Introduction /Background.
The
European Union is an economic and political union of 27 members states located
primarily in Europe and committed to regional integration. The EU was
established by the Maastricht treaty of 1993 based on the foundations of the
European communities. The EU was developed a single market through a
standardized system of laws which applied in all member states to ensure the
free movement of people, goods, services and capital including the abolition of
passport controls. It maintains a common policy on trade, agriculture, fishery
and regional development. It member countries have adopted a common currency,
the Euro. Consisting the Euro zone.
As a
legal personality, the EU is able to conclude treaties with countries and enact
legislation on justice and home affairs. The EU have devised a common foreign
and security policy, thus developing a limited role in European defense and
foreign policy. Permanent diplomatic mission of the EU are established around
the world with representation at the WTO, G20,UN, Agencies and other major
economic institutions and around of the world. The EU operates through a hybrid
system of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism.
In
certain means, decisions are taken by independent supramational institutions
while in others, they are made through negotiations between member states.
Important institutions of the EU include the Euro commission, the council of
the European union, the European council, the court of justice of he European
union and the European central Bank. The European parliament is elected every
five reats by citizens of member states to whom the citizenship of the EU is
guaranteed over the years. The EU has grown size and strength through enlargement
and in power and influence through the addition of policy means to its reunite.
The last amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU came into force in
2009. this was the Lisbon treaty by virtue of which the character of
fundamental rights of the European union was elevated to a legally binding
status.
History and origin: this
idea of a unified Europe has a long and complicated history behind it. As far
back as the beginning of the modern states system, political actors in Europe
came continued to toy with the idea of a supranational empire. By 14AD, Caeser
Augustus has successfully established a vast Roman Empire with a single
currency and political influence that act across the entire world.
Other
aggressive European politicians like Charle Marge, Alexander the great,
Napoleon Bonarparte, Adolf Hitter, etc. have also desired to create large
European empires through the use of force rather than mutual agreement. The result was countless wars and conflicts which
ed to massive destructions beyond the borders of Europe. The most recent of
these human-imported tragedies were the first and second world wars.
The
agony and destruction which the two wars brought on the continent led to an
entirely new way of thinking and a new search for solton. Other problems thrown
up at the end of the war were the growth of American power which placed her in
position to apply economic, political and military pressure on European. The
revolution in Russia also led to the creation a strong and hostile communism
empire with unprecedented capabilities.
As a
result, the idea of a unified European which has almost become a utopian
concept, began to gain real meaning and focus. While the united states under
the leadership of Woodrons Wilson favoured a new brand of diplomacy built
around the institutions of the league, European voices were strongly raised In
favour of a strictly European solution to the incidence of conflict and wars
that had almost become a permanent feature of European life.
At
the end of world war ii, European leaders began extensive consultations on how
to pool European economic resources together, minimize blind nationalism and
create a new and more peaceful and more prosperous Europe. The first major
success was the Schumann plan which established the European coal and steal
Community, ECSC, in 1951 under the treaty of Paris signed by France, Belgium,
Italy, West Germany, Netherlands and Luxembourg. The brain behind the treaty of
Paris was Robert Schumann, the French Foreign minister.
N
1957 THE Treaty of Rome was signed establishing the European Economic
Community, EEC, was Henri Speak, the Belgian Foreign Minister. Later the same
year, the European Atomic Energy community,
EURA Town, was signed. The aim of Eura town was to promote and supervise
the development of nuclear and atomic energy for peaceful purposes and to
ensure international co-operation for the use of nuclear materials. In 1967,
the merger treaty brought the three communities above under a common umbrella
known as the European community, EC.
In
1973, the community enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. The first
democratic elections into the EU parliament was held in 1979. in 1986 the
European flag began to be used by the community and the single European Act was
signed. The Fall of the Iran curtain was a bossil to EU membership. In 1990,
the former East Germany became part of the community as part of a newly united
Germany in 2002. in 1991, the treaty Establishing the European Union was sign,
and it came into effect in November, 1993. the union Treaty also known as the
Maastricht Treaty marked the final and most ambitious stage in the process of
heating an ecver closer union among the people of European. By 2009, a
total fo 16 countries have adopted the
European zone. In December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty came into form which
reformed many aspects of the EU and created a permanent of the European
council.
THE MAJOR AIMS OF THE EU
The
treaty establishing the European community provided the following as the aims
and objectives of the EC.
1. To
encourage free movement between membership states of goods unimpeded by custom
duties and quantitative restrictions
2. To
encourage free movement of labour, services, and capital
3. Trade
protection against non-member states by way of common eternal tariff and custom
barrier.
