EU law, languages and institutions part 1

1. History of the EC/EU

deepening: more and stronger commitments of the member states

  • police cooperation: police from one country can cross the borders to intercept criminals in another country

widening: more areas covered by the EU

  • at first only coals and steel, now also delivery of weapons, economics, political issues

enlargement: more member states

1.1 Treaties

1952: Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (Paris; ECSC)

1958: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community; Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Rome)

1987: Single European Act

1993: Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty)

1999: Treaty of Amsterdam

2003: Treaty of Nice

2003-2005: Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

  • meeting of citizens and politicians; convention where they wrote the Constitution for Europe

  • constitution:

    • establishes fundamental law of state + establishes state

    • only for one state; in this case multiple member states

    • member states gave citizens the power to enter a direct relationship with the EU

    • treaty >< constitution: EU behaves like a country, but in theory it’s a form of international cooperation

2009: Lisbon Treaty

strange thing in EU: states cooperate, but then also give EU-citizens power

  • Belgium signs bilateral treaty with another country on climate = Belgian citizen cannot sue the Belgian government for a decision, because the treaty only binds the country, not the citizens living in that country

  • Belgium as a member state signs a treaty with the EU: EU-citizens have the power to interfere when something goes wrong

1.2 Word War II and its consequences

casualties in current EU member states: 18.000.000 (military and civilians), non-EU states suffered higher losses (Soviet Union alone more than 20 million)

financial cost enormous (military industry, economic losses): 1.000.000.000.000 dollars (in 1944 = multiply by factor 50)

Europe after the war (pictures); e.g.: Normandy destroyed entirely; but: allies caused more damages in Western part of Europe >< Germany more in the Eastern part

1.2.1 Geopolitical results

Germany occupied and divided by allies: US, France, Soviet Union and UK = country divided in East and West, Berlin as well = heavy industry under control of the allies

Poland shifts to the West: given territories that used to be part of Germany; lost territories to the SU

  • border change = migration → millions of Germans move to new Polish parts >< Polish people move away from eastern parts (sphere of influence SU)

Baltic States part of the SU (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia)

Eastern Europe SU sphere of influence >< Western Europe US sphere of influence

now neutral countries: Austria, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden

  • back then they were neutral, situation changed (Finland NATO 2022)

no mention of Jewish people

extensive decolonization in the next 20 years

  • Africa and Asia: old European superpowers lose their colonies between 1945-1960

  • they lose influence, power and streams of income → we need more cooperation between European countries to create trade organizations to compensate for lost money

1.3 Soviet Union

more trade between European countries was necessary because every country had their own tariffs, and people had to be different taxes/duties

SU as big war winner = economic superpower → Europe worried: red army in all Eastern European Countries, free elections were promised, but Stalin regime not as democratic as people hoped for

= economic strand + military and political cooperation (protection against SU)

different organizations are being created to fulfill these new economic, military and political goals

  • Churchill 1946 Zürich: United States of Europe

    • Europe as a federal state, but unclear whether the UK would be included (still an empire); paved way for the evolution of the EU project

  • Western Union (WU) 1948 (afterwards Western European Union 1954): included the Benelux, UK and France; became an embryo of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

    • 1949: organization gets partly absorbed by NATO: included US, France and Canada; if one country were to be attacked, all other countries have to lend military assistance (article 5); Germany wasn’t included because it didn’t have an army, Spain wasn’t included because it had a dictatorship, the Scandinavian countries were also not included = small scope of protection

  • Council of Europe 1949

    • protection of democracy: elections, parliamentary scrutiny (inspection) by Parliamentary Assembly + assistance in democratic reforms; Venice Commission

    • protection of rule of law: legal cooperation through conventions and treaties (± 200); Convention on Cybercrime, Conventions on suppression and prevention of terrorism, Conventions against corruption and organized crime, Convention on Bioethics

    • protection of human rights (court in Strasburg): European Convention on Human Rights + European Committee for the Prevention of Torture + European Social Charter (social rights) + European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (linguistic rights) + Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (minority rights) + European Convention on Transfrontier Television (media Freedom, also article 10 of European Convention on Human Rights)

    • promotion of cultural cooperation and diversity: Cultural Convention 954 + conventions on protection of cultural heritage + Centre for Modern Languages (Graz) + North-South Centre (Lisbon)

    • promotion of right to education: article 2 of First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights + conventions for recognition of university studies and diplomas (Bologna Process, Lisbon Recognition Convention)

    • promotion of fair sport through antidoping convention + convention against spectator violence

    • promotion of European youth exchange and cooperation: European Youth Centers (Strasburg, Budapest)

    • flag and anthem are the same as the EU

    • but: broader organization than the EU, still exists up until today, Russia used to be a member

    • accused by UK for being to militant → Council of Europe important for migrant cases, discussion about child abuse in the catholic church, etc.

1.4 Germany and France

Germany had to pay reparations after WWI, but had no say in how much (wasn’t involved in treaty) = UK, France and Belgium decided upon how much Germany was going to lose → became too much: the Germans began printing more money and caused an internal problem (inflation)

after WOII: France wanted to repeat the framework from WOI = we demand territories and payment

US: WOII partially caused by high reparations after WOI = France wasn’t allowed to use the same framework

France: protested

  • but: France was “rescued” by the US in 1940

  • but: there were other concerns for France → Northern Africa and Indochina (independence movements, military actions)

  • still: France wanted Saar (Rheinland Germany) → heavy industry with steel and coal, important for military development, transportation and production of steel; this cannot be under German control or the Germans will continue building the military machine = we’ll annex these areas to control the heavy industry

US: veto = France organizes referendum, but people in Saar want to remain German

heavy industry stays in Germany, between 1945-1949 German could not have an army, France still cautious and wants control over coal and steel = third project

1.4.1 Schuman Declaration 09/05/1950

= third project created by Jean Monnet in 1949

proposal was made by Jean Monnet = commissaire au plan; he was the highest authority for planification of France’s post-war reconstruction; he was present in all major events in European History; during WWI he met with the prime minister to discuss the coordination of the British and French war efforts; during the interbellum he was the secretary general of the League of Nations; he ran financial businesses (brandy sales) in the US, Eastern Europe and Chine; during WWII he was an advisor to Roosevelt and he was the one to encourage the US to step up their military production and take part in the war; after the war he became the commissaire au plan and later on the President of the European Commission

what was the project: Monnet wanted to put the heavy industries of (West-)Germany and France under a central international authority/organization, both industries would have equal status

the idea was “sold” to Robert Schuman, the French minister of Foreign Affairs

  • Schumann was born in Elzas (German citizen), then became a French citizen and adopted the French nationality; he was sensitive to the conflicts between France and Germany and so knew how important peace would be for the region

Schuman adopted the plan on the 9th of May 1950, this was the beginning of the ECSC

who joined: inner six = France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy (later)

  • The Netherlands weren’t really interested in joining (more agriculture), but joined because of the Benelux-cooperation

1.4.1.1 Purposes

make war between France and Germany impossible, because heavy industry is essential for warfare

lay the first stone of a European Federation

  • Europe will not be federated at once

  • countries give up recruitment of recourses, management of production, etc.; the international authority has control over this = weapons can no longer be produced in a country without the organization’s agreement; no talk of politics and armies yet, at first the economy

  • functionalist view (start modestly, when problems appear, add more industries or areas to keep everything manageable): spill-over effect → you cooperate in certain areas (economy), but then bump into obstacles that can only be solved by cooperation in more areas = cooperation expands

    • e.g. spill-over: once you remove borders, you need more cooperation between judicial systems, otherwise you stimulate crime

1.4.1.2 European Coal and Steel Community

1952, Paris Treaty

supranational organization: first real organization with supranational power

  • states give up sovereignty, give up power and grant it to an international organization → UN: can request member states to do something, but if they refuse, it can’t force them (not a supranational organization)

common market for coal and steel = countries do not restrict trade amongst themselves

  • abolishment of import and export taxes

  • abolishment of quota and other quantitative restrictions

  • single market with respect to third countries (non-member states)

  • commercial policies on import and export taxes, quotas, etc.

