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The Political System of the EU Present and Prospect

The Political System of the EU Present and Prospect. Markus Porsche-Ludwig 副教授. INDEX. 1. The three pillars of the EU 2. The expansion of the EU 3. The history of the European Integration 4. The institutions of the EU 5. The European Council

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The Political System of the EU Present and Prospect

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  1. The Political System ofthe EUPresentandProspect Markus Porsche-Ludwig 副教授

  2. INDEX • 1. The three pillars of the EU • 2. The expansion of the EU • 3. The history of the European Integration • 4. The institutions of the EU • 5. The European Council • 6. Authorization of the Council of the European Union • 7. The distribution of votes in the Council of the EU

  3. INDEX • 8. The European Parliament • 9. Distribution of seats in the EP • 10. The political groups in the EP • 11. The European Commission • 12. Directorates-Generals of the European Commission • 13. The election of the Commissioners • 14. Tasks of the European Commission

  4. INDEX • 15. The European Economic and Social Commitee and the Commitee of the Regions • 16. The European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance • 17. The legal system of the EU • 18. The four liberties of the Single European Market • 19. The history of the Economic and Monetary Union

  5. INDEX • 20. The convergence criterions • 21. Planned reforms by constitution? • 22. The results of the constitution • 23. The ratification process • 24. RESULT: EU Reform Treaty: Lisbon 2007

  6. 1. The three pillars of the EU • The European Union First pillar: European Unions: EC/EDSC (European Coal and Steel Community; expired in 2002)/Euratom Second pillar: common foreign and security policy Third pillar: police and judicial cooperation in criminal cases

  7. 2. The expansion of the EU • Founding members: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands • 1973: Denmark, Irland, GB • 1981: Greece • 1986: Portugal, Spain • 1995: Austria, Finland, Sweden • 2004: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus • 2007: Bulgaria, Romania

  8. 3. The history of the European Integration • Schuman Plan (1950) -> EDSC 1951 (1952) -> • TREATY OF ROME: foundation EEC (European Economic Community) + Euratom 1957 (1958), 6 member states • The Single European Act 1986 (1987) • Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) 1992 (1993) • Amsterdam Treaty 1997 (1999) • Treaty of Nice 2000 (2003) • Reform Treaty: Lisbon (2007)

  9. 4. The institutions of the EU

  10. 5. The European Council • Heads of state or government of all EU countries and the President of the European Commission • Highest political body of the EU which meets around four times a year; a body „which shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development“ (inspection: political guidelines and success) • Name: „summit meetings“

  11. 6. Authorization of the Council of the European Union • One of the two legislative institutions of the EU (being the EP); 27 members • Council of the EU and EP: budgetary authority • Coordination of the cooperation between the national courts and the police. • Coordination of economic policy of the member states • International treaties between the EU and one or several states or international organizations • Develops the common foreign and security policy within the competencies of the EU

  12. 7. The distribution of votes in the Council of the EU • 29 votes: France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom • 27 votes: Spain and Poland • 14 votes Romania • 12 votes: Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal • 10 votes: Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden • 7 votes: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia • 4 votes: Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia • 3 votes: Malta • For qualified majority: 255 of 345 votes (72,3%)/it can be demanded that the yes votes are at least 62% of the EU citizens/and the majority of the member states have to agree

  13. The Council of the European Union • The most important decision-making authority of the EU • It depends on the topics: the responsible minister is member of the Council of the European Union (foreign policy, financial policy, social policy, traffic policy etc.) • Presidency: is held by a member´s state government (currently Spain, since 2010/01/01 ); every six months: rotates beetween the states

  14. 8. The European Parliament • 736 members (2009) (until now: 785; after Lisbon treaty: 751) • three general functions: 1) legislative power, 2) budget, 3) control of the executive and supervisory powers • Hearings • Cooperation procedure • Codecision procedure • Assent procedure • Consultation procedure

  15. 9. Distribution of seats in the EP • Germany: 99/99/(96) (until 2009/2009/(Lisbon treaty) • France, Italy, United Kingdom: 78/72/(74,73,73) • Spain, Poland: 54/50/(54,51) • Romania: 35/33/(33) • Netherlands: 27/25/(26) • Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal: 24/22/(22) • Sweden: 19/18/(20) • Austria, Bulgaria: 18/17/(19/18) • Finland, Denmark, Slovakia: 14/13/(13) • Ireland, Lithuania: 13/12/(12) • Latvia: 9/8/(9) • Slovenia: 7/7/(8) • Cyprus, Estonia, Luxembourg: 6/6/(6) • Malta: 5/5/(6)

  16. 10. The political groups in the EP 2004/2009) • European People´s Party/European Democrats: 288/262 • Party of European Socialists: 217/183 • Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe: 100/83 • European Conservatives and Reformists: 55/55 • Union for Europe of the Nations: 44/- • European Greens/European Free Alliance: 43/55 • European United Left/Nordic Green Left: 41/33 • Independence/Democracy: 22/17 • Non-Inscrits (members without groups): 30/48

  17. Parliament‘s principal roles are as follows: • To examine and adopt European legislation • To approve the EU budget • To exercise democratic control over the EU institutions, possibly by setting up committees of inquiry • To assent to important international agreements such as the accession of new EU Member States and trade or association agreements between the EU and other countries