4. The
harmonization of laws of member states to ensure that competitive distortions
do not exist.
5. The
harmonization of indirect taxation
6. A
common development policy by member states especially on agriculture and
transportation.
7. To
ensure common co-ordination of economic policies.
8. The
creation of a European social fund
9. The
creation of a European investment bank
10. To
promote trade and industry with third world countries.
The
EU Treaty of 1993 further expanded the responsibilities and functions of the
union to include.
1. The
promotion of an international identity leading possibly to a common defence
policy.
2. The
establishment of a single currency in the contest of economic and monetary
union.
3. The reinforcement
of environmental problems
4. The
creation of a fund to promote cohesion in the context of economic and social
progress including improvement in the quality of life.
5. The
establishment of a common citizenship
6. To
facilitate the free movement of people with security guarantee.
7. The
development of closer co-operation injustice and affairs.
8. An
improvement in the effectiveness of the community institutions.
9. Reinforcing
the powers of the European parliament
10. The
re-affirmation of the principle of respect for human rights and the rule of
law.
THE SUPRA-NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE EU
The
concept of supra-nationalism concerns the relationship between the states and
the international organization that belong to it. The supra-national elements
of the EU are structured to promote collaborative behaviour and minimize the
existence of discord and rancor in the management of the affairs of Europe. The
EU member adopted the structure of supra-nationalism as an institutional
mechanism to promote unity among member states in order to attain their common
objectives, values and aspirations. The following supra-national elements are
found in the European Union.
1. The
decision of the EU are binding on the citizens as well as national governments
of member states. This implies the penetration of the national legal system of
member states by the legal system of the EU.
2. The
organs of the EU notably the commission, the council of ministers and the
European parliament are not entirely dependent on the co-operation of the
participating member states. The independence of the organs of the EU are
maintained in two ways.
a. By
allowing binding decisions of EU to be adopted by majority votes and
b. The
organs of the EU are composed by independent individuals who do not receive
directions from their national governments.
3. The
EU has power to enforce its decision on member states. Governmental organs and
arms of member states like parliament, and judiciary may force their national
governments to fulfill its obligation to the union.
4. The
EU enjoy financial autonomy and some measure of budgetary independence. The EU
do not just depend on dues and contributions from member states enjoy a steady
flow of funds from levies an imports and tariffs from manufactured goods and
other commercial activities within the union.
5. The
EU laws enjoy supremacy over domestic laws. EU Members accepts that the laws
made by EU institutions in Brussesl should have direct effect in the
territories of member states. EU laws are accepted by domestic courts without
the amendment or approval of the national parliament. In the event of conflict
between EU law and domestic law, the EU laws takes precedence over domestic
laws.
6. Unilateral
withdrawal from EU membership is not allowed. Any application for withdrawal
must be approved by the stipulated majority vote of the council the
commissional the parliament.
EU MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA:
To join the EU, a country must meet the
Copenhagen criteria defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European council. The
requirements are:
1. A
state democracy that respects human rights and the rule of laws.
2. A
functioning market economy capable of compelition within the EU.
3. The
acceptance of he obligations of membership including EU laws.
As
at 2010, the EU ha 27 members. There are four official candidate
countries-Croatia. Iceland , Macedonia and Turkey; potential candidates are
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. Four western
European countries have chosen not to join but have partly committed themselves
to the EU economy and regulations. These are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and
Switzerland. The EU also maintain relationships with the European Micro-states
there are Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican through the use of the
Euro and other means of co-operation. Some overseas territories are part of the
EU even through geographically, they are not part of Europe. There are Azores,
the canary Islands, Madeira, Lampedusa, French Guiana, Gvade Loupe, Saint
Barthelemy, Martinique, Reunion, Center and Melina.
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT OF THE EU:
The institutions of the EU operate solely
with in those areas of competence conferred on it by the treaties and according
to the principle of subsidiary which states that action by the EU should only
be taken where an objective cannot be achieved by organs of the EU are as
follows
1. The European Council: The council is
the major decision making body of the EU. It comprises one representative each. From the member states
and meets four times in a year. The council is the supreme authority of the EU.
It is involved in the negotiation of EU treaties changes and defines policy
agenda and strategies. It deals with other matters such as European monetary
system, budget matters and integrated Mediterranean programmes.
2. The European Commission: which acts as
the executives aim of the EU and is responsible for initiating legislation and
the day to day running of the EU. It operates a cabinet government with 27 Commissioners from each member states
for different areas of policy. EU commissioners represents more the interests
of the union rather than that of their home states.