    • France cannot block import from member states, only the organization can decide which imports will be blocked (with non-member states)

  • industrial policies: supply, production quotas, etc.

  • Ukraine present day: Black sea main export zone for grain, access now blocked = Ukraine has to ship through Poland, Rumania and Slovakia = competition with European grain; Poland blocks Ukrainian grain, but the EU cannot allow this (import cannot be blocked by one member-state) → cooperation establishes peace

own set of institutions

  • High Authority = executive, kind of government, 1952; now: European Commission

  • Council of Ministers = legislative, independent institution, you want control over the decision making

  • Common Assembly = delegates of the national parliaments; didn’t take decisions, was only consulted (no power); now: European Parliament; at first not elected by the people (not really democratic)

  • Court of Justice = judicial, after the facts (punishes wrongdoers); crucial in development of the EU and upholding the law and the treaty in the EU

  • = trias politicia with executive

  • goal: bring EU closer to normal functioning democratic state; more power was given to the common assembly later on (they became elected) and the assembly instituted the high authority; political evolution: evolution towards more democratic accountability

whole industry fared well, the member states wanted more = spill-over

first kind of Brexit: Algeria left the organization (was a part of the French republic)

1986: Spain and Portugal join

1.5 European Coal and Steel Community (1952)

new plans to set up other organizations (spill-over)

Korean war 1950: communist Korea wants to take over other part of the country (neutral)

  • 1950: Korean troops almost reach seaside, can almost occupy the entire peninsula → US intervenes and supports leftover South-Korea

  • the US wanted a cooperation with South-Korea to counteract the Communists, but the US army was still occupying parts of Germany = some troops were withdrawn from Europe (Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany)

issue: Germany doesn’t have an army = part of Europe has no defence against the SU (already very close, East-Germany) = 1952 urgency → we need a European defence community, opportunity to defend ourselves against the Russians; we will need to support France to send troops to Germany

part of the plan: Germany doesn’t have an army, France can step up, but the war hasn’t been over long enough = can we build a new West-German army already; France didn’t want to, Belgium did

  • spill-over: we can build a defence community = we will build a German army under international control and all other member states will do the same; we’ll use the same framework as with coal and steel = independent organization that will watch over the armies

European Defence Community 1952

  • “Pléven plan” (he wrote the treaty; this is just another name for it, just like the Monnet plan)

  • attempt to put Germany’s remilitarization under European High Command (widening)

  • failed to be ratified by the French Parliament in 1954

    • the inner six: only 5 countries signed and ratified (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany and Italy); France refused: we won’t allow anyone decide what we do with our army (still troops in Indochina, Algeria, etc.), the Germans will not control us

    • = reason we still don’t have a real defence community as of today

Korean War ended 1953 with a cease fire, there was no urgency for a defence organ anymore and the American troops were coming back

European Political Community

  • drafted by the adapted version of the Common Assembly of the ECSC

  • very federal rules for a political unity designed to democratically control the EDC

  • plan abandoned after the EDC didn’t get ratified

1.6 European Economic Community 1958

entire economic production of the six founding countries of the ECSC = widening and deepening 1955; the ECSC was so successful that now the entire economic production and the civil use of nuclear energy could be put into an organization

this does not abolish the treaty of Paris: everything is included here, except for coal and steel (which are already covered by the ECSC) (capital was also managed)

treaty of Rome

  • common market for goods, services and persons (workers and self-employed)

    • France cannot refuse German cars, Germany cannot refuse Belgian butter, the Netherlands cannot refuse Italian cheese = no duties, no quantitative restrictions and one trade-policy with non-member states

    • member states cannot refuse citizens of other member states → before that, a Belgian citizen could not reside in France without restrictions; people can apply for a job in another country; currently: job in the EU can only be allowed through a special permit, this used to be the case in the EU, now there’s a big labour space

  • monumental

    • you can buy everything from the member states in any member state because products can move around freely = stimulates trade → you can buy anything from other countries and it won’t be any more expensive just because it’s from another country

    • living is cheaper because of the competition (because there’s more products available)

    • you can no longer protect your own economy, for example with taxes or quota to protect your own industry; these protective measures can only be used on countries that don’t belong to the EEC

    • the member states act as a group (before that every country had an own trade policy), from now on it’s the six countries against the non-members → you represent more people = you have more financial and political power, you can negotiate more on your own terms

  • rules for competition

    • borders = way to protect economy (as you restrict trade from other countries)

    • what else can you do

      • create norms and standards: Germany can’t sell their cars here, because they don’t comply with our laws

      • subsidy (state aid): pay factories to produce cars = make them artificially cheapers; you subsidize your own companies, the products then become cheaper

  • policies (CAP, CCP, CTP)

    • Common Agricultural Policy

      • all borders are open, but the food prices differ, in some member states there’s a lot of agriculture, in others way less (sometimes not even the possibility to produce certain products such as tomatoes) = farmers go onto one single market to sell their products, but the cost of production is higher in certain countries than in others (in Germany you need greenhouses and fuel to produce tomatoes) = farmers that compete on a single market will always be at some sort of disadvantage

      • with CAP: one market for farmers and one price policy → you need to produce enough food for all EU citizens (13 years after the war, rationing; government decides how much of a product can be bought, but was almost never enough because products were scarce) + the farmers need fair prices for those products (or else they’ll go out of business and we won’t have any food at all) + we need affordable prices for the citizens so they can at least afford the food → the EEC sets prices (fixed prices) and there’s yearly meetings to discuss the prices for certain products (price guaranty for the farmers and food guaranty for the citizens)

      • subsidies for farming: we want to produce cheap food for the citizens, but we want expensive food for the farmers → we resolve this by giving EEC subsidies (the community finances farming and compensates the differences); subsidies today more for sustainability (promotion for biodiversity, for example through wildflowers growing on strips of farm grounds)

    • Common Commercial Policy

      • trade policy with non-member states; you have to decide upon import taxes on foreign (= non-member state) products

    • Common Transports Policy

      • in a nutshell: goods need to be delivered to other countries, used to be a problem before 1958 → member states did not allow trucks to take on cargo in countries where they weren’t registered = Belgian truck driver could deliver goods to France, but they couldn’t deliver goods from France to Belgium, they had to return to Belgium to collect more of the Belgian goods to then deliver to France

      • Belgian truck driver delivered goods in a French city, a French truck driver collected them and spread them in France; then collected French goods, transported them to Belgium, where a Belgian truck driver collected them to spread them in other Belgian cities

      • after the policy: truck drivers can pick up new goods in other member states where they delivered their own goods (only really established in the ‘80s)

    • social policy

  • institutions (European Parliamentary Assembly and Court of Justice shared by the ECSC, the EEC and the EAEC)

    • Council of Ministers: legislative and executive

      • votes by unanimity, but qualified majority is projected

    • Commission: (legislative), (executive)

    • European Parliamentary Assembly: ?

