European Union

Unit Outline I
EUROPEAN UNION

Chapter 7: The European Union Outline

1) Introductory Anecdote: The EMU, aka The Euro

2) Thinking about the EU

a) What’s in a Name?

b) Who’s In? Who’s Out?

c) Three Pillars: economics, justice, and foreign relations

d) Key Questions

i) What are the origins of the EU?

ii) What is its political culture and how does it shape participation?

iii) What are the main decision-making institutions?

iv) What is its public policy?

v) How does that feed back to the European people?

3) The Evolution of the EU

a) Not such a new idea

b) European Coal and Steel Community

c) Creating the Common Market

i) growth

i) Common Agricultural Policy

iii) European Monetary System

iv) Council of Permanent Representatives (COREPRER)

4) Political Culture and Participation in the EU

a) Few people identify themselves first as European

b) Key EU organizations are still superficial

c) Democratic deficit

d) Lack of common language

e) The Single European Act

f) The Maastricht Treaty

g) The Treaty of Amsterdam

h) The Treaty of Nice

5) The European State?

a) The Commission

b) The Council

i) General Affairs Council

ii) European Council

iii) COREPRER

iv) Qaulified voting majority

c) The European Court of Justice

d) The European Parliament

e) The Complexities of EU Decision Making

f) Deepening and Broadening

g) The EU and National Sovereignty

6) Public Policy in the EU

a) The Internal Market

b) The Common Agricultural Policy

c) Monetary Union

d) Political Union

7) Feedback and the Future of the EU

8) Balance Sheet

Chapter 7 Commentary

The basic concept of the European Union is probably somewhat familiar to most students. It’s easily grasped. They often will see the E.U. as a United States-like organization. Indeed many journalistic descriptions of the E.U. will refer, with various levels of accuracy, to the pre-Constitutional government in the U.S, the Confederation. However, the details of the European reality may be more difficult, if only because of their unfamiliarity. While the popular demands for sovereignty of the newly independent states in the 18th century United States was heartily felt, the sovereignty of European nations, many dating back hundreds of years, is on a very different scale. Thus the arrangements of “union” are likely to be quite different and more complex. In addition, some values of European political cultures are notably different than the values held in the U.S.A. For instance, try arguing in favor of the Second Amendment in most European countries. If the structural details of union are important, they are hardly the only things that have to be considered. Your students ought to recognize that the case study of the European Union fits precisely with one of the major themes of this text: global limitations on the power of states. This topic is the place to look for the reasoning some politicians make for voluntarily limiting state power and other politicans use for resisting those limitations. Since most limitations on the powers of states come about because of circumstances states cannot resist, students ought to be curious about why nation states would choose to limit their powers. If they aren’t curious, perhaps you encourage such curiosity. If, in earlier chapters, you’ve raised questions about the “shape” and impact of political cultures, then when considering the European Union, it’s only natural to try to identify the beginnings of a political culture in a supranational organization. The best ways to do this are probably to look at the developing forms of political participation as well as controversies, not about policies themselves, but about the propriety of policy making. Finally, it will be fruitful to examine policy decisions and the reactions to them. In doing so, your students should begin to see what direction the E.U. is taking and whether that direction leads toward the stated goals of the member nations. In all of these endeavors, the World Wide Web site of the European Union (found at http://europa.eu.int) will be a valuable resource.

Important Knowledge:

1. How is the European Parliament apportioned?

2. What are the legislative powers of the European Parliament?

3. What is the distribution of parties in the Parliament at present?

4. When is the next (or was the last) election for the European Parliament?

5. What ministers met most recently for the E.U. Council?

6. Why don’t the same ministers meet every time as the Council?

7. How can the Council have legislative powers?

8. What does it mean to have a “qualified majority” on the Council?

9. How does someone get to be a Commissioner of the E.U.?

10. After looking at the biographies of several of the Commissioners, what generalizations would you make about the qualifications needed to become a Commissioner?

11. How is the membership of the Court of Justice determined?

12. What kind of jurisdictions does the Court of Justice have?

13. Why is the Court of Auditors called a court?

14. What is the most recent report released by the Court of Auditors?

15. Since the Council, the Commission, and the European Parliament meet to deal with economic and social issues, why does the Economic and Social Committee exist?

16. Since nations and citizens are represented in the various organs of the E.U., what was the intent of organizing the Committee of the Regions?

