The European Union as a Political System - Literature review Example

The European Union as a Political System The European Union is a political and economic union whose main purpose is to not only ensure development of free trade between its member states through the removal of barriers, but also to create a forum for political cooperation between its members. The political system that has been developed for the European Union is based on the principal where this government will take those decisions that are difficult for individual member states to take. It can be said that the European Union, since its inception, has developed from a purely economic zone, to a political one, and it can be suggested that in time, it is most likely going to become a single political unit. The development of a judiciary, executive, and legislature has put the European Union on the road towards political union as the member states have had to surrender some of their sovereignty in order to gain membership. Thus, it can be said that the European Union is mainly a political system in its own right and not an exercise in bargaining between its members since its governing institutions are basically separate from those of national governments. One of the most prominent theories of European integration is that of interdependency which states that this entity is going along with the increasing development of international interdependency (Wiener and Diez, 2009). The capability of the European Union as a serious political union was developed beyond doubt by the way that it managed to handle the financial crisis that a few years ago threatened to affect some of its member states in a detrimental manner. European Union has over the recent past gone through various crises that threatened to bring down the economies of some of its members. Among these is that fact that many of the countries in this union were either approaching a recession or were about to enter one, specifically after the financial crisis that started in 2008. This serious came to threaten the euro and until recently, many had even come to question if this monetary system was viable (Wiener and Diez, 2009). For example, there had been fears that because of the financial crisis encountered by Greece, this country would withdraw from the use of the euro, thus leading others into abandoning the currency. However, this was not the case, and in fact, 2012 saw a recovery in confidence for this monetary system as it continued to perform well. The countries whose economies were expected to collapse such as Spain and Italy did not turn out as expected despite remaining deep in recession. This encouraged the continued confidence in the euro and the belief that things would be much worse if this monetary were to be abandoned. Leadership of European Union has taken steps to ensure the survival of the euro in opposition to any of the situations that would arise to make it unstable. Among these is the establishment of a fund that can be used to bail out any country in the zone, which is affected by an economic crisis. This has ensured investor confidence in the euro zone, hence creating a situation where the monetary system will be able to be sustained for a long time without any difficulty. Another action that the European leadership has put in place has been giving the European Central Bank the power to supervise all the leading banks in Europe so that none of them get caught in situations which might be detrimental to their customers’ welfare (Wiener and Diez, 2009). While action has been taken to ensure the sustainability of the monetary system, most of these have come at the expense of the working people, because it is their taxes which are to be used in bailouts as they themselves have had to accept lower incomes than they used to earn before the crisis. Intergovernmentalism has become a basic tenet of the European Union and this is mainly because its integration is based on the actions of its members in their endeavour to protect their interests (Hix, 1994). The theory of intergovernmentalism can also be said to work through a pooling of sovereignty by the member states of the European Union so that the emergent political system can be able to work effectively. The European Union has become a political system that has a direct effect on the laws of its members. Among the most influential treaties that have come to be signed by the members of this union has been the European Convention on Human Rights, which has come to affect the way the judiciaries of these states operate. The main function of this treaty is to give the judiciaries in member states the power to deduce legislation so that it is in compatibility with the human rights as stated in the European Convention on Human Rights. This does not mean that the legislation is invalidated, and instead, the amendment of the legislation is permitted, at a fast pace, to ensure that they are in compatibility with the convention. The amendment does not necessarily remain permanent, and, in fact, it has been known for courts of appeal in member states to overturn some lower court decisions. This treaty has to be implemented by all the public bodies in the European Union with the sole exclusion of the legislatures of member states (Hix, 1994). The public bodies of member states, which are directly affected by this treaty, include the central government as well as the local government. The courts are given wide powers to ensure that they are able to interpret both principal and subsidiary legislation so that they are attuned with the convention. The interpretation of these powers goes far beyond the normal statutory interpretation because they include the interpretation of legislation made in the past as well as those, which are to be made in future. This interpretation ensures that the human rights of the citizens of member states are protected from being repealed by implication. Neo-functionalism can be considered to be one of the most pertinent explanations of the European Union as a political system (Hooghe and Marks, 2009). It is based on the belief that the integration of the European economy in one sector will most likely result in a spill over effect to other sectors in the economy (Rosamond, 2000). Such a situation will require for there to be political integration to ensure that the integrated economy is better managed. The European Union has put in place laws to ensure that its agencies work effectively when conducting their activities. These laws are often based on the European Constitution and because of this, the European government has been given the right to enforce them as it sees fit. The European Constitution can be deemed to be among the most imperative legally binding treaties in the record of contemporary Europe. This acts as a guide for the various European government agencies when dealing with the diverse issues that they have been tasked to enforce among the member states of the European Union. Despite