    • Court of Justice: judicial

1.7 European Atomic Energy Community 1958

civilian nuclear energy production of the six founding countries of the ECSC

Treaty of Rome

Council of Ministers, Commission, European Parliamentary Assembly and Court of Justice

cooperation in civil use of atomic energy is the third organisation now existing with member states (other two: European Coal and Steel Community and European Economic Community); this one was also called Euraton

more interesting to resource uranium together, as there’s no uranium in the EU = “connect” with other countries through voice of the many

  • main source: Congo (still colony back then) → but: decolonisation = we don’t trust the Belgians, we’ll stick together to put more pressure on Congo

1.8 De Gaulle Interlude 1958-1969

1965: De Gaulle

  • former general of French army, fled France in WOII, went to London, difficult relations with the Brits and the AMericans; led the resistance movement; accompanied French armies with the Americans and Canadians to free France of Germans; president in 1958

  • in the middle of the Algerian crisis (independence movement), France was in turmoil → France wasn’t efficient, lots of political parties (many small ones = not easy to govern the country), no compromises could be reached

  • 1958: crisis bubbling, creative solutions found as the parliament was blocked, the government fell every six months and the politicians as well as the public were fed up = De Gaulle had to fix everything, but didn’t want to; they begged him and he come on one condition: he wanted a new constitution that gave the president more power and less power to the parliament, he began cleaning up (didn’t mention this before) and agreed to the independence of Algeria (not what the public wanted or expected)

  • very stubborn man, believed in the Grandeur of France (does not exist)

  • Suez crisis 1956: connects to oil-producing countries; owned by the French and the Brits, but Egypt reclaimed its independence after WWII and nationalises the canal to earn taxes (president Nasser); before the French and the Brits received these taxes; this was the main transportation route to the Middle East and China + it’s an important military connection (because going around Africa to reach the colonies takes a lot of time) = UK and France organize military campaign, Israelis also send army (Israel controls part of Sinai desert); but Americans intervene: do you want Egypt to become part of the SU (Nasser: I’ll buy planes for the SU to fight France and UK); but: if the US threatened France and UK that if they were to continue the battle, they would no longer receive weapons = Nasser nationalises canal = biggest source of income for Egypt up until today

Fouchet plan 1961: restoration of national sovereignty

  • De Gaulle not really a fond of international organisations making decisions for France, not really a fond of international cooperation; what does France as a special country need: a group of sovereign countries working together, but no supranational organization; we need to make decisions based on consensus = sends Fouchet (minister Foreign Affairs) to demand a change in the EEC into a more consensual cooperation, the other member states refuse

  • what did De Gaulle fear: majority decisions → treaty from 1963, decisions on trade and common market would be made by majorities in the council of ministers (before: unanimity, consensus) because it’s easier, but: countries would also have to comply with laws they didn’t agree on, simply because the majority did agree

  • main support of De Gaulle: countryside → farmers

  • De Gaulle feared that a majority vote would mean that France would lose money in the CAP (very important policy, the CAP made money for France) + France was supported by the EEC subsidies, other countries didn’t get as much

  • the plan worked: the vote continued to be based on unanimity → why: he refused to send ministers to the parliament

Aborted enlargement: UK, Denmark and Ireland applied to become members of the European Institutions, but France didn’t agree with allowing the Brits in (they’re a completely different kind of people, we can’t allow them to join) = he aborted the enlargement

setup of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) 1960 = rival organisation set up by the countries De Gaulle didn’t want to allow into the European Institutions; Norway also became a member, different kind of organisation

  • members

    • Austria (1960-1994)

    • Denmark (1960-1972)

    • Portugal (1960-1985)

    • Sweden (1960-1995)

    • Finland (1986-1994)

    • UK (1960-1972)

    • Norway (1960)

    • Switzerland (1960)

    • Iceland (1970)

    • Liechtenstein (1991)

  • also no internal borders, but all countries do have an own trade policy with non-member states = you trade with countries that impose the lowest taxes on your products; in reality not really an issue: they don’t have any land borders = not easy to ship goods, would be a different case in countries that do share borders; pretty stable organisation

empty chair policy 1965-1966: De Gaulle refused to send ministers to the parliament, if he’s not there it’s impossible to vote = first major crisis in European Institutions, kind of blackmail policy

Luxembourg Compromise: countries agree with France to keep the unanimity vote, they feared it would impact agriculture

Merger Treaty 1965: merged the different commission and councils of ministers (structure too complex, the three different organisations had all of these institutions separate from one another)

when De Gaulle left power and died, the process of European integration continued

1.9 The 1970s

1969: De Gaulle lost a referendum, decided that the French didn’t agree with his policies anymore, was followed up with Pompidou who had different ideas

70s: energy crisis, oil crisis, Middle East

  • Jom Kipur (holiday jews): Syria and Egypt form a state, Israel lies in between (took territory) = we’ll try to take that part back and take parts away from Israel (remove the state); Israel overwhelmed, didn’t expect an invasion, holiday so soldiers were not prepared; 5-6 days into the conflict but tides change because of American aid = American airplanes were used by the Israelis, Syria and Egypt were pushed back and the Israelis took more territory from other countries

  • the member states on Israel’s side, but France did have good relations with the Arab countries; still: Arab countries “closed the tab” because the EU countries were insensitive to its position (history repeats itself)

  • Belgium benefited due to relations with Algeria = not every country suffered as much → The Netherlands really suffered, oil was the main energy resource

  • inflation soared, prices increased to about 2-3 times more, economy depended on oil, economy becomes more expensive = products become more expensive, but: wages don’t follow = inflation (you don’t get paid more, even though the cost of living increased)

  • countries still had own currencies = Arab countries use this to their advantage; little oil on Dutch market, Dutch people come to Belgium to get gas for their cars (open borders = allowed)

  • but as said, not every country suffered: Belgium did still receive oil = impacts the common market, people supply themselves in countries where they can find oil, but we should avoid this → all member states should find a common position in international politics (or other countries can profit from the discrepancies) = we need one voice → summits

Summits → European Council

  • summits: meetings of heads of state or government, prime minister and president; they were not involved in the EEC, they organise informal gatherings (fireside meetings) in chateaus where everyone sits by the fire and talks over a brandy; afterwards these people influenced the decision-making process

  • summits were formalised into the European Council (we still know today)

new members: UK, Denmark and Ireland 1973

  • De Gaulle is no longer there, so the fist enlargement of the EEC is a fact

  • Greenland (part Denmark) leaves the EEC after becoming semi-autonomous

inflation is running high in some countries, less in others = money loses its value

  • Garmany relatively strong, so Deutsche-Mark became an attractive currency = people bought the Mark to invest in the German market, the German economy grew stronger

    • but: other countries no longer receive these investments + Germans can’t export anymore because products are becoming too expensive (appreciation of currency >< depreciation) = distortions in the market, worsened by the oil crisis

instruments to influence the market

  • borders: quantitative restrictions and taxes

  • subsidies (state aid = money the state puts into its own businesses)

  • currency rate: devalue your currency = you chose to artificially lower the value of your currency to increase economy-control

    • products become cheaper for foreigners: you have 100 d-Mark (= 1800 Belgian Franks), but Belgium devalues the Frank = the German can now buy 2000 Belgian Franks with the same 100 d-Mark → for Belians prices don’t change, but import becomes less expensive (because the Belgian Franks can’t buy you as much anymore + savings are worth less)

  • norms and standards (technical barrier)

European Political Cooperation 1974: consultation and concertation in matters of Foreign Policy (→ European Council)

European Monetary System (EMS) 1979

  • devaluation happened quite frequently but created tensions = member states agreed on consultation, devaluation could no longer be used as an economic stimulus (or at least not as often) = start of the EMS

  • for every combination of currencies there’s fluctuations, but in this system countries are no longer allowed to have high peaks (up and down), the currencies must stay within fluctuation bands

  • how to prevent highs and lows: buy your own currency (when it drops) = countries will cooperate to buy weak currencies to make them more valuable again (central banks) = France, Germany, Italy and Benelux agree that if the Italian currency drops, they’ll buy it so that it’s more in demand and so that the value is increased

  • if the fluctuation band reaches 0%, we reach a common currency (Euro → 01/01/2002)

Cassis de Dijon ruling 1979

  • rulings are made by the Court of Justice

  • Cassis de Dijon: French liquor made from blueberries, exported from France into other countries

  • Bavaria introduces new regulation (= norms and standards) about the diversification or categorisation of alcoholic beverages: Cassis had a lower alcohol percentage than what was accepted as a liquor = it couldn’t be sold like that in Germany → there is a common market, but one of the regions now forbids the import of the drink as liquor, because the alcohol percentage is also linked to the price