17. Where in the E.U. system are citizens’ rights enforced?

18. Where are E.U. citizens’ rights constitutionally defined?

19. What are the three kinds of rights, and why does the E.U. make distinctions among them?

20. What individual rights of citizens in the U.S.A. are missing from the defined rights in the E.U.?

21. What rights are added to the list of rights Americans accept as normal?

22. What is the difference in powers or functions of the European Investment Bank and the European Central Bank?

23. What is the European Ombudsman?

	Unit Outline I EUROPEAN UNION

	Chapter 7: The European Union Outline 1) Introductory Anecdote: The EMU, aka The Euro 2) Thinking about the EU a) What’s in a Name? b) Who’s In? Who’s Out? c) Three Pillars: economics, justice, and foreign relations d) Key Questions i) What are the origins of the EU? ii) What is its political culture and how does it shape participation? iii) What are the main decision-making institutions? iv) What is its public policy? v) How does that feed back to the European people? 3) The Evolution of the EU a) Not such a new idea b) European Coal and Steel Community c) Creating the Common Market i) growth i) Common Agricultural Policy iii) European Monetary System iv) Council of Permanent Representatives (COREPRER) 4) Political Culture and Participation in the EU a) Few people identify themselves first as European b) Key EU organizations are still superficial c) Democratic deficit d) Lack of common language e) The Single European Act f) The Maastricht Treaty g) The Treaty of Amsterdam h) The Treaty of Nice 5) The European State? a) The Commission b) The Council i) General Affairs Council ii) European Council iii) COREPRER iv) Qaulified voting majority c) The European Court of Justice d) The European Parliament e) The Complexities of EU Decision Making f) Deepening and Broadening g) The EU and National Sovereignty 6) Public Policy in the EU a) The Internal Market b) The Common Agricultural Policy c) Monetary Union d) Political Union 7) Feedback and the Future of the EU 8) Balance Sheet Chapter 7 Commentary The basic concept of the European Union is probably somewhat familiar to most students. It’s easily grasped. They often will see the E.U. as a United States-like organization. Indeed many journalistic descriptions of the E.U. will refer, with various levels of accuracy, to the pre-Constitutional government in the U.S, the Confederation. However, the details of the European reality may be more difficult, if only because of their unfamiliarity. While the popular demands for sovereignty of the newly independent states in the 18th century United States was heartily felt, the sovereignty of European nations, many dating back hundreds of years, is on a very different scale. Thus the arrangements of “union” are likely to be quite different and more complex. In addition, some values of European political cultures are notably different than the values held in the U.S.A. For instance, try arguing in favor of the Second Amendment in most European countries. If the structural details of union are important, they are hardly the only things that have to be considered. Your students ought to recognize that the case study of the European Union fits precisely with one of the major themes of this text: global limitations on the power of states. This topic is the place to look for the reasoning some politicians make for voluntarily limiting state power and other politicans use for resisting those limitations. Since most limitations on the powers of states come about because of circumstances states cannot resist, students ought to be curious about why nation states would choose to limit their powers. If they aren’t curious, perhaps you encourage such curiosity. If, in earlier chapters, you’ve raised questions about the “shape” and impact of political cultures, then when considering the European Union, it’s only natural to try to identify the beginnings of a political culture in a supranational organization. The best ways to do this are probably to look at the developing forms of political participation as well as controversies, not about policies themselves, but about the propriety of policy making. Finally, it will be fruitful to examine policy decisions and the reactions to them. In doing so, your students should begin to see what direction the E.U. is taking and whether that direction leads toward the stated goals of the member nations. In all of these endeavors, the World Wide Web site of the European Union (found at http://europa.eu.int) will be a valuable resource. Important Knowledge: 1. How is the European Parliament apportioned? 2. What are the legislative powers of the European Parliament? 3. What is the distribution of parties in the Parliament at present? 4. When is the next (or was the last) election for the European Parliament? 5. What ministers met most recently for the E.U. Council? 6. Why don’t the same ministers meet every time as the Council? 7. How can the Council have legislative powers? 8. What does it mean to have a “qualified majority” on the Council? 9. How does someone get to be a Commissioner of the E.U.? 10. After looking at the biographies of several of the Commissioners, what generalizations would you make about the qualifications needed to become a Commissioner? 11. How is the membership of the Court of Justice determined? 12. What kind of jurisdictions does the Court of Justice have? 13. Why is the Court of Auditors called a court? 14. What is the most recent report released by the Court of Auditors? 15. Since the Council, the Commission, and the European Parliament meet to deal with economic and social issues, why does the Economic and Social Committee exist? 16. Since nations and citizens are represented in the various organs of the E.U., what was the intent of organizing the Committee of the Regions? 17. Where in the E.U. system are citizens’ rights enforced? 18. Where are E.U. citizens’ rights constitutionally defined? 19. What are the three kinds of rights, and why does the E.U. make distinctions among them? 20. What individual rights of citizens in the U.S.A. are missing from the defined rights in the E.U.? 21. What rights are added to the list of rights Americans accept as normal? 22. What is the difference in powers or functions of the European Investment Bank and the European Central Bank? 23. What is the European Ombudsman?