  18. 11. The European Commission - Is the executive branch of the EU Responsible for • Proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union´s treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union • 27 Commissioners from 27 states (included the President) • Each Commissioner: one vote • Method of cabinet: minorities are bound by majority • Also in the future: the number of 27 Commissioners is the maximum

  19. 12. Directorates-Generals of the Commission • Policy DGs • External Relation DGs • General Services DGs • Internal Services DGs

  20. 13. The election of the Commissioners • Heads of state and governement: appoint (with qualified majority): President of the Commission; he needs the agreement by the EP • Member states: propose Commissioners • President of the Commission and the Heads of the state and governement: appoint Commissioners • Commissioners need agreement by EP • Commission can work

  21. 14. Tasks of the European Commission • Legislative initiative (can make formal proposals for legislation) • Representation of interests of the EU against the Council of Ministers and in the case of negotiations with third countries • Working out the budgetary bill and administration of the EU-funds • Commission has partly the function of an executive power • Commission as the custodian of the treaties • Commission enters into negotiations with the EU-candidat for accession

  22. 15. The European Economic and Social Committee and the Commitee of the Regions - Representatives: different economic and social fields of the organized civil society (employer‘s organizations, trade unions, farmers, consumer groups etc.) • The Commitee of Regions: representatives of the local and regional authorities of the EU • Consultative statements to the other institutions • 344 members, term-period: 4 years and is renewable • EESC consists of 344 members, according to the population of the member states of the EU (from 5 [Malta] to 24 [Germany, France, Italy, UK]), depending on the size of the country • Treaty of Nice introduced an upper limit of 350 members

  23. 16. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance (established in 1952; based in Luxembourg) • ECJ: is made up of 27 judges (each member state appoint one judge for six years) and 8 Advocates General (5 of the 8 Advocates General are nominated by the big member states of the EU) • The Court of First Instance similar than the ECJ, but without permanent Advocates General • ECJ may sit as a full Court, in a grand chamber (13 Judges) or in chambers of three or five judges) • The Court of First Instance: working since 1989/10/31 • Interpretation of law of the joint contracts

  24. 17. The legal system of the EU Sources of the Community Law: • Primary community law (treaties) • Secondary community law • Acts of law of the EU: • Bylaws • Guidelines • Decisions/resolutions • Recommendations and statements

  25. 18. „Four Liberties“ • First: free movement of goods • Prohibition of import duties and export duties in the member states • Harmonization and mutual acceptance of norms and regulations • But certain limitations are allowed

  26. Free personal passenger transport • Cessation of frontier control • Freedom of settlement and freedom to employ (recognition of diploma) • Also after gainful employment: EU citizens with the right (under certain preconditions) to settle down somewhere

  27. Free service transactions • Freedom to provide services (f.ex. Free choice of phone providers) • Harmonization of the bank supervision • Opening up transport markets and telecommunication markets

  28. Free capital transactions • More liberalness of currency movement and capital movement • Steps to a common market for finance services (not allowed to levy double charge for transfer order) • Liberalization of the stock market

  29. 19. The history of the Economic and Monetary Union • Euro cash introduction: 2002/01/01 • First step: unlimited capital transactions; increasing cooperation of the central banks, free use of the ECU (European Currency Unit), improvement of the economic convergence • Second step: Setting up European Monetary Institute (EMI), prohibition of granting of central bank credits to public authorities, more coordination of the financial policy, more economic convergence, process with the end of the independence of the national central banks and at the latest ending the day of the setting of the European system of central banks, preparation works for the third step • Third step: Irreversible fixing of exchange rates, introduction of Euro, carrying out a standard financial policy by the European system of central banks, coming into effect of the exchange rate mechanism in the EU, coming into effect of stability and growth pact

  30. 20. The convergence criterions • Increase of the consumer prices: not more than 1.5% of the average of the first three stable in price countries • The currency must belong to the European monetary system and it is not allowed that it is devalued in the last two years • It is not allowed that the interest rate level exceeds the average of the three best placed member states more than two percentages • It is not allowed that the yearly new borrowing is more than 3% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) • It is not allowed that the whole national debt is more than 60% of the GDP

  31. 21. Planned reforms by constitution?

  32. 22. The results of the constitution • Most import keywords: • Simplification • Democracy • Transparency • Efficiency • Legitimacy

  33. 22. The results of the constitution • EU with legal entity • General use of the legislative process • Low number of instruments • Better definition of competences (EU, member states) • Charter of Human Rights as a part of the treaty • Public meetings of the Council of the EU in its quality as a law-maker

  34. 22. The results of the constitution • More control by the national parliaments (subsidiarity principle) • Consideration of the civil society • Balanced institutional system • Limitation of the right of veto • Progresses in the fields of freedom, security and law • Stronger role of the EU at the international level

  35. 23. The ratification process The treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE): was an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the EU -> was signed in 2004 by representatives of the 25 member states of the EU -> needed to be ratified by all member states to enter into force -> but in 2005: rejected by French and Dutch voters

  36. 24. RESULT: EU Reform Treaty:Lisbon 2007 • International agreement signed in Lisbon on December 2007 • Changes the workings of the EU • Is ratified by all member states, entered into force 2009/12/01 • The treaty amends the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome

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