  • the German importer took the case to court of justice (they thought the French couldn’t be right as norms and standards belong to the territory of the member states), but the court ruled in favour of the French importer = norms and standards cannot be maintained if they make it more difficult to sell something on the common market + every commercial regulation that has the effect of making something more difficult is void (doesn’t carry legislative influence)

  • = norms and standards were no longer allowed to be made up by member states, but how do you then prevent low quality items from entering your market → you share your knowledge with the EEC

  • another example: Belgian butter could only be sold in the shape of a cube, because in Germany it’s in the shape of a cone

  • this was not explicitly written in the treaty = member states were shocked by the interpretation

  • today: CE = Certification Européenne; UK: issue → their market is smaller than the European market, so why follow different rules in the UK when it’s only for EU (decided against it, but still follow all the rules on certification, they didn’t take back control like they wished and aren’t represented in the EU, but still follow the EU legislation)

so summary

  • financial barriers and quota are put in a treaty + 1 trade policy with non-member states

  • subsidies are put in a treaty → state aid is not allowed in the competition treaty, only EU subsidies can be given

  • devaluation is no longer allowed or not as often according to the EMS, not put in a treaty

  • norms and standards are not put in the treaty, but principal of mutual recognition: member states cannot issue norms that make it more difficult for other member states to sell their products in these countries; if the product is lawfully produced, it should be sold everywhere in the member states

  • now 9 members (since 1973): Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, UK and Ireland

1.9.1 Cosmetic institutional changes

member states began questioning the power of the EEC: you transfer your sovereignty to the supranational organization + you can no longer issue norms and standards because you need to accept those of other member states = you give up a lot of power and not every member state agreed with the Cassis de Dijon ruling

question: shouldn’t we increase the democratic accountability of the EEC

  • Court of Justice is not elected = people make decisions for the inhabitants of the member states, but don’t have democratic accountability; debate: shouldn’t there be democratic institutions in the EEC to make democratic decisions

  • what institution would be needed to make decisions on norms and standards: parliament (European Parliamentary Assembly), but until then consultant body, opinion was asked, but didn’t weigh in on the decision

1970 and 1975: two treaties amending existing treaties

  • European Parliamentary Assembly decision power over part of EEC budget

    • e.g. US shut down the government, but the government decides on the budget so they can choose to cut finances; if a parliament blocks a vote on the budget, there’s no budget and the state officials no longer receive payment

    • now the EPA has budget power = drastic measure

  • European Parliamentary Assembly veto over budget as a whole

  • European Parliamentary Assembly increased “legislative” role

    • still doesn’t have decision power, but the voice of parliament can no longer just be ignored, other bodies have to explain why they ignore the opinion of the EPA

creation European Court of Auditors

  • kind of agency; also exists in democratic states; very mysterious; has to do with parliament power → checks where the money goes and whether a government spends the money appropriately

first direct election of EPA (European Parliamentary Assembly) 1979

  • at first the parliaments of the countries decided; first European elections, but organized differently throughout the member states

  • awkward: 1979 UK had a fairly different electoral law: first behind the post

    • small constituencies, the one who gets the most votes, gets elected as a member of parliament; so even if it’s one vote more than the other; you don’t need a majority (on the continent just one constituency)

    • in Belgium you have to vote

    • in the Netherlands you don’t have to, there’s generally only 37% of the people that vote

  • political representation will make the decisions, no longer court of ministers

  • parliament will use its democratic legitimacy to acquire new powers (we and only we represent the people, so you have to listen to us) = increasing legislative role

1.10 The 1980s

new members

  • Greece 1981

  • Spain and Portugal 1986

financial crisis

  • conflicts between institutions

    • typical for 1980s

    • European Parliamentary Assembly gains power and uses it: they veto almost every budget throughout the years (= only chance to have a voice); other institutions then decided to give the EPA more and real power

  • conflicts between member states = the I want my money back discussion

  • “I want my money back” M. Thatcher

    • 1979: landmark in EEC reforms; also the year in which a new prime minister is appointed in the UK: M. Thatcher

    • uncompromising figure, the iron lady

    • fond of economic integration = beneficial for UK >< against political integration

    • 1973 UK becomes member state on non-beneficial terms; Thatcher didn’t agree with the conditions; labour government in the UK = she criticised the joining of the EEC, she couldn’t stand the socialists (labour) = tried to change the agreement

    • 1975: referendum in UK on Brexit, two thirds majority in favour of staying in the EEC; Thatcher also wanted to stay, but wanted different conditions

    • I want my money back: change in contribution to the budget to the EEc (Mitterand was French president, Kohl was German chancellor), she came to Bruges 1980 and said she was very fond of the EEC, but nothing else

  • Fontainebleau summit: British rebate

    • UK gets a rebate, the contribution is reduced (Thatcher succeeds) and she won the Falklands war against Argentina in 1982 = Thatcher even more successful → EU integration influenced by politics

but: misinterpretation of the high contributions of the UK

  • main expenditure for the EEC: agriculture, but also a kind of income

  • which countries receive subsidies: countries with a lot of agriculture = France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, the expenditure increased after Greece, Portugal and Spain joined = we need bigger budget

  • where did the income come from: import taxes (customs duties = one kind of tariff structure, money goes to the EEC = budget); member states that trade with non-member states generate a higher income for the EEC → UK traded the most (commonwealth = strong relationships with previous colonies) so generated a lot of money for the EEC, but barely received any, as it didn’t really have agriculture

Draft Treaty establishing the European Union

1.10.1 Single European Act 1986

1975: Franco dies, Spain evolves from a dictatorship and joins the EEC in 1986; they integrated faster than Eastern European states; it was difficult to compete with a market that was already in place so it wanted to become a member state as that would be economically beneficial in the long run and it promotes democratic governing

1986: member states sign the Single European Act (treaty in reality, but not called a treaty): here they look at democratic processes: EPA is now called European Parliament and it has more legislative powers (it can block budgets and some legislation)

in a normal parliament: elected representatives, mostly two bodies (bicameral → senate and house of representatives; both chambers are usually elected and check one another (except for UK: House of Lords not elected, but appointed by government)) >< European Parliament: monocameral, term not well chosen, assembly would have been better

  • Lower House France: Assemblé National → some words used in the EU are simply used to sound more prestigious

officializes the EPC (European Political Cooperation) and European Council = widening

  • European Council now official = summits that used to be by the fireside are now officially called European Council; they also have an agenda and have to meet every x months

  • for these meetings the Council meets on the EPC, in 986 mostly foreign policy = how will the EEC react to things happening in the world, how will we find a consensus to respond to crises

officializes the EMS (European Monetary System) and calls for coordination of monetary and economic policies = widening

  • EMS: cooperation not based on text or agreement between European Central Banks

  • EMS task: reduce fluctuations in currency market; they normally fluctuate in regard to one another, but they have to stay in between bands as to not distort competition; if member states did want to devalue currency, they should notify the other member states who could then do the same

  • Single European Act puts these rules and tasks in a text, reference in the Treaty to the EMS (what should it/shouldn’t it do)

officializes the European Parliament and grants it more legislative powers (cooperation, assent) = deepening

  • cooperation procedure

  • assent = accession and association

facilitates the realisation of the internal market = deepening

  • procedures are laid down t make norms and standards a lot more easy; the member states can no longer invent their own norms and standards, but you do need some sort of system that all member states can agree on

  • the act also envisages a new way on voting on new norms and standards

  • at first this was called the common market, entailed a single economic area without frontiers outlined by the Commission in its 1985 White Paper

extends the EEC’s competence to social, environmental, regional and research issues = widening

  • spill over: economic production creates pollution that doesn’t stop at the borders = we need cooperation to reduce or stop pollution

  • a member state that allows factories to pollute, produces cheaper products = unfair competition