3. The European Parliament: The parliament which sits in Strasbourg
forms half of the EU legislature while the other half is the council of the
European union member of the EU parliament are directly elected by EU citizens
every five years. The council is accountable to the parliament and requires its
approval in several areas of its action. The parliament is inverted with
consultative, advisory and supervisory powers.
4. The council of the European union: also
called the council of ministers, from the other half of the EU’s legislature.
It consists of a government minister from each member state and meets in different
compositions depending on the policy bring Goldessed. In addition to its
legislative functions in relation to the common foreign and security policy.
5. European courts: This is the judicial
branch of the EU with its headquarters in Luxen bamg . It consists of three
courts:
a. the
court of justice,
b. the
general court, and
c. the
European union civil service tribunal
Together they interpreter and apply the treaties and laws
of the EU. The council of justice primarily deals with cases taken by member
states, the institutions and cases referred to it by the courts of member
state. The general court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and
companies directly before the EU courts while the European union civil service
tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the EU and its civil service.
GENERAL ISSUES
(a) Competences:
The member states of the EU retain all powers not Explicitly handed to the
union, as is the cases in most federations. In some area however, the EU does
not have Exclusive competence. It plays a supporting role. The distribution of
competences in various policy area between member state and the union is
divided into three categories Exclusive competence, shared competence and
supporting competence the EU has competence in the following areas:
1. The
customs union.
2. The
establishment of competitive rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market.
3. Monetary
policy for the member states whose cumency is the Euro.
4. The
conservation of marine bio resources under the common fisheries policy.
5. Common
commercial policy.
6. The
internal market.
7. Social
policy for the aspects defined in this treaty.
8. Economic,
social and territorial cohesion.
9. Agriculture
and fisheries, exchanging the conservation of marine bio resource
10. The
environment.
11. Transportation
12. Consumer
protection.
13. Trans-European
net works.
14. Energy
and industry
15. Areas
of freedom, security and justice.
16. Common
safety concerns in public health matters for the aspects defined in the treaty.
17. The
protection and improvement of human health.
18. Cultural
and tourism.
19. Education,
youth, sport and vocational training.
20. Civil
protection and disaster protection.
(b) Eu legal system: The EU is based on a series of treaties.
These are power- giving agreements which set are broad policy goals and
established the institutions with the necessary legal powers include the
ability to event legislation which can directly affect all member states and
their inhabitants under the principle of supremacy. National courts are
required to enfore the treaties that their member states have ratified and are
required to ignore conflicting national laws if both conflicts.
(c) Fundamental Human Rights: According to Article 1 and 2 of the EU
chanter, “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.
Every one has the right to life. No one shall be condemned to death penalty or
executed” 6 the chanter of fundamental rights of the EU was drawn up
in 2010 and by the Lisbon Treaty of 2009. the EU is how legally bonded by the
charter which considers a large array of citizen rights and liberties. The EU
opposes the death penalty and promotes its round wide addition. Abolition of
the death penalty is a condition for EU
membership.
(d) Regulations- Directives-Decisions: The main legal acts of the EU came in three
forms- regulations, directives and decisions.
Regulations- Because law in all member states the
moments they come into force without the requirement for any implementing
measures. They automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.
Directives: This requires member states to achieve certain result while
leaving than discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how
they are implemented are left to the member states.
Decisions; This offers an alternative to the above two modes of legislation.
They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a
particular member state. Regulations, directives and decisions are of equal
legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.
(e) Justices and Home Affairs; Since 1993, the EU has developed its
competencies in areas of justice and home affairs, initially at an
inter-governmental levels, and later by supranationalism. To this end, agencies
have been established that co-ordinate associated nations. These are
1. Europolice
for co-operation of police forces
2. Eurojast
for co-operation but mean prosecutiors
3. Frounfere
for co-operation between border control anthorities
4. Schegen
information system which provides a common data base for police and immigration
authorities. Other means include legislation in areas such as cross-border
crime, extractions, family law, Azylun law and criminal justice. Production
against sexual and nationality discrimination are a long standing in EU
treaties. The EU can now also legislate against discrimination based on race,
religion, disability, age and sexual orientations.
(f) Foreign Relations: Foreign policy co-operation between member
states dates back to the establishment of the community in 1957 when member
states negotiated as a bloc in international trade negotiations under the
common commercial policy. Co-ordination in foreign relations widened in 1970
with the establishment of European political co-operation which created
informal consultation between members in foreign policy matters.