the fact that this document has had an enormous impact in the workings of the government of the European Union, it is feared that some agencies within it might come to use it as a means through which they can expand their power in areas where they are traditionally not supposed to get involved (Rosamond, 2000). Furthermore, some agencies of the European government in future might take advantage of conflicting laws between individual states and the Union to ensure that they have control over crucial parts of the economy for the sake of protecting the interests of certain businesses and individuals as opposed to others. European Union development as a political system has led to many changes on the European scene, whereby the most affected have been its member States as well as those close to its borders. It is well known that while the European Union is considered one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the world, it still faces plenty of inequality in its society. It is also a fact that social and economic polarization among its member states has grown serious despite the increase in welfare spending by the governments involved. With the fast growth of the European Union economy, it has become inevitable that there will be a narrowing of the social inequality (Moravcsik, 1991). It has been found that powerful and influential nations such as Germany and France have come to play a significant role in the European Union since these two have been deeply involved in the negotiations for integration as well as bailing out troubled economies within the Union. In addition, the European Union has adopted policies whose aim is to lead to the development of social and economic inequality among the member states. These policies have been designed to ensure that the European Union as a whole has a huge potential of being economically dominant on a global scale. In order to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks, the European Union has developed its own counterterrorism strategy as a means of preventing terrorism and pursuing any suspected terrorists. Cooperation between member states has come to be of extreme importance to the security of the European Union in the past few years, and this has ensured that this entity is not faced with any serious terrorist act within its borders. The security posture of the European Union before the inception of political integration was very different from the one, which came after the formation of a European government. Before the beginning of the political integration, the European government played a very restricted role in the internal security of the nations within its borders and most of the security matters were left in the hands of the local governments (Pollack, 2005). Furthermore, most of the security agencies in the European Union had no means of ensuring that they shared pertinent information concerning any terrorist threats. Instead, security agencies concentrated on the potential from within and this was a huge flaw on their part. All these, however, changed after political integration and the need for cooperation between the different security agencies in the European Union was realized. This was the origin of the creation of the European Union counterterrorism strategy, which provides a means through which information can be gathered and shared between different law enforcement agencies, ensuring that the terrorist threat to the European Union member states is recognized early and dealt with swiftly. Scholars today have come to study the European Union as a political entity as it has begun to assert itself in the global scene. Therefore, while in the past Europe was divided into diverse nations each of which pursued policies that rivalled those of their neighbours; this is no longer the case at present. This is because it has come to be realized that the various European nations are an integral part of the same civilization, which can work better together than apart. Thus, the European government was formed with the task of ensuring that the rights, interests, as well as the way of life of the people of diverse European nations were protected (Moravcsik, 1999). The European government also plays a role in ensuring that the territorial integrity of the member states is protected. In addition, European government has set out to work in partnership with the governments of member states in an attempt to ensure that the position of the European Union is strengthened through the lessening of any antagonism between them and ensuring the development of a new spirit of cooperation between them. The European Union has in recent years become involved in the protection of its citizens and its markets from the actions of some of its trading partners. It has diligently worked towards the safeguarding of its interests, sometimes even going as far as defending its actions at the World Trade Organization (Hooghe and Marks, 2009). The dominance of this organization was seen in the process through which the European Union and the United States had a difference of opinion concerning the importation of American beef into the European market. As a result, the United States put forward a trade dispute with the World Trade Organization, which concerned the delays by the European Union to authorize the entrance of genetically modified products into its markets. This was because despites the United States’ applications to have its genetically modified products enter the European Union market; the latter had not taken any action to accede to this request. Instead, it had failed to take any action, scientific or otherwise, to deal with the issue, instead banning the products from the United States without any plausible reason. During this case, the European Union argued that it has acted in good faith, stating that it has acted through the precautionary principle, in order to protect the interests of those who produced the organic products for its markets. Despite this argument, the WTO ruled against the European Union stating that it would have been necessary for the latter to provide credible scientific evidence concerning the potential harm of genetically modified products before taking action against the authorization of American genetically modified products into its markets. The European Union has developed the principle of subsidiarity where there is the execution and strengthening of national authority within the multifaceted configuration of the European government (Benson and Jordan, 2011). In addition, there is the firm institution of a norm within the multi-level governance system of the European Union where it is believed that the individual member state holds more power than the European government. This belief has necessitated a discussion and evaluation of the important current hypothetical debate between the various theories of European policymaking. Hence, the controversy, although stimulating and enlightening in itself, has reached the limits of