  • countries that invest in research, also have an unfair advantage = European Research Policy → the EEC will distribute the budget and it will look at the quality of the research, not the country (still very important in the EU)

facilitated by introducing qualitative majority voting and by extending executive powers of the Commission

1.10.2 Schengen Agreement 1987-1999

intergovernmental initiative outside EEC framework; integrated in EU framework in 1999

  • parallel circuit at first

  • intergovernmental initiative, number of governments sign an agreement amongst themselves to allow people to move freely across borders + to create more cooperation between police forces and judicial systems in the EEC

why wasn’t it included in the Single European Act 1986 → not all members of the EEC wanted to become members of the Schengen Agreement

aims at removing border control for people between contracting parties

  • at first: locations where identity could be checked on the border; people were paid to do this, but it caused huge traffic jams, lorries had to wait, but it was supposed to make it more difficult to get into another country

aims at reinforcing external frontiers and cooperation between police forces

  • issue: no borders = criminals can also move freely = we need cooperation between police forces and judicial systems

  • biggest issue related to drug traffic

original membership: Benelux, Germany and France

  • UK never joined = problem

1.11 1989-1990

Collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Yugoslavia conflict (countries involved: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia)

  • “brothers” become enemies: Slovenia and Croatia no longer want to be a part of Yugoslavia; army filled with Serbs = conflict

reunification of Germany

  • 3rd of October 1990

  • West-Germany was a very powerful member state → economic level only, still occupied by American, French and Belgian troops = no political or military power

  • East-Germany becomes democratic: what will happen → unification or not; at the beginning Americans, Soviets, French and Brits against a reunified Germany

  • Germany really did want it + other non-democratic countries like Spain and Portugal were able to become and stay democratic = we should also do this with East-Germany, this persuaded the other countries

  • but: reunification was a disaster → almost no economy in former East-Germany and it had to happen immediately (within a year) while Spain and Portugal had ten years

  • e.g. industry that produces shoes

    • 50 Deutschmark (East-Germany) = 100 DM in West-Germany → but: we can only really sell these shoes in East-Germany as they aren’t really fashionable and the price difference isn’t that high, so it’s not really attractive to the West-Germans

    • currency rate: 1/10 = you need 10 Deutschmark to buy 1 DM

    • german government 1990= no more difference in currency rate, 1 to 1 → in a 1 to 10 system, East-German shoes cost 5 DM >< in a 1 to 1 system they cost 50 DM (10 times more expensive)

  • decision based on electorate: what kind of people do we want to support us: older people with savings because they vote; they had savings in East-Germany and those became worth more = decision made by old people for old people

  • enormous economic plan: we won’t allow the economy to collapse, to we’ll sell the old East-German factories to companies that will have to restructure them → Treuhand: they failed East-Germany, but were very beneficial for West-Germany; West-German buys the factory for a symbolic DM, promise to save as many jobs as possible, but only 2% of the workforce is maintained

  • statistics of Germany: still a clear border between the two parts

call for a new treaty which should provide = will lead up to the Maastricht Treaty

  • a better framework for political cooperation in foreign affairs and security

    • we need more political cooperation because we can’t handle the crisis in Yugoslavia → US intervenes by bombing Belgrade (Serbian capital) = the Europeans are a dwarf in foreign policy

    • no european voice: old allies → Croatia and Slovenia supported by Germany (and Austria) >< Serbia supported by Russia, France and UK = impossible to have one voice, the views of UK and France did change, but at first no consensus

  • a roadmap for monetary unification

    • poorer parts of Germany will receive support, EEC will also have to invest in East-Germany (investments in job training, investments to support community = we need more cooperation

  • an institutional framework capable of dealing with expected enlargements

security: associated with military in this context, but in member states: police >< military = defence in member states

  • security usually internal >< defence usually external

  • but: in EU → security = defence because of NATO: forbade the creation of an organization with Defence in its title; US is responsible for defence, which they showed in the Yugoslavian war + in the amount of contributions made to the NATO (EU countries don’t pay enough)

  • = there’s also taboo words in the EU discourse

1.12 Treaty on the European Union 1993

= Maastricht Treaty

no longer establishing…community, now: on

  • EU is not created, it does not establish the European Union; it’s merely a new name for the organization; cover term: EU does not get legal personality (stipulated in the text)

    • legal personality: accountable for acts + usually companies = avoid personal responsibility, border between you and the company which allows companies to sign documents; EU no right to sign contracts = can’t sign deals with other countries, EEC did have this

  • proposal Luxembourg: Treaty towards the European Union (to express it’s not there yet), on vaguest option

EEC is done business, now we talk about the EU as cover term for the European Community, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Cooperation in the fields of Justice and Home Affairs

three pillars

  • ECSC, EEC, EAEC, EMU (European Monetary Union, name since the Maastricht Treaty instead of System, basis for Euro)), citizenship = EC (European Community) (first pillar)

    • European Community has legal personality = can sign treaties, agreements, deals with other countries

    • first pillar is supranational, this is where the EU has real power on its own, here is does not depend on the sum of power of the member states

  • EPC (European Political Cooperation)= CFSP (second pillar)

    • not supranational, but intergovernmental = sum of the member states’ power, with consensus to do something in for example Yugoslavia (the organisation depends on the opinion of the member states to for example send peace troops)

  • CJHA (Cooperation in the fields of Justice and Home Affairs) (third pillar)

    • internal security = courts and police

    • intergovernmental = sum of the member states’ power

  • second and third: intergovernmental, but do involve EC institutions

  • the three pillars are still visible up to this day; procedures are different in the different areas → member states don’t really want to give up power in military and police, but economic cooperation is very popular

    • economic development

    • trade best managed at a higher level = EU

today: EU has legal power since 2010 = now we can claim that the EU negotiates trade deals, before only the European Community (EC) was able to do this (supranational, not intergovernmental)

European Monetary Union

  • at first the same task as the EMS: keep currencies between fluctuation bands (2.5% up and down)

  • second step: fluctuation bands reduced to zero = fixed exchange rates that aren’t allowed to change; we bind currencies like this = the currencies behave as one (because they have to follow each others), but there’s still different kinds of currencies

  • third step: one currency policy → since 1999 online, 2002 real-live; old currencies could still circulate for 2 weeks besides the Euro

  • treaty: all members are supposed to join → 1993 12 member states, but Denmark and UK didn’t want to participate = only participated in first phase, but not the others = they got an opt-out

long and difficult negotiations → intergovernmental conferences + opinion European Council

start of the differentiation process with opt-outs = not all member states apply EU law to the same extent

1.12.1 First pillar

single market, competition

policies: former policies are deepend → social policy

  • Social policy = EU rules on how many hours you can work per week (48 hours); UK not pleased

    • opt-out UK → conservative social policy, corporate interests, business owners; not fond of social rights so they opt out

    • afterwards they did adopt the 48-hour workweek

  • education, vocational training, culture, public health, consumer protection, industry, trans-european networks

    • education: EU cannot interfere in for example the price of education (lower in Belgium than in other EU countries); but it can interfere to allow exchanges between students of different countries = cross border; in one area such as education, the EU can interfere in certain sub-areas, but not in others

subsidiarity

  • EU acquires more power in different areas = member states try to limit the power with the principle of subsidiarity

  • if you want to legislate or adopt law, you’ll adopt the at the lowest level possible = closest to the citizen, don’t go up in the hierarchy if you don’t have to

  • EU only allowed in issues that go beyond borders = EU has to prove that the issue cannot be solved at a lower level, it has to motivate its decision

Economic and Monetary Union ctd (common technical document)

  • UK not interested and opts out from single currency, Denmark as well

  • other member states have to qualify for the single currency = convergence criteria

    • currency must have spent 2 years in the EMS

    • inflation must be under control

    • public deficit must not exceed 3% of the GNP → expenditure not covered by income = loans; all states have deficits (annual thing), it cannot exceed 103% of their income

