Warm up
Questions
- How many enlargements has the European Union had?
- What are some of the benefits the enlargement will bring to the Union and the candidate nations?
- Will the member nations and candidate nations benefit equally? Who will gain more benefits and why?
- What can other nations learn from the EU enlargements?
Background
- The first pillar is the 'Community domain', covering most of the common policies, where decisions are taken by the 'Community method' – involving the Commission, Parliament and the Council.
- The second pillar is the common foreign and security policy, where decisions are taken by the Council alone.
- The third pillar is 'police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters', where – once again – the Council takes the decisions.
- the Council of the European Union (representing the member states);
- the European Parliament (representing the citizens); and
- the European Commission (a politically independent body that upholds the collective European interest).
The European Union
In 1950, in a speech inspired by Jean Monnet*, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed integrating the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. As a result, in 1951, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up, with six members: Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the Netherlands. The power to take decisions about the coal and steel industries in these countries was placed in the hands of an independent, supranational body called the "High Authority". Jean Monnet was its first President.
The ECSC was such a success that, within a few years, these same six countries decided to go further and integrate other sectors of their economies. In 1957 they signed the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European Economic Community (EEC) with the aim of gradually realizing the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital, as well as the harmonization of economic policies of the member countries. The member states set about removing trade barriers between them and forming a "common market".
In 1967 the institutions of the three European communities were merged into the European Community (EC). From this point on, there was a single Commission and a single Council of Ministers as well as the European Parliament.
The Treaty of Maastricht (1992) introduced new forms of co-operation between the member state governments - for example on defense, and in the area of "justice and home affairs". By adding this inter-governmental co-operation to the existing "Community" system, the Maastricht Treaty created the European Union (EU).
In 1992 the EU decided to go for economic and monetary union (EMU), involving the introduction of a single European currency managed by a European Central Bank. The single currency - the Euro - became a reality on 1 January 2002, when Euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in twelve of the 15 countries of the European Union (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland).
The EU has grown in size with successive waves of accessions. Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in 1973 followed by Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986 and Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. The European Union welcomed ten new countries in 2004: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007; Croatia and Turkey are beginning membership negotiations in 2005. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia became an official candidate in December 2005.
In the future, the size of the European Union will likely expand because numerous other countries, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, have expressed an interest in joining the union. Many of these countries are in the process of making the structural changes needed to meet the criteria for membership in the European Union. Admitting these countries would add to the European Union's stature in global trade negotiations, further the cause of social stability in the region, and add yet another chapter to the story of this dynamic union.
Three Pillars of the EU
The European Union takes the decisions in three separate 'domains' (policy areas), also known as the three 'pillars' of the EU.
Within the first pillar, the Council normally takes decisions by 'qualified majority' vote. In the other pillars, the Council decision has to be unanimous: it can therefore be blocked by the veto of any one country.
If the Council so decides, it can use the 'Community bridge' to transfer certain matters from the third to the first pillar.
How the European Union works.
The European Union is more than just a confederation of countries, but it is not a federal State. It is, in fact, something entirely new and historically unique. Its political system has been constantly evolving over the past 50 years and it is founded on a series of treaties – from those signed in Paris and Rome in the 1950s to the much more recent treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice.
Under these treaties, the member states of the Union delegate some of their national sovereignty to institutions they share and that represent not only their national interests but also their collective interest.
The treaties constitute what is known as ‘primary’ legislation. From them is derived a large body of ‘secondary’ legislation that has a direct impact on the daily lives of European Union citizens. It consists mainly of regulations, directives and recommendations.
These laws, along with EU policies in general, are the result of decisions taken by three main institutions:
This ‘institutional triangle’ can function only if the three institutions work closely together and trust one another. “In order to carry out their task and in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty, the European Parliament acting jointly with the Council and the Commission shall make regulations and issue directives, take decisions, make recommendations or deliver opinions”. (Article 249 of the Treaty of Maastricht).
The Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the EU’s main decision-making institution. It was formerly known as the ‘Council of Ministers’, and for short it is simply called ‘the Council’.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament is the elected body that represents the EU’s citizens and takes part in the legislative process. Since 1979, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have been directly elected, by universal suffrage, every five years.
The European Commission
The Commission is one of the EU’s key institutions. From 1 November 2004, the new Commission has 25 members – one per country. The Commission acts with complete political independence. Its job is to uphold the interests of the EU as a whole, so it must not take instructions from any member state government. As ‘Guardian of the Treaties’, it has to ensure that the regulations and directives adopted by the Council and Parliament are being put into effect. If they are not, the Commission can take the offending party to the Court of Justice to oblige it to comply with EU law.
History of European Union membership
Year |
History of European Union membership |
Total |
|
1957 |
|
|
6 |
1973 |
|
|
9 |
1981 |
|
10 |
|
1986 |
|
|
12 |
1995 |
|
|
15 |
2004 |
|
|
25 |
2007 |
|
|
27 |
Belgium
France
West Germany
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Denmark
Republic of Ireland
United Kingdom
Greece
Portugal
Spain
Austria
Finland
Sweden
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Bulgaria
RomaniaThe website of EU:http://Europa.eu.int
