Impact of European Union on Member States - Essay Example

of the appears here] of the appears here] of the appears here] appears here] Impact of European Union on Member States Introduction The European Union (EU) is a confederacy comprising of 27 European. The confederacy is highly significant since its population comprises more than half a billion inhabitants. The European Union forms the single European market in terms of the the gross domestic product, as well as, possess the status of the largest common market in the world (Casella, 2001). The political system of the EU, which in the course of European integration has emerged, is based on two fundamental treaties, the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. European Union includes both state and interstate elements.  European Union was originally formed for seeking targeted economic interdependence after the Second World War to make new military conflicts in the future impossible. An adjoining objective for formation of the Union was to accelerate economic growth. Over the decades, several European countries have joined in several rounds of enlargement of the union to further the cause of the Union (Krumm and Herz, 1997). Impacts of European Union have been significant on member countries. Member states of European Union have converged to the use of a common currency, the euro. The union is attributed with furthering the presence in European region of freedom, security and justice. The EU Member states work together in the interior and justice policy due to the common foreign and security policy, and they also seek a common occurrence in relation to third countries. It is asserted that the EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU (Gutiérrez and Urbano, 1996). The paper evaluates this assertion by comparing and contrast the impact of European Union on the member states in comparison to the one exerted by member states on the Union. Discussion The impact of European Union has been attributed with a number of key impacts on the European Union. Meuwese (2008) mentions that member countries owe much to the unification of Europe initiated by European Union. Enemy countries have become friends, and the common market provides millions of jobs to the citizens of these countries. The enthusiasm for this new unification process has grows from one generation to another. Trade and commerce has grown among member countries. For instance, nearly two-thirds of German exports now go to EU partner countries and so are millions of jobs in Germany. European Union has impacted member countries by improving educational systems too. One such example is that EU’s Erasmus program has made it very easy for students to spend a semester abroad at a European university. The European Union has impacted citizens of member countries by improving provisions for communication among countries (Casella, 2001). European Union has ensured the occupational health of individual citizens and guaranteed minimum standards of rest, leisure and vacation to all. Windhoff-Héritie (2001) regards it as an exemplary performance of the European Union taking into account the diversity of regions, languages ​​and cultures, as well as, the interaction and integration of member countries it promotes. Other major impact of European Union member countries include influencing each member state towards climate change, protecting against terrorism and organized crime, or comes to shape globalization so that the way of life and social model improves for all countries rather than a few. European Union’s role is critical for the above mentioned caused because reach as a single country is not enough for any of the above mentioned issues (Krumm and Herz, 1997). It is essential that all stakeholders of the European alliance are present to save the life of citizens and to create provision of freedom, peace, solidarity and prosperity. The impact of European Union is, therefore, quite profound on member states. As a member of a key body, the member states of EU have gained voice in international trade and markets. The largest EU trade partners are the United States, followed by China. In 2005 the EU accounted for 18.1% of exports and 18.9% of imports worldwide (Casella, 2001). The Union, thus, impacts member countries by giving them voice in the international market. Prior to European Union’s formation provisions for R&D was very low within these countries. Today, research and development (R & D) is the heart of the EU countries, which aims to increase the competitiveness of the EU economy to improve (Krumm and Herz, 1997). The investments in R&D within member countries are influenced by the Union and EU has impacted member countries to invest in future growth by prompting them to allocated budgets to the field of R & D expenditure. One of the most prominent impacts of European Union’s formation of member countries is improvement in transport infrastructure. EU’s design contains provisions for specialized bodies to look after investments of Union’s funds for creation of infrastructure (Krumm and Herz, 1997). Fidrmuc, Ginsburgh and Weber (2009) makes observation that the freight and passenger transport in the EU is only handled a small part of the railway network and inland waterways. Three quarters of all goods and passengers are transported in the EU on the road which wasn’t the case before creation of the union. In the opinion of Krumm and Herz (1997) formation of a sustainable energy policy is the real achivement of European Union. Krumm and Herz (1997) mentions that prior to formation of the Union European countries used to cover 50% of their energy needs through imports. European Union impacted the member nations by devising an energy policy to reduce this dependence and to protect the environment. European Union wanted to use energy more efficiently and increase the use of renewable energy sources. The EU has set the goal for member countries of meeting their energy needs in 2020 to 20% by renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass (Meuwese, 2008). The EU spends about 1% of their annual budget for personnel, administration and maintenance of their buildings, which is a major contribution of the Union. European Union has impacted the member countries and the life of its citizens through micro-measures too. For instance, better food labeling is an area which makes it easier for consumers to make informed health choices (Meuwese, 2008). Regulations introduced by European Union enable the manufacturers of these countries for ingredients of foods to be labeled better. This makes it easier for consumers to decision. Products with harmful ingredients such as palm oil can be identified more easily and on the supermarket shelves are left standing. For example, the food industry used to cover up the palm oil contained in the products under the name "Vegetable oils and fats". Now, within European region it is marked as containing extremely high content of saturated fatty acids. Improved provision for environment is yet another impact of European Union on member states. One such example is restrictions imposed by European Union on its member countries for exploitation of animals for fur. The European Parliament has passed a law for imposing an import and trade ban on seal products (Krumm and Herz, 1997). This is in sharp contrast to practices observed in non-EU countries.  