    • public debt must not exceed 60% of the GNP → sum of all deficits in the past

  • exemptions can be granted for one of the criteria (you just had to show you were on the right track)

  • only one country fulfills all criteria: Luxembourg

  • Commission between 2010-2018 strictly tried to imply the rules, but in 2020 Covid ensured that every country exceeded the percentages = Commission was flexible

  • UK

    • joined the first phase, but didn’t want to join the Eurozone

    • Pound Sterling enters the market in 1990 (joining of the EMU) → but: specific investors thought the valuta was overvalued (rate to high) and were convinced it would lose value over time and would force other member states to buy them

    • George Soros (Hungarian-American, Jewish decent): holdup of the European Central Bank → convinced the pound would decrease over time = short sold it (bets on a decrease in value; you’re convinced a share or commodity would lose value, so you bet on it)

      • short selling: you’re convinced prices for grain and petrol will go down starting in October 2023 until August 2024; you don’t own shares, so you lend them without immediately paying for them, the transfer (the moment you lend them) is in October, the giveback with interests in August; you now have shares that aren’t yours and sell them at a high price at the beginning of a certain period (e.g. 100 dollars per share/barrel); now you own a lot of money, the prices go down but you don’t own the shares anymore = you need to buy them back to return them to the person you lent them from, you speculated that it’ll now only cost you 50 dollars, so you gained 50 dollars and only 10% of this added value will go to the lender

    • Soros made a billion dollars, he invested this in the creation of a free university in Budapest (private, kind of elite) and gave scholarships to poorer students → but: Orban: no control over the university (private), misused Soros image as someone you cannot vote for, fed into the Jewish stereotypes

    • issue: markets see that a certain big seller is short selling the currency = they do the same thing, more speculations so the pound dropped even more in value, the ECB had to compensate for the losses

    • UK left the EMS in 1990 and never returned

citizenship → passports show that we are EU citizens

  • nationals of the EU member states

    • have the right to vote and to be selected in local and European elections in the member state of residence

      • right to vote after 5 years

      • no vote in regional or national elections

    • have a right of petition to the European Parliament

      • = you can ask the EP to look at a problem in the EU; suggestions by the citizens for new legislation for example

    • can file complaints about the European Institutions with the ombudsman

      • if we feel discriminated against for example

    • must be protected by EU embassies in third countries (e.g. Vietnam, Thailand) if their own member state doesn’t have diplomatic representation in a country = consular protection

  • first and fourth (voting and consular protection) special: countries give the right to foreign citizens to vote in their countries + promise to protect these citizens

  • first one strange that you can’t vote in regional or national elections: no taxation without representation = you pay taxes, but aren’t represented in parliament (national elections)

  • Brexit:

    • UK citizens that lived on the continent for more than 15 years were not allowed to vote in the referendum

    • groups of people for whom the decision about Brexit meant the most were excluded from the elections → if you withdraw from the EU, you withdraw the rights of EU-citizens living in the UK = non-democratic referendum, people who were affected, didn’t get a voice; if everyone got a vote who should've gotten one, there probably wouldn’t have been a Brexit

1.12.2 Second pillar

= talk with one voice in international politics, difficult as member states have different opinions on international matters

main success: sanctions = instrument of foreign policy, you don’t agree with what another country did so you impose sanctions to change behaviour

  • 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia so far

  • Orban: personal friend of Putin, always protests during the sanction rounds, but hasn’t said no so far (if he did: the sanctions would not have been imposed)

foreign policy

security policy

framing of a defence policy (in accordance with NATO and Western European Union)

  • first time, there’s some kind of policy, but not really there → only one: capabilities policy = agreement between member states to not do the same, but cooperate (navy Netherlands and Belgium under one command) + to buy new ships = joint decision

  • only about military capabilities, not operations

  • peace-keeping operations where EU did help: Kosovo, Mali

  • no European Army, but there is some sort of cooperation

1.12.3 Third pillar

police, judicial and customs operation (Europol)

  • Europol: international list of criminals, if they are caught in a different country, they are extradited to the country that was looking for them

visa and immigration policy

  • people in third countries can apply for a Schengen-visa in any ambassy of a member state = Chinese person can file for application in a Belgian embassy in Beijing to travel to Germany because it’s a common visa

  • Dublin Convention: parallel agreement; not a piece of legislation, became first basis for immigration policy

fight against drugs and international crime

1.12.4 Institutional changes

first pillar

  • increased legislative power of the European Parliament → co-decision

    • not only veto power anymore, now they can change/amend legislation = EP becomes more important in the institutional framework

    • new procedure: co-decision = ordinary legislative procedure

    • extension of assent = electoral procedure EP

  • increased institutional power of the European Parliament

    • EP now the right to approve the Commission and make it resign

    • Committee of the Regions is created

  • Court of Auditors becomes an institution

    • used to be part of the EP, now it’s a real institution (bookkeepers and accountants work here)

    • something surprising about “becoming an institution”

1.13 The early 90s

war in Yugoslavia: shows complete failure of the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy)

monetary crisis: UK forced to withdraw from the EMS in September 1992 by massive speculations

  • other exchange rates were influenced by the instability of the pound sterling = the EMS needed to make an exception

EMS loosens requirements for monetary stability in 1993 to prevent Italy and Ireland from leaving the system and not qualifying for EMU

  • exception: fluctuation bands are broadened to 6% to keep them in the system

treaty on the EEA (European Economic Area) between EU members and all but one of the members of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association), but immediately made futile by accession of Sweden, Finland and Austria in 1995

  • members of the EFTA at the time: Liechtenstein, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland = sign a trade agreement; EU law is broadened to EFTA 2 = new countries in EFTA have to follow the laws; everything that has something to do with internal market is applied to these states that don’t belong to the EU

  • certification process, standards and norms are now part of this treaty → Norway has the same norms and standards as the rest of Europe, but isn’t involved in the decision-making process

  • expected that the UK would remain in the EEA after Brexit, in the end they didn’t stay, but do apply the decisions made by the EU concerning internal trade (common market)

Switzerland not part of the EEA , but has lot of agreements with the EU = all benefits, no restrictions from the EU or the EEA (only members: EU member states + Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland)

1.14 Treaty of Amsterdam 1999

reshuffle of pillars

  • part of the third pillar (CJHA) moved to the first pillar (EC) = communitzed → visa an asylum

    • visa becomes supranational matter

  • remaining part is rechristened: Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters

  • Schengen integrated in first pillar, even though not all EU member states are Schengen (Cyprus today and Ireland)/not all Schengen member are EU member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) (Schengen = enhanced cooperation)

    • Ireland has special passport regulation with the UK (Passport Union) = can’t become a member

    • Cyprus not in Schengen because it’s partly controlled by Turkey

    • Bulgaria and Romania were refused because they could not sufficiently control immigration at their borders (Austria refused for example), but as of today they are allowed (for air and sea borders) to join in March

member states could lag behind → treaty allows groups of the member states to move forward without the others

  • opt-outs will become official

    • at first: protocols; we have the electoral treaty and besides there’s the protocols = we have to interpret the text like this (e.g. UK will not join the EMU); sometimes those protocols are more important than the treaty

  • not elegant to add protocols to the treaties, so there has to be some kind of procedure where member states can decide not to implement certain treaties

    • enhanced cooperation (first and third pillar) = a minimum of 9 member states agree to move forward while the other member states are allowed to “lag behind”, this way, the institutions can make sure a proposal cannot be blocked by one or more member states who do not wish to cooperate; this is granted by the Council (of the EU) after proposal from the European Commission and after obtaining consent from the European Parliament; so far only used for divorce law, patents and financial transaction tax

      • divorce law: only for international marriages (which is why EU is involved; principle of subsidiarity!): German and French couple marry and live in Denmark, if they divorce: where does it happen, where will they ask a judge to rule on the divorce settlement = where they live or where they were born; result of spill-over (open borders = free travel = international marriages = divorce procedures); not all member states join, for example catholic countries where divorce is allowed, but frowned upon

powers of the European Parliament are increased = scope of codecision (ordinary legislative procedure) is widened

qualitative majority (QM) voting extended in the Council (of the EU) = more power to the EU

new policy: employment

newcomer: High Representative for the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy)

  • for negotiation you need someone at the highest level = High Representative

  • right now: Josep Borell (Spain, Catalonia), head of the European Foreign Diplomacy

    • President of the Commission Von Der Leyen expressed her support for Israel in Israel where she represented the EU in international politics = NOT allowed, this is the department of the High Representative

    • only Borell can stand in front of the EU flag and an Israeli flag together with the minister of Israel to express support for the cause

1.15 Treaty of Nice 2003

enhanced cooperation extended to the second pillar (CFSP)

more areas with QM, but content is modified

rapid succession of different treaties in these years: why?

