European Parliament Elections 2014 - Coursework Example

European Parliament Elections 2014 The aspect European Parliament started as one of the ways of keeping the European Union block intact and true to the obligations developed by the original designers of the integration dream. The European Parliament for the year 2014 had their elections held at the European Union as from 22 to the 25 of Mat 2014. The elections marked the eighth since the first conducted in the year 1979 that had the countries in the union filed candidates for election as president of the commission. The elections involve various parties that included the European People’s Party, Party of European Socialists, Alliance of liberals and Democrats of Europe, the party of the European Left and the party of European Alliance for Freedom among others. For fairness and equity of distribution of members and the authority span in the union, countries involved all participated in the election of the President to the committee that led and provides oversight mandate to the countries. These have developed to shape politics in the management of affairs of the European Union. Therefore, they provide a control aspect that makes the union stronger and much active economically. As part of the EU integration principles, the elections provide ground for improvement and evaluation of progress to the European Union. Through the formation and the parliament formed, it is much easier to understand and tackle the challenges that face the European Union block and relate to the policy matters of the European Union. These aspects have a picture drawn in the body of the material. For years, the elections of the members of the European Union parliament have remained centered and held during June as for the previous elections. In 2014, the elections were held in May as a gesture to create more time for the election of the president of the European Commission, which would have coincided if not brought backwards. The fact that the Pentecost weekend was to take place at the same time also provide an influence to the changes that came to occur. One of the major roles that the European Union has to play as of current is stabilizing the economy of the member states of the European Union. Since the great recession that started as of June 2009, the whole world has suffered massively due to the economic crisis that has affected many economies (Maier, 2011, p.208). Through these recessionary activities, economies like that of Greece, Cyprus Spain, Portugal and Cyprus massively affected leading to a difficult time in the European Union. From this time, the effect of the recession hit even into the EU leadership aspects (Budak, n.d). The countries much affected by the recession had to find time to reorganize their stand on the economic matters affecting them. The recession was a difficult time that seemed to test the cohesive nature of the European Union. The approval of the leadership of the union at this time suffered setbacks involving the reduction in participants. The challenges that the EU faced at such a time draw back the journey of integration that the union has withstood for such a long time. Understanding the integration process of the European Union comes with a deep analysis of the causes that led to the integration process. One of the factors considered in the integration process included the integration theory developed years back with the aim of bringing together regions that had interests shared for development. Through the same theories, integrations like the East African Community have come to materialize. After the Second World War, the integration process of especially the countries that allied in the war took route. Through the World War, France realized the effects that it suffered from the war and as a way of avoiding; them came with the idea of integration as a way of protecting the economic prospects of the regional members. The formation of the union started with other formations like the Coal and Steel Community. Through these, the European Union stemmed and developed to advance more and have roots compared to the former. Some of the factors that engineered the formation include the prevention of the Soviet Union from expanding deep into the European countries. Many countries joined the community at this time apart from the United Kingdom whose relationship with the United States of America posed a danger to the community. The member states feared the involvement of the United States in affairs of the European Union hence delaying acceptance of the United Kingdom. As the countries made up and the gains of the community became evident, the European Community changed its name to become European Union that is presently operating. The changes were made through the Treaty on European Union made in 1992. The fact that the union has developed to become more institutionalized and established with countries giving more power to the control of the economy through these, it has developed the countries involved and improved economic abilities of each. These have made it became a supranational organization formed from integrations. The connections developed and the integration process was followed by the development of a decision making channel and a co-decision procedures that involve three items: the European Parliament elected into place by the Council of the European Union representing the individual member states followed by the European Commission that handles aspects that affect the whole union. The election of a single currency to handle business engagements for the union marked one of the major steps into the integration process that aimed at stabilizing the economies of the involved states. The Euro has developed to become one of the world’s strongest currencies. Some of the political aspects of the region have seen the encouragement of the capitalist systems of governance rather than the authoritarian systems that thrived in the communist period (Bogdani & Loughlin, 2007, p.21). The political aspects accompanied with the open market systems have resulted into the strengthening of the union with more members involved that has seen a current membership stand of 27 members. The consolidation of the political arm has solved many problems for the integration process and hence helping improve the chances of the Union succeeding. Formation of integrations faces many challenges that have ensured the difficulty of any other integration that equals the EU formed in the current world. The challenges that have led to the collapse of many of these unions include among others political reasons, economic and financial approaches. Many of the countries involved lack a common ground for engagement, which was the basis for the formation of the European Union. Despite the efforts for the growth of the European Union, challenges have constantly affected the advancement of the Union. The Union positively handles them and turns them into productive opportunities (Cengiz & Hoffmann, 2013, p.6). The strategies involved aimed at the advancement and improvement of the economic, cultural, political and social aspects of the Union. Some of the major challenges that the European Union includes the diversity of integration that has provided a wild experience to the integration process. Stabilization and democratization challenges (Telo, 2009, p.14). Migrations that have grown to have a permanent effect due to the permanent nature of the migrants affect the populations of the integration block. Among these challenges, the integration challenges prove more consuming due to the diverse nature of the union. The diversity provides a difficulty in decision making it difficult to have a common ground for all. The involvement of each member state in the decision-making choices and the election of the political arms has played a role in making the block more attached. Through these challenges, the EU has responded with a number of developments that slowly keep being implemented. These include the use of a dialogue system that promotes peace, review of the EU immigration measures, promoting contact in different people in the region, the development of a common understanding of the member states and the balanced engagement of all member states (Spencer, 2003). The formation of the European Union as a way of handling the challenges facing countries came as a revelation for many countries. Resulting from this is the formation of many other unions including the Association of South East Asian Nations, African Union, the Mercosur of South America and the gulf Cooperation Council. These all developed with an aim of creating a cohesive, organized structure as that of the European Union but has had many fail to achieve the milestone moved by the European Union. The EU has stood since the early 1950s with principles like visionary politics, leadership generated with the common interests, the political will to have sovereignty shared equally among the member countries with strong, institutions that have a strong legal background and the consensus approach that the involved countries apply in handling affairs. These four pillars stand as the backbone of the EU and the integration process. The involvement of the European Union’s Parliament in the affairs of the Union plays a role as a very strong connection between the different states and as a custodian of the European dream. The political arrangements and involvement of all members has come to establish a ground for fair involvement that has encouraged the involvement of many members and hence transparency in the management of the affairs of the Union (Council on Foreign Relations, n.d). References Bogdani, M., & Loughlin, J. (2007) Albania and the European Union the Tumultuous Journey towards Integration and Accession. London: I.B. Tauris. Budak, O. n.d. (2014) European Union, Integration Process and the Enlargements. Academia.edu. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from http://www.academia.edu/1195366/European_Union_integration_process_and_the_enlargements Cengiz, F., & Hoffmann, L. (2013) Turkey and the European Union: facing new challenges and opportunities. London: Routledge. Maier, M. (2011) Political Communication in European Parliamentary Elections. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. Spencer, S. (2003) October 1. The Challenges of Integration for the EU. Migrationpolicy.org. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/challenges-integration-eu Telò, M. (2009) The European Union and Global Governance. London: Routledge. The European Union as a Model for Regional Integration. (n.d.). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from http://www.cfr.org/world/european-union-model-regional-integration/p22935 Read More