BCSSTA Workshop on Europe: Politics and Institutions of the EU

February 20, 2015 – Dr. Valerie D’ErmanDepartment of Political Science, University of

Victoriavjderman@uvic.ca

Tools for learning• Students’ own European background and experience

with the EU– Decision-making exercises: when to have unanimity and

when to have QMV• Languages, motto, flag, anthem, currency– Integration and issue of culture and identity

• Debates surrounding state interdependence:– Are nations always rooted in their own self-interest? Or has

the EU created an existential crisis of the nation-state?• Democratic debates – is the EU democratic enough?

Map of Europe 1914

Map of Europe 1919

Map of Europe during Cold War

Map of Europe present-day

Enlargement Phases

1973 1981 1986

1995 2004 2007

© European Communities, 1995-2009

What is the EU?

• Sui generis, unprecedented• Often defined by what it is not– Federal entity– Typical IO (International Organization)– Free trade agreement

• Most basic definition: “Supranational organization”

• Highly political definition: “Ever closer union”

Who is the EU?

• Began as a limited experiment in economic interdependence among 6 countries in 1951 – grown to a unique organization of 28 members with a great deal of “pooled sovereignty” in economic, political, and social spheres

• Politics of enlargement (numerous examples):– Who is “in”? Who should be in? What are the criteria? When is

culture relevant?– End of Cold War and sudden pan-Europeanism– ‘Enlargement fatigue’ – where does EU stop?– NOT all European countries are EU members; and NOT all EU

members are EMU members (single currency)

Entanglement of History, Economics, & Politics

• Political development of EU heavily shaped by economic integration and histories of conflict on the continent– Logic of economic interdependence – extension to the

Single Market, EMU, free trade agreements– Franco-German conflicts, WWI and WWII, Cold War

and role of USSR• Political impetus for integration exists, but has

always been justified in economic or conflict-avoidance terms

How the EU functions

• Two critical terms:– Supranational and Intergovernmental

• Major institutions– Commission, Council, Parliament

• Other institutions– European Court of Justice (ECB), European Central

Bank (ECB)• Role of analogies in teaching EU institutions• Role of treaties in integration

How institutions work• Supranational / European / ‘Community’ level– European Commission: delegated authority to set

agenda and draft legislation– European Parliament: representative legislature to

analyze legislation and check power of Commission• Intergovernmental level– European Council, and Council of Ministers: national

representatives (“motor of integration”)• Balance of authority between Commission,

Council & Parliament, and Court

Perspectives on European Integration

• Big application of political theory (coming from International Relations):– Intergovernmentalism (Realism)– Neo-functionalism (Spillover)– Social Constructivism– Historical Institutionalism

Comparable to other IOs in this regard

Europeanization vs. Globalization• Both a reduction in sovereignty of

nations/governments• Europeanization goes farther and deeper; is

intentionally driven by clearly defined procedures– Driven by governments– Partly concerned with redistribution

• Globalization has no formal procedure, no regulation, and no democratic impetus– Driven by markets– Much more uneven process

When is the EU a single actor?• International trade, external economic affairs– The Single Market makes the EU a unified actor for external

trade agreements (ie.g., CETA)– Foreign aid, development

• Agricultural, environmental, competition, climate, fisheries…

• When is the EU not a single actor (when do members act individually)?– Welfare policies, government spending and taxation,

military and defense, local administration and bureaucracy• Many competencies are blurred between levels