An Analysis of the Powers of the European Parliament Essay

The EU was created after the Second World War to unite the neighboring countries of Europe. It was established by six European countries in 1951: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands and West Germany (Briney, 2015). Today it consists of 28 countries united to create an economic and political community (Gov.uk, 2014).

Since 1950 European Union (EU) was created it has promoted peace, prosperity and values among the member nations and its neighbouring countries. EU’s influential tools, has helped transform many European states into functioning democracies and prosperous countries. EU’s membership has grown from 6 to 28 countries (Enlargement, 2014), satisfying a historic vow to integrate the continent bringing in most states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by peaceful ideals.EU has anticipated the enlargement as an extraordinary opportunity to endorse political strength and economic success in Europe. EU’s extension policy is open to any European state that fulfils the EU’s political and financial criteria for membership; still the political process of inclusion of new state requires a unanimous agreement from all the existing 28 member states. Europe is considered to be more flourishing and safer place due to the promotion of democracy, anti-corruption policy and the single market policy.

With regards to the claim that the European Parliament is too weak (the second of Weiler's standard version claims), Moravcsik (2002; 2003) emphasises the fact that during the last twenty years, the European Parliament is the institution which have experienced the most reforms, regarding its increase of powers, compare to the Council and the Commission. The latter argument is in fact accurate because ever since the Single European Act (1986), the European Parliament gains more and more power by reforms in every signed Treaty (Moravcsik, 2003, p. 7). Despite that, however, the Parliament is still considered to be weak compared to the other institutions, as it will be analysed later in the essay.

Before understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the dual executive we must recognise the power of the Council and the Commission. Firstly, The Council (ie Council of Ministers) is an institution which represents the interests of the member states. The Council has two main policy making powers; to reject or pass proposals that derive from

The Treaty on European Union also known as the Maastricht Treaty was signed in Maastricht 7th of February 1992 and the Treaty on the functioning of the

For instance, the European Parliament now had the ability to veto legislation. Other institutional changes saw the formation of a Committee of Regions and the Court of Justice be given the right to fine member states that were not complying with its judgments (Bieler, 2009:Lecture 4). Moreover, there were pivotal policy changes as it introduced education, public health, the environment and consumer protection, again to promote Europe’s supranational qualities.

The beginnings of what we know today as the European Union can be traced back to 1952, and the formation of the 'European Coal and Steel Community ' by the 'Inner Six ' founding member states. The ECSC was one of the first examples of a supranational union , designed to prevent the calamity of the two Great Wars from ever happening again. The ECSC later developed into the 'European Economic Community ' in 1967, before formally becoming the European Union (EU) in November 1993.

The European Union (EU) was created when the Maastricht Treaty, or now known as the Treaty on European Union, was signed in the early 1990’s. The document marked an essential milestone in the success and development of many European countries. It paved the way for many other future treaties and it also created the EMU or the European Monetary Union (“Europe Without Frontiers”). Though there were other economic European federations prior to the EU, the EU has by far been the more prosperous one. The EU was created to help unify Europe after WWII ended. With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, a central banking system was created, which would eventually set up the creation of the Euro (the currency currently used in most of Europe). There are both ups and downs to the European Union as the world has seen with the latest news on Britain leaving the federation. With England out of the European Union, the world will suffer enormous global economic ramifications.

The European Union is based on the rule of law. The treaties are an agreement between EU countries and it sets objectives for the EU. To serve European communities, the purpose the European institutions which have been changed over the years and is always based on intergovernmental principles. Parliamentary Assembly; the voice of the citizens have the power of co-decision, the Courts of justice; the duty to ensure that the Community law is observed, the Council; comprises representatives of the member states, still has the most powerful role in legislative process by the procedure of majority voting, and the commission has major responsibilities for the implementation of Community law . EU countries sign the Treaty of Lisbon establishing a European Constitution.

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were the six founding member states, the very first ones that progressively pooled their sovereignty to the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, signing the Treaty of Paris under Robert Schuman’s orders (Mccormick 2008:10). The basic idea was that whoever did not have control over coal and steel production would not be able to fight a war (EUROPA 2012a). So the spirit of the community embodied the principle that ‘any war between France and Germany would become not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible’ (Pinder 2001:1) because the control over coal and steel would be taken by a supranational organization. The other reasons were merely economic and the creation of a single market was the first step to start a complementary process of political unification, which, since it involved the very intrinsic factor that defines a state - sovereignty -, was not that immediate and simple in the case of the EU. In 1957 the Treaty of Rome produced the EEC [establishing the ‘common market’, breaking down the barriers between the EU’s national economies and establishing the 4 freedoms: free movement of goods, free movement of persons, freedom to provide services and free movement of capital] and EURATOM [concerning nuclear development] (Bainbridge 1998:287;518). In 1965 the Merger Treaty unified the three institutions forming the

The European Union was founded in the wake of World War II, in the hopes of promoting trade between member nations, who would be unlikely to go to war with each other. It presently consists of 28 nations, with over 500 million citizens. [1] At its governing level, the Union is split into 7 bodies, each with varying responsibilities similar to the branches of the United States government. The EU has 3 additional branches to supplement the Executive, Judicial, and two Legislative branches. There is a Central Bank, an official Auditory branch to keep the Banking branch in check, and an advisory branch to decide the policies and overall direction of the EU. The laws, policies, and treaties enacted by the EU supersede those of its individual member nations, even if they are in direct contradiction to that nation’s laws. [2] The average

1946 in a speech in Zurich after WWII, did Winston Churchill call for “kind of United States of Europe” (Coe.int, 2014). 1951 the ECSC is established by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Six years later in 1957 does the Rome treaty sets the start of the EEC the beginning of the european common market and the EURATOM (atomic energy community). In 1961 does Britain in fellowship with Denmark and Ireland apply for membership to the EEC but it is not until 1973 when the approval has been granted hence to Charles de Gaulles veto (News.bbc.co.uk, 2014).

At the Laeken European Council of December 2001, government and state leaders of the European Union (EU) Member States decided to draft a `Constitutional Treaty' for the EU. The draft would then be discussed, amended, approved or rejected by an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) held in 2003. The aim of Fabbrini's article is thus to contribute to the understanding of the constitutional evolution of the EU through a comparison with the constitutional experience of the United States.

After The Second World War, Europe was on the brink as it was in a state of total ruin, both economically and politically. Europe was involved in two World Wars in only fifty years, there was a massive need to achieve lasting peace as well as economic stability, this however would be difficult to achieve. The first major step was taken in 1951, when the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established. It was the chain of events leading from the ECSC that would be the first steps in molding today’s European Union. Throughout this period the “European” project was erratic and underwent quick development at certain times, and at others came to a grinding halt. The culminations of the larger moves seen in the sculpting of Europe were the main factors in the formation of the Europe that is seen today. Arguably the most important milestone is the, Treaty of Maastricht (1992).

The European Union (EU) was established in order to prevent the horrors of modern warfare, experienced by most of Europe during the World Wars of the 20th century, from ever ensuing again, by aiming to create an environment of trust with the countries of Europe cooperating in areas such as commerce, research and trade (Adams, 2001). The EU has evolved into an economic, trade, political and monetary alliance between twenty-eight European Member States. While not all Member States are in monetary union (i.e. share the currency of the euro), those that are form the ‘Euro-zone’ (Dinan, 2006). The EU can pass a number of types of legislation, with a regulation, act, or law, being the most powerful. Its ‘tricameral’ (European Union, 2007)