The
Maastricht Treaty established the common European and security policy which
aims to promote both the EU’s own interest and those of the international
community as a whole including the furtherance of international co-operation,
respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The CFSP requires
unanimity among member states on the appropriate policy to follow on any
particular issue. The perceived benefits of full membership are the political
and economic incentives for states desiring EU membership for reforms. This has
encouraged former communish countries of Eastern and central Europe to embark
on series of economic and political reform measures. This influence on the
internal affairs of other countries is generally referred to as soft power as
opposed to military power-hand power.
(g) Military and Defense: The EU does not have an national army.
NATO was largely seen as appropriate and Efficient for defenstive purpose. A
total of 21 members belong to the NATO Alliance while the remaining member
states follow policies of neutrality following the Kosoro war in 1999, the
European council agreed that the union must have the capacity for autonomous
action backed by credible force; the means to decide to we them, and the
readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without
prejudice to the action of NATO 7.
A number of efforts
were made to increase EU’s military capacity. The most concrete result was the
EU is attle groups initiative each of
which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel. EU forces
have been deployed on peace keeping missions from Africa to the former
Yugoslaria and the middle East.
(h) Humanitarian Aid: The European commissions Humanitarian Aid
office ECHO. Provides humanitarian aid to developing countries , in 2006, a
total of E671 million about 48% of its budget went to the African, Carribbean
and pacific countries. Added to the individual contributions of member states.
The EU stands as the largest aid donor in the world.8 EU aid however
have been criticized by Eurosceptics as inefficient, mis-targetted and linked
to economic objectives. Critics have also claimed that EU governments have
infliated the amount they have spent on aid by incorrectly including among
spent on dept relief, foreign students and refuges.
Over
the year, the EU has established a strong relationship with the UN.
Co-operation takes place on a board range of areas- development, climate
change, peace building in conflict zones, humanitarian assistance in crises,
fighting corruption and crime, global health concerns such as Hiv/ Aids, labour
issues and cultural matters. The EU and
its member states also play a crucial role as the major contributor to the UN
system.
PROBLEMS OF THE EU: Today,
the EU Stands as the greatest success story the world has know as far as
regional integration is concerned. It has become a reference point to other
aspiring regional bodies in many parts of the world. Yet despite these huge
successes, the EU is still encumbered by several problems and set backs.
1. The movement towards political union has been problematic
because of what was perceived as direct assault on national sovereignty. The
issue of sovereign control by the union over certain aspects of national life
was central to the reluctance of many countries to join the European community.
Britain and Denmark were in the fore front of countries opposed to excessive
reduction of national sovereignty and the transfer of too much powers of
control to the union level.
2. There were differences on the extent and pace of
unification and collaborative behaviour. Some member states, for instance,
Britain again, wanted a slow and gradual movement from one stage to another in
the integrating process while other countries wanted a more rapid and radical
move In both political and economic matters.
3. As is common in all integrated unions there is often the
problem of distrust by members responding the intentions of others, this
feeling of distrust promotes discord and dissension rather than unity among members. When distrust
occurs, it impedes progress. In Europe, there remain an old and latent
distrust, even fear of Germany that dates back centuries. Germany is seen as a
very aggressive nation which may from time to time seek to dominate or improve
its will in the rest of Europe through unorthodox means as has happened so many
times in the past.
4. America also poses a threat in some specific ways to a
unified Europe. As a dominant power in global politics, America exerts
influence in Europe. This pressure, at times, makes it impossible for Europe to
act uniformly. eg relations with the soviet system and the middle east. Further
more, US dominance in the western alliances, both military and economic have
often understood the cohesiveness, of European action.
5. American’s traditional “special relationship” with creat
Britain has not worked in the over all interest of the EU. When issues are
joined, Britain is often constrained to stand behind the US rather than keep
faith with EU positions. In 2003, the EU position was that genuine evidence
must be provided about Suddan Hussen’s possession of nuclear weapons before
military moves could be made against him. Britain took the US view and went to
war without evidence.
6. Another problem of the EU on the economic front is
specifications which places barriers to European maked integration.
Specifications are established either by law or by standard institutes in order
to guarantee the consumer the safety and quality of the producer.
7. Governments of member states of the EU distort trade by
giving subsidies to their firms. Subsidies increase trade flow by promoting
exports which could not be competitive. In the EU, subsidies are usually aimed
at protecting firms against competitive trade relations from the US, Japan and
other EU countries with more developed technology.
8. Inequality: The EU is a union of unequal members. In
political economic, military and diplomatic matters, there is great disparity.
As such, the big members are bound to take advantage of their weight in several
issues while on others, they are weighed down by the incapacitation of the
smaller members all of whom must be carried along if the group must fulfil its
specific and general objectives.