its analytical expediency. The theory that declares that the member states hold more political power than the European government has come to seem as an overrating of the power and centrality of national governments in the daily functioning of the European Union (Benson and Jordan, 2011). In addition, as a political system the multi-level governance theory has tended to overvalue the extent to which governments have irrevocably lost control over decision-making in matters concerning the European Union. The European Union uses a combined political system, where the governments of its members as well as its governing institutions are a part of its decision-making processes. The official policies of this entity are formulated through consultations with its members and governing institutions so that they are all in line with the interests of the member states. Recent years have seen the European Union become more assertive in the global political scene as its members have often taken a firmer stand on matters that concern it. Owing to this, it has managed to have a say in matters concerning the conflicts that have been taking place in the Middle East. This has ensured that it moves away, to some extent, from the shadow of the United States, which has for a long time been considered to be the sponsor of the European Union at the global level. For example, the European Union has been very vocal concerning the need for there to be plenty of support for the Syrian rebels in the toppling of the government of President Bashar Assad. However, the European Union decided not to extend its supply of weapons to the rebels of Syria, since of the onset of the civil war. However, the UK and France were the only countries that were active in the process of calling for a collaboration support for the rebels. The other member states expressed doubts on whether it was rational to get involved in the Syrian civil war, and therefore, there was a clear message that there would be no willingness to support the rebels (Cini and Borragan, 2013). The new assertiveness of the European Union in the international scene is among the factors that have led to the prevailing of European culture all over the world and this has created a situation where it has come to have an immense say in matters concerning human rights, among other issues. Because of the pressure from the European Union, many countries over which it has influence have come to adopt democratic initiatives so that they can be in line with those of European Union members. Member countries have put in place policies that are aimed at influencing other countries to recognize the rights of their citizens so that they can engage in either political or economic activities with them. EU has played a role in the promotion of its values and this has mainly been done through the international media as well as diplomacy. The European Union has been able to grow rapidly even though in recent years, it seems to be lower in terms of economic growth and alleviation of poverty when compared to other emerging economies. Despite the European Union having a high growth rate, poverty in some of its members still remains an inherent feature in the economic situation. The European Union is a democratic entity as seen from its political nature, but while this may be the case, it controls some parts of its economy especially its financial sector thereby creating a balance. Despite its regulation of the financial sector through the European Central Bank, the European Union has continued to experience steady growth rates due to several reasons such as having a centralized decision making process. A process that has eased the various political actions thereby being able ensures the European Parliament does necessary approvals in a democratic manner (Christiansen, Jorgensen and Wiener, 2006). One of the main reasons for the success of the European Union as a political system is that it works in a cross-cultural environment. By working with members from diverse cultures, the European Union has managed to bring together nations from all over Europe so that they have common goal to achieve. This entity has encouraged the development of democratic behaviour, free trade and common laws and it is these, which have come to enshrine the ideals and objectives of the European Union. The European government has come to affect the way that the member states interact with each other, as well as those states, which have a stake in it, especially the United States. As a multinational government, the European Union has worked towards the development of a strong and united common culture to ensure that all its members as well as prospective members are focused towards a single purpose. This has led to an increase of the capability of the European Union as a serious political union to deal with major issues such as the recent financial crisis that hit some of its members. It has developed into a political system that has a direct effect on the laws of its members, thus influencing the daily lives of their people. These laws have been put in place to ensure that its agencies work effectively when conducting their activities within the member states. As a political system, it has come to be recognised as one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the world in its own right, and this has been used as leverage as it has become more assertive in the global political scene since its members have often taken a firmer stand on matters that concern it. Thus, the European Union can be said, through its growing political power, to be developing into one of the dominant players in the international scene. References Benson, D. and Jordan, A. 2011. Exploring the Tool-kit of European Integration Theory: What Role for Cooperative Federalism? Journal of European Integration 33(1). Christiansen, T, Jorgensen, K.E. And Wiener, A (eds). 2006. The Social Construction of Europe. Sage. Cini, M. and Borragan, Perez-Solorzano Nieves (eds). 2013. European Union Politics. Oxford University Press. Hix, S. 1994. The Study of the European Community: the Challenge to Comparative Politics. West European Politics 17(1). Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. 2009. A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Cinsensus to Constraining Dissensus. British Journal of Political Science 39(1). Moravcsik, A. 1999. The Future of European Integration Studies: Social Science and Social Theory. Millennium - Journal of International Studies, 28(2). Moravcsik, A. 1991. Negotiating the Single European Act. International Organisation, 45. Pollack, M.A. 2005. "Theorising the European Union: international Organisation, Domestic Polity Experiment in New Governance?" Annual Review of Political Science. Rosamond, B. 2000. Theories of European Integration. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Wiener, A. and Diez, T. 2009. European Integration Theory, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press. Read More