EU Politics

What are the four stands of the EU?

What are the four stands of the EU?

1. IDEAS (Council of Europe, Schuman declaration, Copenhagen criteria)

2. INTERESTS (shared and competing interests)

3. INSTITUTIONS (European Council, European Commission, European Parliament)

4. INDIVIDUALS (EU citizens, journalists, politicians)

What are the ideas the EU is build on?

The Ideas are historical roots which reflect the importance of cooperation and democratic values.

1. Council of europe

2. Schuhman declaration

3. Copenhagen criteria

What is the Idea council of europe?

Founded in 1949

• Not part of the EU, it is a separate international organization

• Idea: collaborating with various countries might allow to better support democracy,

  to protect human rights and to promote rule of law (everyone follows the law)

What is the schuhman declaration?

The Schuman declaration is one of the founding documents of the EU

• It was passed on May 9 1950

• Content: Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg should pull their resources and work together to manage their heavy industries (coal and steel) under the Schuman declaration.

• That implied that these countries collaborated to prevent potential wars (coal and steel were the key elements to participate in a war)

➔ In 1952, the agreement (the Schuman declaration) was implemented as the European coal and steel community (The ECSC)

• The ECSC was one of the first supranational institutions (parties work together for a common interest, under common management to achieve common goals that exceed boarders)

What are the copenhagen criteria?

• Passed in 1993

• Idea: accession criteria (implying the importance of democratic values)

The treaty sates: “Any European country may apply for membership if it respects the democratic values of the EU and is committed to promoting them”

• Countries had to fulfill accession criteria, if they wanted to join the EU:

  1. Functioning market economy (capacity to deal with market forces and competition)

  2. Ability to effectively meet the obligations of membership (political, monitory, economic obligations)

  3. Stable institutions (functioning governmental bodies) guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect/protection for minorities

What are the shared interests?

• The Euro (2002)

  • Facilitates a single market

  • Low inflation (value of the Euro is meant to be more stable)

  • No currency exchange costs

  • Facilitates travel

• The enlargement of the EU (2004)

  • Accession of 10 new member states who greatly fulfilled all criteria

What are competing interests of the EU?

Countries of meetings

• There is no one place where meetings of the EU parliament are held. They are usually in Brussels but also take place in Strasbourg.

• This costs money and time.

Working languages

• There are 24 official languages in the EU and every single one wants to be represented. Most documents are in German, French and English and some have to be translated for all languages (same with meetings).

• Translation costs time and money.

Protection of minority rights

• There are a lot of competing interests regarding refugees and migration: Who controls the borders? Which countries should take how many refugees? Who pays for it? etc.

What will happen with the EU in the future? (breadth,depth)

Breadth:

• Refers to increasing the size of the EU geographically (including Turkey, Iceland, Ukraine) and decreasing the corporation between countries (fewer topics that are supranational)

• Let ́s do less together, with more countries

Depth:

• Increasing cooperation between member states which means more topics that are supranational (a potential European Army, European financial oversight, United States of Europe)

• We need more supranationalism (not from a national perspective but from a European one)

• Let ́s do more together, with fewer countries

What are the different institutions?

1. European council

2. European Commission (EC)

3. Council of ministers (EU council, Council of the EU)

4. European parliament

5. Court of justice

What is the European council?

• Consists of the heads of the member states (seen as the board of directors for the EU)

• Responsible for setting the political course/overall direction

  • How to protect our financial infrastructure? How to go about agricultural

    budget and policy? They give guidelines and conclusions to this

• Often seen as an important force in integration of the EU

• Often fail to pass regulations and agreements (especially in agriculture)

What is the European Commission?

• Every country is represented by one person (seen as the executive branch or cabinet of ministers)

  • They have their own ministries which are referred to as directorate generals (non-elected officials) -> each commissioner has his own DG

• They are the “guardian of the law”: They develop proposals for new laws, regulations and policies and are responsible for overseeing their implementation in all member states

• One of the most supranational organizations in the EU (the interests of the EU are represented as a whole, not the interests of the different countries)

• The European Commission consists of one representative of each member state. They have their own ministries which are referred to as directorate generals.

• The EC is seen as the executive branch and functions as the guardian of the law since the EC develops proposals for new laws, regulations and policies and it is responsible for overseeing their implementation in all member states.

• The European Commission tackles issues from a European perspective and is one of the most supranational institutions in the EU.

What is the European Parliament?

