Chapter 1: What is the European Union?

a state

a legal and physical entity that operates within a fixed and populated territory, has authority over that territory, is legally and politically independent, is recognized by its people and by other states

an international organization

bodies that promote voluntary cooperation and coordination between or among their members but have neither autonomous powers nor the authority to impose rulings on their members

intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

organizations with at least three state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as well as regular meetings and budgets

legislative branch

Council of Ministers, European Parliament

Executive branch

European Council, European Commission, Executive Agencies

Judiciary branch

European Court of Justice

intergovernmentalism (person)

Stanley Hoffmann

intergovernmentalism

European integration moves forward as a result of intergovernmental bargains, EU is meeting place in which representatives of MS negotiate with each other, pace and nature of integration ultimately decided by national governments pursuing national interest

liberal intergovernmentalism (person)

Andrew Moravcsik

liberal intergovernmentalism

integration here is a series of rational choices made by national leaders

3 stages liberal intergovernmentalism

national preference formation, interstate bargaining, institutional choice

functionalism (person)

David Mitrany

functionalism

nationalism seen as a root for conflict, states should be bound together by a network of international agencies built on common interest and with authority in functionally specific fields, economic and functional ties precede to political ties

neo-functionalism (people)

Ernst Haas & Leon Lindberg

neo-functionalism

integration here is a process whereby political actors in several distinct national settings are persuaded to shift their loyalties expectations and political activities toward a new centre, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the pre-existing national states

functional spillover

implies that economies are so interconnected that if states integrate one sector of their economies, it will lead to the integration of other sectors

technical spillover

implies that disparities in standards will cause states to rise to the level of those with the tightest regulations

political spillover

implies that once different functional sectors are integrated, interest groups will switch from trying to influence national governments to trying to influence regional institutions, which will encourage their attempt to win new powers for themselves

key characteristics of a political system

• stable and clearly defined set of institutions for collective decision-making and a set of rules governing relations bet<een and within these institutions

• citizens seek to realize their political desires through the political system

• collective decisions in the political system have a significant impact on the distribution of economic resources and the allocation of values across the whole system

• continuous interaction between these political outputs, new demands on the system, new decisions, etc

federalism

union of peoples, power is divided between levels of government, shared authority, states surrender power to new & permanent ‘higher’ level of government

confederalism

union of states, power rests with sovereign states, central government derives authority from states, overall weak authority

integration

states transfer (parts of) their sovereignty