EUROPEAN UNION
The European Union is a rapidly changing economic and political union of mostly western European nations that arose out of the European Community in 1993. This international organization is not meant to replace the sovereignty of the individual countries but rather to unify them under a common currency and economic structure, as well as under some shared principles of law and human rights. One of the cornerstones of the European Union has been the new currency, known as the euro, and the creation of a new European Central Bank. This new group of nations is to rival the United States and to increase trade among its member nations. This is no easy feat because of the strong national identities of these nations, including language barriers and long-standing cultural disputes.
HISTORY
The beginnings of the European Union were cultivated soon after the end of World War II (1939–1945), when it appeared that Europe would once again be a battleground between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On May 9, 1950, the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, proposed the first agreement to pool coal and steel resources. In 1952 the European Coal and Steel Community was established, and it included Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. It was hoped that this new spirit of cooperation would not only prevent war from breaking out between member nations but also present a strong economic face to the United States.
With this newfound success, the European Coal and Steel Community evolved in 1958 to become the European Economic Community. This was an attempt to integrate further other parts of these varied economies in order to remove other trade barriers. The Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 continued the evolution by introducing new areas of cooperation including defense, justice, and home affairs. These combined areas created the "community" relationship that exists today. Also in 1992, twelve of the fifteen nations agreed to a single European currency, called the euro, which was to have been managed by the new European Central Bank.
In 2005 the members of the European Union included: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The candidate countries were Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Turkey. Macedonia, formerly a part of Yugoslavia, had a pending application. A new constitution was being proposed for 2006, but by 2005 France and Belgium had turned it down. The United Kingdom delayed the vote in that country pending a hearing to determine what the possible ramifications of the failure could be.
GOVERNMENT MAKEUP
Three main institutions make up this union of nations. The first one is the Council of the European Union. This body represents the individual member states. The second body is the European Parliament meant to represent the citizens of the European Union. The third body is the European Commission, which is to represent the common interests of the continent of Europe. These three parts are to represent all parts of the constituency of Europe.
The Council of the European Union is the main decision-making body in which the control of the body rotates every six months to another member nation. Depending on what the agenda is for particular meetings determines which minister from each nation attends. For instance, if there is a meeting on agriculture, the agriculture ministers from each nation would attend. There are nine different policy areas that the council considers. The General Secretariat is the administrative part of the council, and it is based in Brussels. The ambassadors of the member nations determine the agenda for the council.
The council and the European Parliament share legislative authority and responsibility for the budget. On important events such as amending treaties, a unanimous decision must be met; on other votes, however, only a qualified majority of 232 votes is required. Voting rights are based on the size of the population of the member state.
The European Parliament is the representative arm of the European Union. Every five years the people of Europe elect the membership in a direct election. In 2005 the European Parliament had 732 members, which was expected to be increased to 786 in 2007. The European Parliament is also the body responsible for open debate. It has become the area where the people's opinion meets the democratic process, creating some of the most innovative
policies. Because of its representative nature, the Parliament most accurately reflects the ideals and opinions of its people.
The European Commission is an independent political body meant to act upon the interests of the European Union as a whole. The commission is made up of one person from each nation. It is also the executive arm of the European Union and follows through with the decisions made by the council. In the event of censure by the Parliament, the entire body must resign. Censure requires a two-thirds vote by the Parliament in order to be passed and is an effective check on the balance of power within the European Union.
The judicial branch is known as the Court of Justice of the European Union. It meets in Luxembourg and is made up of one judge from each country serving an initial term of six years with additional terms of three years. The role of the Court of Justice is not only to make sure the laws created are fair and just, but also to guarantee that member nations fulfill their European Union obligations.
MONETARY POLICY
The primary strength of the European Union lies within its strong currency known as the euro. It has become the second most important currency along with the U.S. dollar. While the U.S. dollar has become less important because of world events such as stock market scandals and terrorist attacks, the euro has become more widely sought after. The euro began circulation in January 2002, replacing the individual currencies being used at the time in twelve nations. What is remarkable about the new currency is that it not only replaced the currencies of these nations, but also replaced icons of national and cultural symbols. This contributed to the new "European identity." One of the other benefits was the ability to travel within member nations without having to exchange currencies.
The process of bringing member nations on board with the single currency was not easy or painless. The new currency requires economic discipline by reducing budget deficits, curbing inflation, curbing interest rates, and reducing public borrowing to below 60 percent of gross domestic product to ensure the stability of the new currency. In order to make this happen, the European Central Bank was created in 1999. The bank set was ordered to set and maintain the value of the euro interest rates, and develop sound fiscal policy. One of the tenets of the fiscal policy is to maintain budget discipline in order to remain vigilant over the budget deficits of other member nations. A second tenet of the European Central Bank is that employment be a priority of the bank. Not all nations agreed to take on the euro as its national currency. Some nations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden did not accept the currency until they gave it much thought and discussion.
AREAS OF DISAGREEMENT
The goals of the European Union include banishing trade barriers detrimental to free trade among member nations while at the same time supporting the people of these individual countries in their everyday lives. Difficulties arise when differing cultures must cooperate and make joint decisions. The areas of agriculture and immigration are of particular concern. Some nations have long histories of protectionist philosophies for their food as well as with the issue of illegal immigrants.
In agriculture there have been other questions concerning issues that have to do with monetary policy, language barriers, and long-standing feuds. Of particular importance are the addition of the former Eastern European nations into the European Central Bank and the management of the euro in the global economy. Significant concerns include whether these nations can appropriately manage their economies to qualify for inclusion into the European Central bank and if they can, whether they will be able to maintain economic discipline. If they cannot, the concern is that their collective economies could sabotage what the European Union has worked so hard to establish since the mid-twentieth century.
Other concerns are how the roles of terrorism, the rising demand for oil, and the rise of other large economies such as China may affect the stability of the currency and the world economy in general. These challenges are indeed unique and will present a future of cooperative communication.