• Members are elected every five years by EU citizens (seen as the democratic electorate)

• Makes amendments to existing laws and adopts EU legislations

• The European Parliament ́s members tackle issues from a more national perspective as they are elected by citizens from their countries (the European Commission from European one)

• The European Parliament is elected every 5 years by EU citizens and hence tackles issues from a more national perspective. It is seen as democratic electorate. The European Parliament is responsible for making amendments to existing laws and adopting EU legislations.

What are the individuals in the EU?

1. Citizen

2. Journalists

3. Politicians

What is the Eurobarometer?

Gives a better understanding of the public opinion of people residing in the

EU as it includes surveys about numerous topics

What is Euroscepticism

• Refers to criticism about the EU (what the EU is and what it stands for) o There are two main reasons for people ́s criticism:

  • Knowledge deficit: people talk negatively about the EU because they lack knowledge about the EU

  • Democratic deficit: “average” EU citizens feels like having too few opportunities to influence or have an impact on the work of the EU. There is a lack of representative democracy

How can EU citizens get involved?

• Vote for the European Parliament

• Vote in a potential referendum

• European ombudsman (EU citizens/businesses can complain at the ombudsman about poor administration by EU institutions or EU bodies)

• The citizen initiative (if at least 1 million citizens of 7 different member states sign a legislative proposal, the European Commission has to deal with it)

• Public consultations (an EU institution can ask citizens to share their thoughts and ideas about specific topics)

What is publics affairs?

• Enables or faciliates a dialogue at both societal and governmental level

• Broad definitions: includes government relations, media relations, issue

  management, CSR, public policy analysis, community relationships

• Narrow definitions: includes government relations, lobbying

What is lobbying?

• Working definition: Any legal action designed to influence the actions of the institutions of government

• Legitimate way to bring interests and insights of private and public organizations to the attention of relevant decision makers (representation of interests of stakeholders)

• Should be based on integrity and transparency

What is the goal of lobbying?

• Attempt to influence legislation, regulatory and policy decisions

• Stimulate negotiations (about public sector grants or other types of funding that you think your organisation needs)

How is lobbying practiced?

• Lobbyists lobby differently depending on the country they are in (e.g. government structure) and the reason they lobby for

• Timing is key: If they want to get an issue on the government ́s agenda, they need to do that at the right time

• They need to present their arguments to appropriate decision makers / power brokers (not always the people that formally have the power)

Why should lobbyist be transparence and show integrity?

In general, transparency and integrity increase a lobbyist ́s trustworthiness. It’s important for a lobbyist to be transparent about his goals and it should be clear who is sending the message.

He also needs to be able to disclose and explain how certain decisions are made since he is accountable for his actions.

Therefore, a lobbyist should identify as a lobbyist and disclose his financials.

What are lobbying stereotypes/cliches?

• Backroom politicians

  • Exchanging favours (you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours)

  • A lobbyist buys votes

• Spindoctor

  • Spinning situations in your favour, changing the narrative, twisting the truth a little bit. In this case, when you twist the truth, you might as well break it’s neck (lying involved in some cases)

What are the steps in lobbying (working method)?

1. Who acts?

   • Multinational organisations, trade unions, etc. (organisations that require

     interest representation)

   • Different organisations show differences in nationalities, religions, cultures,

     education, ambitions, managerial styles, languages, expertise, money

     (challenge for lobbyists)

2. Why do they act? (threats, opportunities)

   • Grants, subsidies, change in law, getting a seat at a table, etc.

   • Main goal: Increase in profit or power

3. For what specific purpose?

   • It requires creativity to find a way how you get to your bulls eye (ultimate goal)

   • It ́s good to have a Plan B in case the idea does not work out (as stakeholders might not act along)

4. Who are you engaging with? (crucial actors)

   • Who are the stakeholders?

   • What is their position and which issues do they face?

   • Stakeholders ́ concerns and priorities change over time which is why timing is

     significant (there might be an immense shift in who you engage with and how you engage with them 6 months later) – the arena you play in changes over time

5. On what should you lobby? (topics/issues)

   • If you know what people ́s interests are, you may see that some interests

     overlap and others do not

   • You have to lobby in such a way that more interests of various parties come

     together -> that ́s how you build strong coalitions (more power, more

     resources)

6. How should you engage in lobby? (methods, techniques)

   • Matter of supply and demand

   • You need to know what someone needs cause if you know what this person

     needs, you also know his weaknesses

   • You need something to offer and make sure you can ask for something in

     return, then you can build a strong coalition because you can depend on each

     other

   • You need to decide whether you engage in lobbying in a formal or informal

     manner (informal might be more beneficial as it ́s not official)

   • You need to decide whether you lobby directly (go to events, meeting etc. yourself) or indirectly (get someone else to go for you and test the waters,

7. Where

e.g. consultants) \n should you engage in lobby activities?

