Comparative Politics: European Union
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
Changes in the Maastricht Treaty to allow free movement of EU citizens throughout the unions member-states.
European single market
The official title of the EU's barrier-free economic space created after 1985.
In the European Union (EU), decisions about liberalizing reforms of the social models and the consequent backlash have mainly been national because ______.
the EU division of labor leaves most social policy matters in national hands
EU Legislative Institutions
1. European Parliament (directly elected by EU citizens) 2. Council of the European Union (elected my member country governments) 3. The European Commission (represents EU interests as a whole)
European Court of Justice (EUCJ)
2 components: The Court of Justice & the General Court Role: Ensures EU law is interpreted and applied the same in every country; Ensures countries and institutions abide by EU law.
Citizen initiative
A clause in the Lisbon Treaty allowing citizens to propose referendums to initiate EU legislation, provided 1 million legal signatures have been obtained in a "significant number" of different EU member-states.
Institutional triangle
A term signifying the interactions between the three most significant EU institutions: the Commission, the Council of Ministers, and the EP.
Maastricht Treaty
A treaty ratified in 1993 giving the EU its present name, creating the EMU and CFSP, and granting the EP power to co-decide EU legislation.
2009 Lisbon Treaty
After a decade redesigning EU institutions to fit expansion to Central and Eastern Europe, the treaty created positions of the president of the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, and increased the powers of the European Council and European Parliament (EP).
How has the European Union (EU) evolved in matters of international security?
After the Cold War, the Maastricht Treaty created an intergovernmental pillar for the new Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
Which of the following gives a correct description of the European Union (EU) officeholder's term in office?
Commissioners serve five-year terms that coincide with the term of the European Parliament.
How are the codecision-makers in the European Union's representative democracy chosen?
EP members are directly elected in European elections.
What motivated the original six to join the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)?
French public opinion favored neutralizing German economic and political threats.
Which country was worst hit by the 2011 Eurozone crisis?
Greece
What office was created by the 2009 Lisbon Treaty to perform two functions simultaneously—namely, the Commission vice president for external relations and president of the CFSP Council of Ministers?
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
What thinking propelled the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)?
If national markets were tied together, countries might have a stake in peacefully resolving differences.
Which of the following is true of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty?
It created the positions of president of the European Council and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy.
Schengen Area
Named after a town in Tuxembur where five EU members (France, Germany, and the Benelux states) agreed in 1985 to abolish border controls among their countries. The "Schengen acquis"--the accumulated rules and procedures of Schengen prior to Maastricht--incorporated into the Maastricht Treaty and officially made part of the EU legal framework in the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty. Open internal EU borders have been adopted by all EU members except Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus, while the United Kingdom and Ireland opted out. Schengen also includes Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland, which are not part of the EU.
Which of the following describes elections to the European Parliament (EP)?
National parties treat these more as indicators of their relative strength than as important events in the European Union (EU).
Is the European Union (EU) likely to become a state in the foreseeable future?
No, since it can do only what its member-states agree to do together when driven to cooperate.
European Court of Justice (EUCJ)
Originally called the Court of Justice, the EU supreme court that decides the legality of EU legislation and its implementation.
Which of the following gave new powers to the European Parliament and institutionalized qualified majority decision-making in the Council of Ministers, thereby making it easier to pass European-level legislation?
Single European Act (SEA)
Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
The 1991 Mastricht Treaty federalization of EU monetary policy, creating the European Central Bank (ECB), the Eurozone, and the euro.
European Central Bank (ECB)
The ECB is the institutional center of the EMU and the Eurozone, located in Frankfurt, Germany. Statutorily independent from politics and having a powerful president, it decides Eurozone monetary policy to produce price stability and economic convergence, enforces EMU rules, and governs EMU exchange rates.
European Commission
The EU executive, with a monopoly on proposing EU legislation and overseeing its implementation as "guardian of the treaties."
European Council
The EU institution that devises general strategies; made up of member-state heads of state that meets at least twice annually.
Community Method
The EU method of making decisions in which the European Commision proposes, the Council of Ministers and EP decide, and the EUCJ reviews European Law.
Which EU Institution proposes legislaton?
The European Commission
What is the process for passing EU legislation?
The European Commission proposes new laws. The European Parliament and Council of the EU adopt them. The Commission and member states then implement the laws, while the Commission ensures that the laws are properly applied.
Which European Union institution has the power to propose laws?
The European Commission, not the European Parliament
Which of the following defines the roles of the three governmental bodies of the European Union (EU)?
The European Council shapes the European Union's (EU's) general strategies through multilateral negotiations that determine what the Commission will do and what the European Parliament will debate and decide.
Which of the following is true of the implications and use of the Lisbon Treaty?
The European Union (EU) should seek to forge decision-making at the level of the lowest effective jurisdiction
How has the issue of subsidies featured in the context of the European Union (EU)?
The Maastricht Treaty prevents the European Union from disallowing state ownership.
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
The Maastricht Treaty's commitment to deeper EU cooperation in international affairs and defense.
Which of the following challenges did the European Union face during the 1980s, leading some member-states to block European Communities (EC) decision-making in order to get concessions?
The United Kingdom complained incessantly about its budger payments, while Greece demanded more development aid.
Single European Act (SEA)
The first major of the Rome Treaty, which facilitated the single-market program, expanded EU prerogatives, and gave new power to the EP.
Qualified majority voting (QMV)
The method for the Council of Ministers to decide most EU legislation until the approval of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. It weighted member-state voting power depending upon size and defined how many votes were needed to constitute a majority.
Subsidairity
The principle, consecrated by the Maastricht Treaty, that the EU should seek to forge decision making at the level of the lowest effective jurisdiction.
Over the years, what has been the U.S. position in relation to the European Union?
When the European Union revived in the 1980s, the United States thought that it was too slow to copy U.S. social programs and too eager to pursue neoliberalism.
In the European Union, is the permissive consensus giving way to greater skepticism and resistance?
Yes, since the European Union gained new power in economic governance and beyond with the establishment of the single market.
Were the 1960s and 1970s a time that was particularly suited for the European Union (EU) to take up environmental issues?
Yes, since the Single European Act (SEA) facilitated the European Union's conversion to environmentalism.
