The World Of The European Union

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.

The people can vote for members of Parliament (Bundestag) and Federal Council (Bundesrat), but Parliament and the Council vote for the President (Bundesprasident) while the Chancellor is picked by Parliament. The house of Parliament is the acting Legislation for the government but the separation from the Executive is very little with no checks and balances besides a “vote of no confidence” (Deutschland.de). Though it is Parliamentary the President and Chancellor serve a set number of years per term up to only two terms. Germany is Parliamentary but it still has a working government and system of voting for the Legislative branch of Parliament. Although it is a Parliamentary system of relations of head of state the government’s power is

A parliamentary democracy is the power in Germany being shared amongst everybody. The positions are democratically elected by the population of the country. The way Germany was run is based upon the Constitution the power lies between the Reichstag, the chancellor and the Kaiser.

The Bundesrat, is second legislative chamber, this chamber is the federal body consisting of sixteen States (Land governments) are directly represented. Members of this legislative chamber are appointed by their respective Land governments, according to Glaessner, August (2005) “Basic Law, that the principles of federalism have to be respected and the agreement of the Bundesrat (the upper house of the federal parliament and representative of the federal states) has to be obtained”.

The Bundesrat is a body within the German government that represents the interests of the individual states and thus acts as a link between the Federation and the federal states. The Bundesrat is made up of appointed representatives of the federal state government with each state given a certain amount of votes in regards to their population. In total there are 69 seats with each Lander given between three to six seats. (Reuter 2009, pg. 17) The Bundesrat democratic legitimacy comes from the fact that its state governments are elected and thus those appointed to the Bundesrat were theoretically chosen by the people. Thus to be a member of the Bundesrat the person must have a role in the government at the federal state level. The Bundesrat does not need to pass every bill, but rather is only required to provide approval to bills if they directly affect the Lander and currently almost 50% of all bills passed need the approval of the Bundesrat. (U.S. Library of Congress) The Bundesrat can reject appeal laws to Federal matters, but the Bundestag can overrule those objections by having the same majority as in the Bundesrat who rejected it. Review and discussion over the proposals submitted by the Federal government are two of the Bundesrat’s main responsibilities which portray its checks and balances role in the federal government. If an agreement can not be made between the two chambers, then a Joint Conference Committee is created to resolve any differences and create a bill that has been passed by a majority in each chamber. The Bundesrat has a total of 16 committees who are are given certain undertakings in regards to their areas of knowledge and experience. (Reuter 2009, pg. 25) The Bundesrat only has six weeks to consider a bill so the work in the Bundesrat is generally done

Political representation is an integral part of modern liberal democracies, since they are based on equal elections of officials nominally speaking for their constituents. Although, political representation is so significant and I am, as a citizen of Germany, constantly affected by it, I never gave much thought to its definition, implications, types, and challenges. This changed after the readings on political representation setting on 20th October 15, in which we approached the concept.

The German government is definitely more democratic than the US government. Instead of a winner-take-all election, the German elections are based on proportionality. In the US, voters only get to choose between two candidates and two parties; whereas, in Germany there are several candidates and several different parties from which to choose. The German system allows the Bundestag to be filled accordingly to the percentages each party receives--the voters’ votes actually count instead of half the country being excluded. People have an adequate representation of their views and values when it seems that Americans have to settle for a candidate or party. In fact, Germany usually gets approximately 80% of its people to vote; however, the US gets

made up of Democrats and Republicans. Instead of having just a president like the United States, Germany has both a president and a chancellor. Frank – Walter Steinmeier is the current President of Germany and he actually does not play a huge role in their government. The chancellor of Germany is Angela Merkel and she plays the biggest role in the executive

Democracies with a proportional representation electoral system plus a Parliamentary system (like that of Germany) encourage smaller parties more than the single member plurality electoral system and Presidential system (like that of America) in giving a voice to the many interests that characterize our increasingly diverse national populations.

The Bundestag (Federal Diet; pronounced [ˈbʊndəstaːk]) is a legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag was established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier Reichstag. It meets in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Norbert Lammert is the current President of the Bundestag. With the new constitution of 1949,

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

One of the main objectives of the European Union (EU) is the establishment of the internal market, which shall consist of “area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. The internal market is based upon a customs union achieved through the abolition of the imposition of customs duties and charges having an equivalent effect and the prohibition of discriminatory taxes on intra-EU imports. The internal market is enhanced by the provisions on free movement of workers, freedom of establishment, free movement of services, and free movement of capital. Whereas Articles 28 to 30 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provide for the establishment of an EU common external tariff and the elimination of customs duties, Articles 34 and 35 of the TFEU (with exceptions under Article 36) go further, and prohibit quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect. Taken together, Articles 28 to 32 and 34 to 36 serve to ensure the free movement of goods within the EU and to facilitate the operation of the internal market.

People have created unions many times but not all of them were successful, specifically when we consider alliances among number of countries with different economics, political systems and culture. For instance, last century brought both the biggest collapse and the most promising union in the modern history. Although U.S.S.R has disappeared from geographical maps, some of its members joined another alliance. The European Union (EU) is an economic and political partnership that united 28 countries on the European part of Eurasia and represents a unique form of cooperation among members today.

Brexiters are angry now, especially after US President Barrack Obama 's recent visit to the United Kingdom. They are so angry and troubled that they descended into ad hominem against the US president.

The European Union is a political community constituted as an international organization whose aim is to promote integration and a common government of the European people and countries. According to the Article 3 of the European Union Treaty, Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples. It is based on the values of freedom, democracy, equality, law enforcement and respect for human rights and dignity.