• Find neutral grounds (not in their office, where they feel powerful and people listen)

• Make sure you can talk rather undisturbed and unobserved

• Choose the place based on budget

8. When should you engage in lobby activities? (time, agenda planning)

   • Keep track of the process you are working on

   • Lobbyists can interrupt the process (most effectively in the early stage)

   • If you want to get something done, make sure you pinpoint where you are in

     the process (make yourself a roadmap)

   • You may want to get public attention (be careful)

9. Results? (ways to show what you have achieved)

   • Goals and outcomes: look at the initial targets of an interest group, then you

     compare them with the final outcomes

   • Chance of success: the environment you were operating in already gave

     limited chances of success -> whatever you wanted to achieve, it was going to be difficult. In other words, if you only make a small impact in an unfriendly arena, that can be seen as a win

   • Reputation: You might not have achieved your overall goal but you have established a network. Let stakeholders you worked with rank your impact and show that you have made an impact

   • Backing at home: Emphasize how your backing at home has increased. Gaining a lot of support and network because of your efforts is a success

Globalization

“Compression of time and space” which means the world is getting smaller and things are speeding up

• four perspectives help us understand and especially deal with relations between states, businesses, cultures and individuals

• What is globalization? (considering the four perspectives) \n The compression of space and time which makes people more able - physically, legally, linguistically, culturally and psychologically - to engage with each other, wherever on earth they might be (consequence of globalization)

Globalisation as internationalisation

• Globalisation as internationalization refers to a growth of transactions and interdependence between countries.

• Global means more messages, ideas, merchandise, money, investments, pollutants and people cross borders between countries.

• Since globalization is seen as cross border activity from this perspective (international travel, membership, organizations, phone calls, etc.), it can be quantified.

• The critique, however, is that globalization has been going on for thousands of years - the notion of state borders is no longer as prominent as it used to be. It is hence weird to use borders as a starting point for the “new” idea of globalization.

Globalisation as liberalisation

• Globalization as liberalization refers to removing officially imposed restrictions on movements of resources between countries.

• It is about creating an open and borderless world economy.

• There is an increase in globalisation, if authorities decide to reduce or abolish regulatory measures (e.g. trade barriers, foreign exchange restrictions).

• In other words, this means that authorities should promote neoliberal (free trade) macroeconomic policies through deregulation, privatization and physical restraint. This approach would bring prosperity, peace, freedom, democracy for all.

What are the two different propositions on globalisation as liberalisation?

1. Globalisation (as liberalization) is beneficial to the economic growth of

developing countries

(If there are no trade barriers or restrictions, multinationals will most likely choose a developing country (operating there is cheaper). Consequently, multinationals might create employment, improve infrastructure and boost the skills of the population. In turn, more businesses might be attracted which will lead to economic growth.)

2. Globalisation (as liberalization) implies a loss of national sovereignty

(Countries give a lot of freedom to companies. Companies might then pay extremely low wages, pay little taxes, have poor working conditions, allow child labor, don ́t take care of the environment, etc. So, these countries may lower their standards in such a way that the general public will suffer and no longer have control over what happens in their borders.)

Globalisations as Universalisation

• Globalization as universalization refers to the process of spreading various objects and experiences to all inhabited parts of the earth.

• Global means worldwide and everywhere (everyone has adopted everything: barbie dolls, food, tobacco, bungalows, religions, etc.).

• Globalization from this perspective (can) imply homogenization which implies worldwide cultural, economic, legal and political convergence (ultimately, everyone has the same way of living, same standards etc.). Hence, there is a fear of identity loss because of the convergence.

• English can be seen as a movement of homogenization. However, English is used and interpreted differently depending on the country/region

Globalisation as westernisation

• Globalization as westernization refers to social structures of western modernity. In the process of westernization, pre-existing cultures and local self-determination have been destroyed.

• From this perspective, globalization equals colonialization and is understood as hegemonic discourse (world domination).

• Some people say westernization is presented as supposed progress (we are moving forward), others say it disrupts the progress.

• The WTO, the international monetary fund or the World Bank are known as instruments of the west: they mostly satisfy the needs of the west. Westernization inspires the belief: „The West against the rest”.