the Schuman declaration). That common management, turned in
1952, to the European coal and steel community (The ECSC). This works as the countries
share economic interest and if you look at wars, back then, you needed weapons (tanks
which you need steel for). The two ingredients you need to fight a war of coal and steel, if
you put them under common management it’s going to be very difficult to do that.
What was the Copenhagen criteria?
It was the criteria of what countries have to do to join the EU (accession)
- A functioning market economy (there’s competition, and you need to be able to deal with
that)
- Need to be able to implement effectively the obligations that come with membership (if a
legal change is made, your politicians/lawyers should be able to go through these changes)
- You need to have stable institutions (like a functioning government), that guarantee
democracy, rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
Interests
(Shared and competing)
Within any political system, we have interests, it’s a game of power.
When discussing shared interests, what things come to mind?
The euro – Facilitates travel (there’s no currency exchange). Ideally, this shared currency should
also mean less inflation, so the value of the currency is more stable. Most importantly, it
facilitates a single market (for trade).
The significant enlargement of the EU – The accession of ten new member states, this
demands significant cooperation. The idea was let’s just let them join then try to enforce our
, rules/standards.
When discussing competing interests, what things come to mind?
Countries of meetings - If you’re a member of the European parliament, you usually have your
meetings in Brussels. The French government has made sure that once a month, all members of
the European parliament with their documents, computers, etc. goes to Strasbourg. It’s a huge
waste of money and is a clear example of competing interests. The EU didn’t manage to decide if
the meetings should be held in Strasbourg or Brussels.
Working languages – some say let’s do everything in English, the French say let’s do everything
in French, Germans the same, so the result is there are 24 official EU languages. So, if a
document is published, there are a ton of translators, they need to be documented at least into
English, French and German. But an increasing amount must be translated into 24 different
languages.
Protection of minority rights – some members disagree about the refugee crises – who
controls the borders outside the EU? Who pays for that?
When we discuss interests, we discuss breadth or depth, what are these?
When it comes to the EU, there are different types of co-operations we can take. The breadth of
the EU refers to the geographical size. There have been discussions of including Turkey, Iceland
and Ukraine in the EU. But isn’t it possible for some countries to be part of the EU
geographically? Some have said no, why should we consider that?
Depth refers to no, we need more cooperation with members on more topics. We need increased
cooperation, and one example of that would be European oversight instruments, there was a
financial crisis, and the former president of European commission said we need an oversight
instrument for anything financial happening within the EU borders, so we need an increase of
the mandate of the European Union. We have a CFSP (common foreign and security policy),
although some say it’s not really common, but there’s no such thing as a European army. Some
have argued that it would be convenient to have a European army, although some feel that their
autonomy would be jeopardized (increase of cooperation at EU level). Some feel that we should
have a ‘’United states of Europe’’, we don’t need the autonomy that we have today, we need more
supranationalism. So not national perspectives as a starting point, but an European one. Or we
can also think of depth the other way, we don’t need much depth, just free trade. Anything else,
we don’t need it. Just economic cooperation. Some even say we need fewer member states.
The gist: Let’s do more with fewer countries, or let’s do less with more countries.
What are the four words to describe the EU?
IDEAS (at a more conceptual level, values, history of which the EU is built)
INTERESTS (on a day-to-day basis, we can see the EU is a political system in which different
interests compete and interact)
INSTITUTIONS (the EU consists of a wide variety of institutions)
INDIVIDUALS (the public, politicians, the media)
Ideas
Historical roots
In ideas, we covered the Schuman declaration which came about at the end of WW2.
There were three critical needs at the end of ww2, what were these?
-Economic reconstruction
-Cold war tensions
-Fear of French-German hostility
So times were tense.
What was the council of Europe?
The council of Europe was created in 1949, it was not part of the EU. It was set up to
promote human rights, that was its main focus. If you want to promote human rights, that
would also include democracy and protection of the rule of law in Europe. Those three
reasons are why it came into being. It still exists today and has the exact same flag as the
European Union.
,Which countries were part of the council of Europe?
- Germany
- France
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
In ideas, we covered the Schuman declaration, what was this?
This is the first important idea. It was after the end of WW2. The big question was how can
we make sure that countries structurally cooperate, and we prevent wars? So in 1950,
these six countries signed a treaty to run their heavy industries (coal and steel) under a
common management (the Schuman declaration). That common management, turned in
1952, to the European coal and steel community (The ECSC). This works as the countries
share economic interest and if you look at wars, back then, you needed weapons (tanks
which you need steel for). The two ingredients you need to fight a war of coal and steel, if
you put them under common management it’s going to be very difficult to do that.
What was the Copenhagen criteria?
It was the criteria of what countries have to do to join the EU (accession)
- A functioning market economy (there’s competition, and you need to be able to deal with
that)
- Need to be able to implement effectively the obligations that come with membership (if a
legal change is made, your politicians/lawyers should be able to go through these changes)
- You need to have stable institutions (like a functioning government), that guarantee
democracy, rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
Interests
(Shared and competing)
Within any political system, we have interests, it’s a game of power.
When discussing shared interests, what things come to mind?
The euro – Facilitates travel (there’s no currency exchange). Ideally, this shared currency should
also mean less inflation, so the value of the currency is more stable. Most importantly, it
facilitates a single market (for trade).
The significant enlargement of the EU – The accession of ten new member states, this
demands significant cooperation. The idea was let’s just let them join then try to enforce our
, rules/standards.
When discussing competing interests, what things come to mind?
Countries of meetings - If you’re a member of the European parliament, you usually have your
meetings in Brussels. The French government has made sure that once a month, all members of
the European parliament with their documents, computers, etc. goes to Strasbourg. It’s a huge
waste of money and is a clear example of competing interests. The EU didn’t manage to decide if
the meetings should be held in Strasbourg or Brussels.
Working languages – some say let’s do everything in English, the French say let’s do everything
in French, Germans the same, so the result is there are 24 official EU languages. So, if a
document is published, there are a ton of translators, they need to be documented at least into
English, French and German. But an increasing amount must be translated into 24 different
languages.
Protection of minority rights – some members disagree about the refugee crises – who
controls the borders outside the EU? Who pays for that?
When we discuss interests, we discuss breadth or depth, what are these?
When it comes to the EU, there are different types of co-operations we can take. The breadth of
the EU refers to the geographical size. There have been discussions of including Turkey, Iceland
and Ukraine in the EU. But isn’t it possible for some countries to be part of the EU
geographically? Some have said no, why should we consider that?
Depth refers to no, we need more cooperation with members on more topics. We need increased
cooperation, and one example of that would be European oversight instruments, there was a
financial crisis, and the former president of European commission said we need an oversight
instrument for anything financial happening within the EU borders, so we need an increase of
the mandate of the European Union. We have a CFSP (common foreign and security policy),
although some say it’s not really common, but there’s no such thing as a European army. Some
have argued that it would be convenient to have a European army, although some feel that their
autonomy would be jeopardized (increase of cooperation at EU level). Some feel that we should
have a ‘’United states of Europe’’, we don’t need the autonomy that we have today, we need more
supranationalism. So not national perspectives as a starting point, but an European one. Or we
can also think of depth the other way, we don’t need much depth, just free trade. Anything else,
we don’t need it. Just economic cooperation. Some even say we need fewer member states.
The gist: Let’s do more with fewer countries, or let’s do less with more countries.