  • 1993: people worried the treaty was not adapted to new realities

    • 1993 12 member states: 1952 (ECSC) inner six = Benelux, France, Germany and Italy + 1973 Ireland, Denmark and UK + 1981 Greece + 1986 Portugal and Spain

    • 2004 25 member states: above + 1995 Sweden, Finland and Austria + 2004 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia

    • 2023 27 member states: above + 2007 Romania and Bulgaria + 2013 Croatia - 2020 UK

  • = member states doubled, we have to modify our treaties + accepting all those countries are tipping the balance (first six, then seven, then nine, then twelve, now twenty five = drastic increase); power centres experience a loss of power, more parties to find consensus with

1.16 Laeken Declaration 2001 (Belgian)

plan to overhaul treaties: the revisions make the treaties too difficult = we have to restructure everything to make it more comprehensible; we’ll write a text that is understandable, includes all changs and is simplified so that ordinary people could read it

calls for simplification of treaties

calls for clearer division and definition of powers

  • European Parliament is becoming more like a parliament in the international context = we have to clearly decide which institution is responsible for which area and which power every institution has

calls for profound institutional reform

calls for Europe closer to the citizen → Constitution - Fundamental rights

  • difference treaty and constitution: constitution establishes a state >< treaty is an agreement between sovereign states

  • if it’s called constitution, it’s almost as if the EU is becoming a federal state

  • in the constitution we’ll start of with the rights of the citizens (fundamental rights) = what are the rights of citizens in the EU, afterwards we’ll refer to areas such as trade (charter of fundamental rights = show citizens which rights they have)

preparation of the Constitution carried out by Convention, presided over by Valéry Giscard d’Estainq

  • d’Estainq former president of France (1974-1981), was in his 70s = not a young person with fresh ideas; typical French politician in favour of EU and state sovereignty

  • member states agreed, but they feared it; they knew it would take a long time; he was appointed as president, because he wouldn’t be doing anything special

  • prime minister Belgium at that time: Guy Verhofstadt, he was a federalist and suggested the constitution

1.17 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE) 2004

10/07/2003: the Convention delivers final version of the treaty

Intergovernmental Conference amends the text

  • e.g.: add quotation marks, comma’s, etc.

Constitutional Treaty is signed on the 18th 2004 by the Heads of State and Government

  • after signing it has to be ratified, in many countries this was through referenda → changes to a constitution have to be ratified by a referendum (treaties can mostly be accepted by parliament, e.g. in France); in Belgium referenda illegal (except for regional level); failed in France and the Netherlands by a big margin = can’t be ratified

  • the referenada were positive in Spain and Luxembourg

  • UK: wanted to organise a referendum, but this would be the last country in the row = more pressure to accept, but no longer necessary as the constitution failed in other countries

the constitution never saw the light of day

in 2004 10 new member states joined the EU (see above)

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

  • the Treaty establishes the constitution = the constitution is subordinate and depends on the word treaty = it’s a treaty, not a constitution (d’Estainq: not many people are fond of the EU state = let’s not risk calling it that)

  • a constitution = there are others → this constitution must be interpreted in accordance with the national constitutions of the member states; the European Constitution cannot be in conflict with the national constitutions; it’s a constitution of multiple constitutions

  • for Europe = this would mean Russia is also included, not clear why they chose Europe

there’s a text that doesn’t get adopted, but it does facilitate a number of things = the Lisbon treaty

  • this text has been written, we can use it; went into force at the end of 2009, but in an adapted version

  • almost an exact copy (97%), but contentious words were taken out of it, the chapters were rearranged (fundamental rights are now at the back of the document), most of the information was copied

  • the Lisbon Treaty was signed and had to be ratified again, only Denmark and Ireland used referenda, failed in Denmark = new amendments, in second round accepted; the Netherlands and France ratified it through parliament we can’t trust the vox populi)

in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

  • part I: common values and objectives in the Union, Union competences, its institutions and bodies, provisions on finances and membership

  • part II: charter of fundamental rights of the European Union

  • part III: policies and functioning of the Union

  • part IV: general and final provisions

1.18 Lisbon Treaty 2007 (entry into force 2009)

no longer a new treaty, but treaty of amendments on the TCE

treaty on EU = old second and third pillar (CFSP and CJHA) and a treaty on the Functioning of the European Union = old first pillar (EC)

the treaty maintains the essentials of the TCE, but without constitutional wording such as Union Minister of Foreign Affairs (High Representative of the EU → minister represents a country, using this term refers to the EU as a state; High Representative also used in the UN)

substantial reforms

  • EU endowed with legal capacity = EU can sign documents and can be held accountable for its acts

  • president of the European council

    • European Council used to be the informal body of the 1970s, became official in 1986 as European Council, but it had a rotating presidency of 6 months = it lacked continuity

    • Lisbon treaty: appointment of a permanent president 2.5 years, right now Charles Michel (before Van Rompuy and Tusk); big rivalry between Michel and von der Leyen about the seats = rivalry between the presidents

    • president of the commission: nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament for a period of 5 years

    • presidency of the Council (of the EU) does still rotate every six months

  • ECB (European Central Bank) and European Council become institutions

    • to become an institution = to be held accountable for acts → you can be sued and can sue other institutions

  • national parliaments have a role in legislation

    • awkward: ordinary legislative procedure (codecision) between two parties: European Parliament and Council of the EU

    • national parliamentary has subsidiarity check = to which level the EU can intervene; done by national parliaments → they read the proposal by the commission and have to agree that the problem is international enough to allow the EU to get involved

  • qualitative majority and co-decision (ordinary legislative procedure) become the rule

  • qualitative majority voting is reshaped

  • secession clause article 50

    • activated by the UK to leave the EU = Brexit clause; for the first time it becomes legally possible to leave the EU; this clause describes how the member state could leave the EU (before also legal , but now there’s an actual procedure; the EU-membership is a contract that can be dissolved)

    • Council of the EU and the European Parliament have to agree with the request made by the member state (before the member state could just “quit” the EU)

    • referendum of leaving the the EU (Brexit) was in 2016, the letter was written in 2017 (= proposal to the Council and Parliament), the actual date of leave was 2020 = it became a lot harder to leave the EU

    • another issue: the UK doesn’t have a constitution = they had to make ad hoc rules to get the Brexit deal

  • article 49: accession clause = countries can become a member

    • rule 5: all privileges that a member state gains through membership, are lost = if the UK were to “rejoin” the EU, they will have lost all their privileges for the budget and they’d lose all opt-outs

    • but: UK no plans to come back, even Labour is now against it

1.19 The sovereign debt crisis 2009

Eu responds to international crises by becoming less democratic

the sovereign debt crisis was especially caused by Greece

early 2009: financial situation of Greece untenable

  • what happened: Greece joined the EU in 1981, became part of the Eurozone in 2001 but had a lot of public dept (allowed: 60% of GNP >< Greece 170%), but didn’t inform the other member states about this; the public deficit was 13% (allowed: 3% of GNP), the new Greek government also didn’t realise this = economy wasn’t strong

