Throughout the development of the European Union, many political thinkers tried to give their interpretation of EU, to theorize its essence to give a clear picture and show the path that EU is most likely to take in future. Those have organized themselves in several schools of thought, out of which there are two dominant ones- intergovernmentalism and neo-functionalism. The former was first mentioned by Stanley Hoffmann- professor of Harvard University and then picked up by others.
The latter approach was introduced by Ernst Bernard Haas- a German-American scientist. Both approaches capture at least some of the essence of the EU today, however it is also fair to say that they are out of date, and have less adequate explanations of the process of integration, than they had 50 years ago. In order to answer the question, it is important to mention the timeframe. The whole period of European integration has to be taken into account in order to show that the two dominant approaches had been topical at different phases, and in a sense, had shaped the future behavior. The essay will look at the two dominant schools of thought, try to explain the workings of them, consider criticisms and show that, by no doubt, intergovernmentalism and neo-functionalism capture the essence of the EU today to some extent, but real history of EU and some theoretical defects shows that none of those theories capture the actual essence of the European Union. The conclusion shows that at the moment,
The EU was created in the midst of a war in attempts to unite Europe under a common government. After 43 years of rebuilding foreign affairs, have their attempts made a positive impact on the modern Europe? Many argue that the EU takes a toll on country's sovereignty. They lack in allowing countries to be apart of the union, without masking the unique culture and diversity of that country. Despite the advantages of being apart of the EU, the disadvantages highly outweigh them in the areas of economic, independence and cultural identity.
Part of the exceptional nature of the EU stems from the notion that nothing like it has ever been attempted successfully before. The European Union is an international institution with a single market and shared currency. It strives to maintain singular goals and make its way towards being an “ever closer union”. Today, the European Union has expanded to include twenty-eight member countries with an influence that reaches every continent. This institution has had an impressive history, but it has reached a point of concern. The golden years which held high hopes of a united supranational Union are long over. The EU faces destructive problems today, which could ultimately end their impressive era of cooperation. The Union has come
In this essay, I will be discussing why and how the European Union was set up and the advantages and disadvantages of membership in its historical context.
The European Union, EU, is a union that consists of 28 member states within the European continent. Being part of the EU allows member states/countries to enjoy more market opportunities by dealing with the same currency from an economical perspective. Member states deal with the Euro currency. This promotes free trade between member states which is beneficial for their boundary-less organizations. Businesses or the people within the EU can export their goods and services within member states increasing their market or imports when they face the problem of scarce resources. Hence, member countries of the EU benefit from increased market opportunity. Free trade, free commerce, no taxes, and free travel between its member countries; thus it creates a sense of nationalism. “Neo-functionalism is an
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.
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)
In the event of an integrated Europe, constructivists recognize that to completely avoid conflict, each state will have to succumb to a “European identity” and all individual identities will have to become merely “cultural gems” within the European system. This, they argue, can be achieved with the success of several steps including economic, judicial, and security integration . The first step has already been attempted with the establishment of the Euro, the common European currency, which has been outperformed by its monetary competitors. A great amount of trust will have to be secured between states before a common court or army can be established, and most likely with as little success as the common currency. So, even by these simplified guidelines the outlook for the creation of a new “European
The European Union was formed with many expectations. Despite closeness and similarities, the various nations of the European continent fought bitter wars for thousands of years within themselves. After the devastating World War II, finally everyone saw the light and decided to give a chance to a peaceful coexistence. However, the EU’s path has not been smooth. Many critical economic as well as political problems have emerged throughout the last decade, raising questions about its credibility.
Formed from 28 Member States, the EU has developed an internal single market which enabled it to control what happens in the Member States. The context in which the EU has developed has caused it to be unique in comparison to all the others and through this essay I will demonstrate how the characteristics and functions of the EU are found to be those only associated with the EU.
The increasing weight of the Union since its creation in 1951 has elevated the community to the international stage as an indubitable power and encouraged the debate about the characterization of the EU, fostered by the involvement from European political science scholars. Scholars have came up with a "sui generis" definition of the EU in the sense that it neither is an intergovernmental organization nor a federal state.4 Still, the novelty of the Union does not bound itself to the definition of the nature of European institutional set-up. Indeed, the discussion between scholars goes further towards the characterization of the European power.
Since its founding in 1958, the European Union’s main purpose has been to promote peace, human rights, cooperation, democratic ideals, and the well-being of the European people. It has enabled Europe to emerge from destruction of World War II with a much unified marketplace, connected through a single currency, the Euro. The EU is a unique structure in that it is one of the biggest governing alliances worldwide that has been reasonably successful in its purpose. There are several elements of the structure, such as the European Council, European Parliament, Council of the EU, and the European Commission, as well as many others that help the EU to run efficiently and effectively.
European Union was formed with a lot of expectations. Despite closeness and similarities, the various nations of the European continent fought bitter wars for thousands of years within themselves. After the devastating World War II, finally everyone saw the light and decided to give a chance to peaceful coexistence. However, EU’s path hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses. Especially of late, too many critical problems have emerged, making some to question its very existence.
The European Union (EU) is not a typical international organization. The mix of intergovernmental and supranational institutions makes the EU a unique, distinctive political, and economic system. As Europe has spiraled from one crisis to the next, difficult discussions haves arisen about how much more power should be delegated to Brussels. Even though the EU advocates for “ever closer union”, through increased integration, states are becoming hesitant to relinquish power to the EU. This is due to the fact that state sovereignty has become threatened; it is being compromised by a combination of the lack of effective democratic institutions and the loss of states have lost control of law-making to legislation power to EU institutions. Euroenthuthiasts argue that state sovereignty is enhanced, not threatened, by reallocating power to EU institutions. However, Eurosceptics dispute that too much control has seceded to the EU making is a threat to state sovereignty. My position aligns with Eurosceptics, for the EU has weakened state sovereignty do to increased centralization of power in EU institutions that lack legitimacy. The European Project has obtained a copious amount of jurisdiction from states and eroded a basic fundamental freedom of the modern state- sovereignty. Since the EU has with goals to deepen and widen integration it’s clear that forfeiting state sovereignty will only intensify. My essay will start with a brief history of the European Union and a short
The European Union is a fortress of commerce, development, groundbreaking environmental initiatives, proactive human rights champions, and embodies the new era of integration efforts in the post-modern world. Europe is the recipient of global admiration as a prime destination for travelers who seek luxury, elegance, varying cultural experiences, and immersed in ancient history. European integration has produced the almighty EU that is considered to be one of the most respected, notarized, stable and secure intergovernmental and supranational bodies in the world. The appeal of Europe has reached an all time high as increasing global instability rises in neighboring countries surrounding the EU. Immigrants, migrants,
In the past years, the possible future of the European Union (EU) has been of increasing interest to social and political scientists as well as the public. Since 2008, the EU has experienced events such as the economic crisis and the 2014 European Parliament election, which have fostered intense debates around the legitimising basis of the EU (Zielonka, 2014). Furthermore, with the election of David Cameron in the 2015 United Kingdom general election even the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the EU has been discussed. Although many social and political scientists do not believe such a scenario (REFERENCE), one could argue that there is an increasing need for the EU to redefine itself in order not to experience a genuine ‘downfall’. Consequently, an alternative theory of EU integration challenging the classical intergovernmental and neofunctional understandings of the EU has gained increasing support among political scientists.