In Canada each year hundreds of thousands of seals - mostly babies in a maximum age of 3 months – are cruelly slaughtered. In contrast, the European Parliament has voted with for a trade ban on all seal products (Krumm and Herz, 1997). The draft regulation prohibits the for-profit sale of seal products in the EU, but also excludes the trade of products from the hunt by Inuit and other indigenous peoples. This means that 30 nations have banned the sale of seal products (primarily the skins).   Perhaps the most important contribution of European Union to member states is to provide financial stability to the region. The European Union Central Bank controls monetary policy of the region to create a stabilizing impact on the economies of the member countries. In recent years, the European Union Central Bank chose to raise the interest rates in the economy. The reason for raising the prime rate was the rate of inflation within the EU. Fidrmuc, Ginsburgh and Weber (2009) mentions that these measures lead European countries to have financially recaptured the impact of a rate hike. This was considered necessary in perspective of primarily in debt countries like Greece and Ireland to be serious (Fidrmuc, Ginsburgh and Weber, 2009). Therefore, in effect all players come to support mutual growth and economic stability of the region as a whole. The immediate outcome of this measure was that banks and financial institutions recorded decrease in general inflation rate. The moment of economic activity was sustained. In addition, the European supervisory authorities help to accelerate the efficient and uniform European regulation and supervision of financial markets in Europe. They ensure that the rules are implemented in the financial services sector of the individual Member States which are consistent with economic environment. The ongoing supervision of individual financial institutions even if they still remain at the national supervisory authorities of EU Member States.  Impact of Member States on European Union Even though the impact of European Union is quite profound on member states, the impact of member states on the Union cannot be denied. The contributions of member states towards EU are remarkable. The EU budget is financed by member state at a certain percentage of its gross national product to finance the budget (Krumm and Herz, 1997). The budget is invested in a variety of measures, for example, to raise living standards in poorer regions and for ensuring food security. The EU derives its revenues not only from the contributions of Member States but also from the import duties on goods from other EU countries. She also receives a certain percentage of VAT that elevates the individual countries. The member states has made EU an active market and their influence have made EU as one of the largest trading nations in the world. Member states have invested and committed financial resources for sustainable economic growth of the Union by investing in the sectors of transport, energy and research and investing at the same time seeks to limit the impact of economic development on the environment. Succession of each new member country strengthens the Union by imparting weight to the Union. After the accession of 12 new Member States in 2004, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the EU surpasses the total value of all goods and services produced in the United States (Krumm and Herz, 1997). This was obviously the contribution of member states which increased the influence of the Union. About two-thirds of total trade in the EU takes place between the EU Member States. Conclusion The paper evaluates the contribution of the European Union to the member countries in contrast with the contribution of member countries’ contribution to the Union. It is found that European Union was originally formed for seeking targeted economic interdependence. An adjoining objective for formation of the Union was to accelerate economic growth. Multifarious contributions of the Union were found towards the member countries. The Union is attributed with furthering the presence in European region of freedom, security and justice. Trade and commerce has grown among member countries. European Union has ensured the occupational health of individual citizens and guaranteed minimum standards of rest, leisure and vacation to all. European Union member countries include influencing each member state towards climate change, protecting against terrorism and organized crime, or comes to shape globalization. It is essential that all stakeholders of the European alliance are present to save the life of citizens and to create provision of freedom, peace, solidarity and prosperity. One of the most prominent impacts of European Union’s formation of member countries is improvement in transport infrastructure. Union impacted the member nations by devising an energy policy to reduce this dependence and to protect the environment. Hence, it is concluded that the proposition is true and European Union has indeed impacted member states more that the impact of member states on European Union. Works Cited Casella, A. "Market mechanisms for policy decisions: Tools for the European Union." European Economic Review, 45.4 (2001): 995-1000. Fidrmuc, J, V Ginsburgh and S Weber. "Voting on the choice of core languages in the European Union." European Journal of Political Economy, 25.1 (2009): 56-62. Gutiérrez, J and P Urbano. "Accessibility in the European Union: the impact of the trans-European road network ." Journal of Transport Geography, 4.1 (1996): 15-25. Krumm, R and B Herz. "Voting requirements, concessions, international side payments and the European Monetary Union ." European Journal of Political Economy, 13.4 (1997): 691-703. Meuwese, A. Impact assessment in EU lawmaking. United Kingdom: Kluwer Publishers, 2008. Windhoff-Héritie, A. Differential Europe: the European Union impact on national policymaking. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001. Read More