  • normal country with weak economy: devalue currency → all products and work forces become cheaper = economy becomes attractive to others, investments “fix” the economy >< Greece: part of the EU = can’t decide for the EU to devalue the Euro, they had given up their power to do this = no easy remedy, only one solution: solve dept and deficit problem by cutting back on pensions and state aid

  • Germany and France would never allow the Euro to be devalued to rescue the Greek economy = EU very strict budgetary program for the Greek economy, kind of like the mother-in-law of the Greek government (money used controlled by the EU, nothing could be spend without approval)

  • Greek crisis was not isolated, other member states also experiences issues

    • Italy: not as spectacular

    • Ireland: banking sector crashed because it invested too much and lost too much → three big banks collapsed = enormous effect on economy; the banks were bought up, and the economy reached a deficit of 43% in 2010 = Government began collapsing

    • several members such as France and Belgium also suffered

    • EU reacts: we have criteria to join the EU, but no one adheres to them anymore = we need a stronger system → European Semester

2010-2011: growing awareness of need for cooperation and supervision in economic and budgetary policies

  • six pack 2011: six legislative measures to be implemented by all EU member states (sanctions and early warnings)

    • period of 6 months (January-June): member states have to submit the budget (for the next year) to the European COmmission, the Commission advices what needs to be changed (who normally decides the budget: national Parliament, now: only a voice after the period implemented by the EU = around September or October; why national parliament: no taxation without representation → budget = tax measures, budget meant for action (expenditure); Commission voice, but not elected by people = after their decision the national parliament gets a voice

  • two pack 2011: two legislative measures to be implemented by members of the Eurozone only (European semester and surveillance) (Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden are not part of the Eurozone)

  • European Fiscal Compact 2013: intergovernmental treaty between 25 member states

  • Banking Union 2012

    • before: when a bank collapsed in one country, it negatively affected the banks in other countries; no policies to intervene when a bank went bankrupt (member states had to fix it on their own)

    • now this Union: applies to the biggest EU banks, stress tests to see how banks react if certain disaster hits; only applies to banks strong enough to cause a wave of bankruptcy in other countries

if a member state defaults (admits that the loans cannot be paid back), all member states in the Eurozone have to pay = we have to warrant the dept (very citizen of the EU warrant of 2500 euros) = we need to trust the European criteria

1.20 Migration crisis 2015

war in Syria began in 2011, but had most impact in 2015

Germany: no external borders in 2015 with non-member states; Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary do

main point migration policy in the EU: Dublin convention 1990 was signed outside the EU framework, then integrated, now it’s known as Dublin III (Dublin Regulation, 2020)

  • migrants that arrive at an external border (according to this law) have their fingerprints taken, will be registered into a migrant list and will be able to request asylum in this country; you cannot move away from this country (according to law); but: EU no borders between countries = people moved around freely (also Schengen), but: the country to which these people move can intercept you, check the registration and send you back to the country you first arrived in and requested asylum in

  • not fair: Germany doesn’t have borders with non-EU members, these other countries do = Germany could, according to the law, send everyone back (except for those that arrived in ports or airports); Germany decided to give up its rights under the Dublin regulation (no longer obliged to send back the immigrants) = more migrants come to the EU and move to Germany, but then they still pass countries like Hungary and Bulgaria = first “piece” of travel is still “bothering” these countries; asylum crisis

asylum crisis: result of a lack of international rule system and the unfair aspects of the Dublin Regulation

  • still no plan to equally divide the migrants across the EU member states, even though Italy has been crying out for help

2016 FRONTEX: European Border and Coast Guard Agency

1.21 Military cooperation 2018 (Trump-Era)

PESCO: permanent structured cooperation (25 member states)

  • 17 projects, partly recycling older initiatives

off-budget fund to finance military operations and assistance: European Peace Facility (facility = monetary)

  • used now to buy lethal weapons for Ukraine

  • only the democratic body of the EU = European Parliament; which institution decides to use the fund: Council (of the EU) = non-democratic

    • so: if a democratic country were to participate in a war, it would need democratic approval by parliament (like when the US tried to “help” countries against communism, Congress had to decide whether or not the budget could be used for this), but in the Ukrainian war this was not the case → only the Council decided = ministers of foreign affairs (appointed by the member states) = 27 people who were not elected; decided to put twelve billion euros at the disposal of the Ukrainian government to invest in weapons

  • off-budget: fund outside the EU budget, partly from the budget, partly from member state contributions

Trump: wanted to pull out of NATO, the EU would have to invest more into its own safety (without relying so much on the US)

1.22 Covid pandemic 2020

EU has no power in the field of health services → subsidiarity principle: health care is on the national level, unless a citizen from another member state needs medical assistance

what in 2020: the EU had negotiations with different vaccine suppliers (Pfizer, Moderna)

  • development of a European health policy through emergency purchase of vaccines

  • if the EU didn’t do this: prices would have been higher and would have costed more or less in the different member states (Germany was already negotiating, other member states weren’t = they needed a central body that could talk for them)

  • but: secret negotiations, Von der Leyen didn’t disclose information about it = vaccines were cheaper in the EU, but didn’t happen democratically, public in the member states did not know what happened

recovery plan: NextGenerationEU → loans and grants

  • cynical after having lost so many people to covid

  • first time the EU borrowed money, it didn’t have a right to do this before covid

  • every state was able to borrow money = EU debt → before: balanced budgets; right now: EU is allowed to borrow and lend money, also gave money to member states (this amount doesn’t have to be returned)

  • but: no taxation without representation = who will pay back this debt → the taxpayers in the member states

Council regulation 2020/2094 of 14 December 2020 establishing a European Union Recovery Instrument to support the recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis

  • instrument: money (EU jargon)

  • council regulation → proposal put forward by the Commission, the only democratic institution (Council of the EU) was not involved

  • infringement of the no taxation without representation principle

  • more crises = more undemocratic decisions made by the EU

  • money not yet given to Hungary: the country has to become more democratic first, but this decision in itself was not democratic

  • non-democratic procedure

  • in the EU two legislative bodies: the Council of the European Union (ministers of foreign affairs) and European Parliament (elected, during the European Elections these are the people you vote for); different institutions: European Council: heads of state or government of the EU member states, with a president of the European Council (Charles Michel) and the European Commission with the president of the European Commission (Ursula von der Leyen)

1.23 Enlargements

2007: accession Bulgaria and Romania

2013: accession Croatia

2020 (2016, 2017) Brexit

future:

  • candidate countries: Turkey, Albania, FYROM (North-Macedonia, Greece has a city called Macedonia = didn’t want the country to be called that; only until 2 years ago), Serbia (odd, supports Russia), Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova

  • potential candidate countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo (not recognised by Spain because of the Catalan issue)

how to become a member: you have to declare yourself a candidate, the EU has to approve, then negotiations → EU law has to be implemented = translated (no terminology is given = everything has to be done from scratch); afterwards (if you meet criteria) you have to join Schengen (took almost 17 for Romania and Bulgaria)

1.24 Chronological overview

common policies and common market → EPC (European Political Cooperation, especially for foreign affairs) → CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) → CSDP (Common Foreign and Defence Policy)

common policies and common market → Schengen

common policies and common market → citizenship

common policies and common market → TREVI → CJHA (Cooperation in the fields of Justice and Home Affairs) → PJCC (Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters)

common policies and common market → policies → Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

common policies and common market → single market → Economic and Monetary Union

AFSJ: Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (entails: Schengen, Citizenship, TREVI, CJHA, PJCC)

single market and policies: 30 member states → 27 EU + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein = EEA

policies = 27 EU member states

Defence Policy: Denmark was not part until two years ago = 27 member states

Schengen: until March Bulgaria and Romania are not yet included = 25 EU member states (Cyprus and Ireland are not part) + Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein