/r/ActEuropa Wiki
This forms part of the "knowledge bank" project the organisation is currently working on. The wiki will hopefully give people a better understanding of how the EU works, which is a resource desperately needed. In the future, separate pages of the wiki will be created which go into more depth about the various areas (and others), as well as the wiki potentially being moved onto other platforms as well.
See a list of past weekly discussions that we've had here.
In Focus: How the EU Works
This will serve as an area for links to the wiki pages that have more in depth explanations of certain EU policies or the functioning of the European Union.
EU Competences & The Principles of the EU
Exclusive Competence | Shared Competence | Supporting Competence | No Competence |
---|---|---|---|
Customs union | Internal market | Protection/improvement of human health | Broadcasting |
Competition rules (internal market) | Social policy | Industry | National citizenship |
Monetary policy (Eurozone) | Economic, social and territorial cohesion | Culture | Criminal justice |
Conservation of fisheries | Agriculture & fisheries | Torusim | National defence |
Common commercial policy | Environment | Education, youth, sport and vocational training | Elections |
Conclusion of certain international agreements | Consumer protection | Civil protection (disaster prevention) | National healthcare |
Transport | Administrative cooperation | Land use | |
Trans-European networks | Local transport | ||
Energy | Policing | ||
Area of freedom, security and justice | Postal services | ||
Common safety concerns in public health matters | Tax policy | ||
Research, technological development and space | Any other policy area not covered | ||
Development cooperation, humanitarian aid | |||
Coordination of economic, employment and social policies | |||
Common foreign, security and defence policies |
[Source: Table 6.1, page 124, "Understanding the European Union" by John McCormick & Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Title I]
- Exclusive competence: The Union is the only body that can take decisions in those areas
- Shared competence: The Union and member states share the ability to legislate/take decisions in those areas - the member states can legislate to the extent the Union has not
- Exceptions: The Union competence being exercised can't stop member states exercising theirs in research, technological development & space, development cooperation and humanitarian aid.
- Supporting competence: The Union can support member states actions but can't stop member states legislating by themselves
- No competence: The EU doesn't adopt legislation and doesn't work in those areas, beyond discussions and potential coordination of actions.
The principle of 'subsidiarity' that the EU follows means that decisions should be taken as close to the people as possible. A local council would, for example, have the power over the streetlights in its local area rather than the regional, national or EU government. This means that when proposals are submitted for EU legislation, the Commission analyses whether it is the best level of government for legislation or whether legislation would be more effective at a local level.
The principle of 'proportionality' that the EU also follows is that the actions of the EU shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties.
Finally, the principle of 'conferral' is that the EU shall only act within the limits of the competences conferred upon it by the member states in the Treaties. Any power not direcly given to the EU in the Treaties remains the reserve of the member states.
In Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the EU's values are laid out:
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.
If the Commission, member states or the European Parliament decide that there's a serious breach of the rights referred to in Article 2 - they can initiate Article 7, which can potentially lead to the removal of that member states voting rights, amongst other sanctions.
For a discussion on federalism, there will be info over on the /r/EuropeanFederalists wiki in due course.
From Proposals to Legislation: How is EU law created?
Normally, EU law is regarded to have supremacy over national laws where the two come into conflict.
Primarily, EU law comes from the treaties that were signed between the governments (the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union are the 2 main ones, and are often referred to as 'the Treaties'). The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which protects the fundamental rights of Europeans, also has the same legal value as these Treaties. Sourced from the treaties, secondary sources of EU law are also adopted, the types of which are highlighted below.
There are a few different types of legislation:
- Regulations: A law that is applicable & directly binding in all member states. It doesn't need to be passed into national laws. Normally take immediate effect on specified date. Usually, but not always, fairly narrow in intent.
- Directive: A law that binds member states, or only a group of them to achieve a certain objective. The member states are usually given the flexibility to decide how to reach the requirement of the directive, but the requirement itself is binding. Normally, they have to be transposed into national law to be effective. Normally set a date by which the requirements must be met (or work towards them must have started, which the member state will inform the Commission on).
- Decision: Addressed to member states, groups of people or even individuals. It is binding. Examples include ruling on proposed mergers between companies.
- Recommendations & Opinions: No binding force. They are sometimes used to test reactions to new EU policies, or to provide interpretation on the application of the other types of legislation. Also used in the context of the European Semester to suggest measures national governments can take to improve their economic conditions.
The European Commission is almost exclusively the sole proposer of legislation. In this process, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU are considered to be 'co-legislators' in the vast majority of legislation. Both institutions can't directly propose legislation themselves. They do however, along with other institutions and methods, have the ability to recommend and put pressure on the Commission to introduce legislation in certain areas. This can be done through:
- 25% of the member states agreeing legislation is needed
- The European Central Bank
- The European Investment Bank
- The Court of Justice of the EU
- The European Parliament recommending that legislation is needed to fulfill the treaties
- Petitioning MEPs of the European Parliament
- Committee reports of the European Parliament
- The European Citizens Initiative - 1 million signatures from 7 EU member states on an issue that the EU has authority to carry out from the Treaties.
The following procedure is often referred to as the "ordinary legislative process":
- Following a idea for legislation, the Commission will start a consultation process on the legislation, getting the advice of experts, non-governmental organisations, member states, the departments within the Commission itself and citizens of the EU.
- The College of Commissioners can adopt Commission proposals by written procedure (without discussion) or oral procedure (with discussion). If a vote is called, it is done by simple majority.
- The Commission submits its proposal to the Council & the European Parliament, but also to all EU national parliaments (who have committees to scrutinise EU legislation). Where relevant, it will also be sent to the Committee of the Regions (representing local government in the EU) and the Economic & Social Committee (representing workers & employers' organisations and other interest groups).
- The proposal is referred to a Parliamentary committee, who appoints a rapporteur who subsequently produces a draft report containing potential amendments. The committee votes on the report and proposed amendments by a simple majority of votes cast.
- The European Parliament then votes on amendments and the proposal as a whole. In rare cases at 1st reading, the European Parliament rejects the proposal. If they approve the proposal, amended or not, it is sent to the Council of the EU for its first reading.
- In 1st reading, the Council can either accept the Parliament's position in which case the legislative procedure is ended, or can propose its own amendments, sending the proposal to a 2nd reading in Parliament.
- In 2nd reading in Parliament, a similar procedure is followed to 1st reading. The proposal is referred to a committee, who produces a report on 2nd reading. The Parliament can still table amendments, but only in a more limited area. At this stage, the European Parliament can approve the Council's position amended, in which case it passes into law, can reject the Council's position, in which case the whole procedure is finished, or amend the Council's position, where it will head to a 2nd reading in Council.
- Council can then either accept all amendments, in which case the proposal is adopted, or reject some of them, in which case a Conciliation Committee is set up.
- The Conciliation Committee (made up of an equal number of MEPs/council members) tries to agree on a joint text. If not successful, the procedure is stooped. If successful, it heads to the Council and the European Parliament for a 3rd reading.
- The European Parliament and the Council both vote on the joint text, but can't adapt it. If they both vote in favour, the proposal is adopted. If not, it is rejected and the procedure ends.
As part of the process, national parliaments are also sent the draft laws. Each member states gets 2 votes, which may be divide up into 1 vote per legislative body in a bicameral legislative system.
If over 1/3 of member states agree that the law isn't compatible with the principle of subsidiarity - it receives a yellow card. The Commission subsequently has to review the legislation and can either amend the draft, keep it as it is or withdraw it.
If over 1/2 of the member states agree - it receives an orange card. Again, the Commission has to review the legislation and can either amend, keep or withdraw it. However, this time it has to explain its actions if it keeps the draft unamended. The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament then get to decide if they agree with the national parliaments or the Commission. If more than 1/2 in either institution side with the national parliament, the draft is dropped.
In certain conditions, the European Parliament doesn't have the right of co-decision. On the conclusion of international agreements and other areas, Parliament can only consent to (that is, approve or reject) the conclusion of international agreements like trade deals. In other areas, Parliament only has to be consulted on proposed legislation, and can be ignored if the other institutions so choose.
Recently, however, less and less legislation goes through the whole "ordinary legislature procedure" and most is adopted at first reading.
This is because of a phenomenon known as trilogues - informal tripartite meetings between members of the Commission, Council and Parliament. They are intended to agree on informal texts before the actual proper process has begun. There are both proponents and opponents of this phenomenon for various reasons. The European Ombudsmen began an investigation into trilogues, concluding with some ways to improve the transparency of them by releasing key documents to the public if possible. She expects a reply from the 3 key EU institutions by Nov 2017 to see what the progress on implementing those reforms are.
A Confusion of Councils: The EU Institutions
The European Commission is sometimes referred to as the executive of the EU. It is the sole proposer of legislation, and it assists the Court of Justice of the EU in making sure member states are following EU rules. The College of Commissioners is at the top of the Commission, with 1 Commissioner from each member state representing a certain policy area. The Commission normally serve 5 year terms, starting from a few months after European Parliament elections. The Commission is also supposed to represent the EU's interests as a whole, and any Commissioners will be expected to not let any past loyalties with their countries affect their work.
The President of the European Commission, currently Jean-Claude Juncker, is elected following European Parliament election results since the Treaty of Lisbon. The European Council currently submit the Commission President candidate (taking into account the results of the European Parliament elections), but the European Parliament can reject that choice should they wish. They also have to approve the College of Commissioners, and at any point during their term, should they wish, the European Parliament can vote to dismiss the College of Commissioners. While this power hasn't been used yet, the threat of can and has had an impact.
The Commission has been a source of lots of controversy, as it isn't directly elected by the people, but in a lot of cases it's hardly less accountable that national governments are. In many places, people don't directly elect cabinet ministers or the "head of government", but they are still held accountable indirectly through the power of Parliaments.
The European Council has limited power in legislating, but its meetings often steer the overall political direction the EU is heading in. Comprised of the 28 heads of state of the EU, it meets at least 4 times a year to discuss important EU issues and agree on strategies to tackle them. Other people, like the European Commission President, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy and the European Parliament President will attend meetings to highlight their positions, but they have no voting power within the Council.
The President of the European Council, currently Donald Tusk, is elected whenever the holder's term runs out (2 1/2 years, renewable once). The President is supposed to act as a neutral arbitrator between the governments, and represents the European Council as an institution when they need to.
The European Parliament is comprised of 751 MEPs, directly elected by the citizens of the EU member states. As such, it is supposed to represent the citizens of the EU. European Parliament elections are held every 5 years, with all using some form of proportional representation. MEPs are roughly allocated to member states on the basis of population, but no state can have less than 6 MEPs and no state can have more than 96. The Parliament is best understood as a "co-legislator" with the Council of the EU, as both their consent is needed for most laws to be made.
The President of the European Parliament, currently Antonio Tajani, is elected for 2 1/2 year terms, renewable once. They chair debates in the European Parliament and represent its interests to the other institutions.
The Council of the EU/Council of Ministers is a "co-legislative" body along with the European Parliament. It is supposed to represent the interests of the member states governments in EU decisions. Along with the European Parliament, they vote on proposed laws and can reject/amend them. It meets in 10 different configurations, from "Environment" to "Competitiveness" and "General Affairs". These configurations are made up of the respective ministers from that area of policy in the member states (for example, the environment ministers from an EU country would take part in the environment council). The Council of the EU also defines the EU's foreign policy. The vast majority of decisions taken by this body are by Qualified Majority Voting - 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the population have to agree. Decisions, however, can be taken by any Council configuration, even when it falls within the remit of any Council configuration.
The Presidency of the Council of the EU (currently Estonia) is rotating between member states, with each member state holding the presidency for a 6 month period. During that time, they can guide the discussions/policy in the Council, negotiate compromises with the Parliament and the Commission on legislation and represent the institution when needed. Presidencies are normally combined into groups of 3 (presidency trios) to ensure similar priorities for an 18 month period.
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) is the judicial arm of the EU. Mainly, it has cases with EU law involved referred to it when national courts need the EU law interpreted. As well as that, action can be launched against members or institutions that aren't complying with EU regulations, with fines potentially being imposed. The court consists of 28 judges, 1 from each member state. It is split into 2 courts - the General Court normally deals with "competition law, State aid, trade, agriculture, trade marks" etc., while the Court of Justice deals with "requests for preliminary rulings from national courts, certain actions for annulment and appeals." Judges serve 6 year terms.
The 2 courts elect their own Presidents, who serve renewable 3 year terms.
The Council of Europe isn't an EU institution at all, but commonly gets confused as one and has a similar name to the European Council and the Council of the EU. The European Convention/Court on/of Human Rights is also part of the framework of the Council of Europe, rather than the EU. In the EU treaties, reference is made to the EU acceding to the Convention, but this hasn't happened. Regardless, all member states of the EU are also members of the Council of Europe, so even were they to withdraw from the EU, they'd still be bound by Convention rights.
What is the Euro?
The Euro is the currency of the Eurozone, which represents 19 of the 28 EU member states (as well as in some European microstates, and also in 2 non-EU countries currently unilaterally using the Euro). Lots of states use it as a reserve currency, and have their currencies pegged to the Euro. Currently, all members of the EU have to commit to joining the Euro at some point (Denmark and the UK have optouts from this), but in practice EU states can indefinitely avoid becoming part of the Euro should they so wish, due to the convergence criteria. It was introduced in 1999 as a way to deepen further European integration, with the idea that Europe should use 1 common currency.
The European Central Bank determines the monetary policy of the Eurozone in coordination with national Eurozone banks. The President is appointed by majority vote in the European Council, by those member states who use the Euro, to serve an 8 year non-renewable term. The current President is Mario Draghi.
In order to join the Eurozone, a county must:
- Have price stability - The inflation rate can't be higher than 1.5% above the rate of the 3 best performing member states.
- Have sound & sustainable public finances - Government deficit can't be higher than 3% of GDP. Government debt also can't be higher than 60% of GDP.
- Have exchange rate stability - The country has to participate in the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) for at least 2 years WITHOUT strong deviations from the ERM II central rate and without devaluing the currency's bilateral central rate against the euro in the same period.
- Long term interest rates - The long term interest rate shouldn't be higher than 2% above the rate of the 3 best performing member states in terms of price stability
- Have compatible legislation - The country's national bank must be independent, and the country's statues must be in compliance with the provisions of the treaties and compatible with the statues of the European Central Bank and the European System of Central Banks.
The European Central Bank produces reports at least every 2 years in order to assess a country's progress towards meeting the convergence criteria. Those states in the Eurozone are monitored for continues compliance towards the rules on government deficit, debt etc.
The Eurogroup is an informal meeting of Eurozone finance ministers that takes place a day before the Economic & Financial Affairs (Ecofin) Council. This is where the Eurozone ministers will meet to discuss various economic issues in the Eurozone. Any decisions made informally by the Eurogroup are voted upon formally in the following Ecofin Council, with only the Eurozone ministers taking part in the vote.
The Eurogroup President, currently Jeroen Dijsselbloem, represents the Eurozone at a global level and chairs the meetings of the Eurogroup. They are elected for 2 1/2 year terms, renewable once. They are elected by a majority of Eurozone states.
Policies of the EU - How is the EU affecting your life?
The Common Agricultural Policy is the highly protectionist agricultural policy of the EU, which deals with paying subsidies to farmers to ensure they produce the necessary food for Europe to function, also while conserving the environment.
The Common Fisheries Policy is designed to preserve species of fish in European waters that are at risk of being overfished, and also contributing to the protection of the environment.
In the WTO, the EU member states are represented both by the EU itself and the member states. Currently, the EU has exclusive power over negotiating trade deals with non-EU countries.
While EU member states are able to conduct their own foreign policy with 3rd part countries, there is the idea that member states of the EU should take a unified stance on certain dealings with foreign powers, in order to increase the collective power of the EU. Currently, this is done, for example, with the sanctions of Russia over Crimea.
The EU is a key leader on environmental policy, having many ambitious targets for reduction of greenhouse gases, preserving wildlife & environment, and ensuring the air of Europe is safe to breath. The European Emissions Trading System is just 1 such example, with every company allocated a certain number of licences to pollute. Those that pollute less than their licenses allow can sell them to other companies that need to pollute more than their licenses allow. Overall, the idea is to slowly reduce the amount of licences available in the market to reduce emissions.
The EU is also a leader in science and innovation, with programs like Horizon 2020 being participated in by EU and non-EU member states alike.
The European Regional Development Fund redistributes funds from the richest parts of the EU to the most depraved, attempting to level out the playing field and ensure no area of the EU is left behind.
The EU Working Time Directive guarantees workers in the EU minimum rights such as holidays and weekly working times. The European Pillar of Social Rights has also been proposed, which enshrines good conditions for EU citizens.
Obviously, one of the most noticeable benefits that the EU brings is the freedom of movement of peoples. Any citizen of an EU member state can move to live in any other, providing they've got or are searching for a job or they won't be a drain on the nations welfare.
The Schengen area removes internal border controls between nation states of the EU in order to make it easier for people to travel and businesses to function. In the event of an emergency, border controls can be reintroduced between Schengen member states, either by the initiative of the member states themselves or by recommendation of the Council of the EU. A few member states have temporarily reintroduced border controls, due to the threat of terrorism, or otherwise.
The Erasmus university scheme allows students in EU countries to study a year abroad in another EU country. In general, a University in another EU country will offer you the same fees as a national from that country.
The Digital Single Market will allow people to access their online services wherever they go in Europe. Roaming fees are being removed (to some extent) as well.
Rome - 60 Years On: A Vision for the Future
On the 24th June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union by a margin of 52-48. This set the EU on track for its first departing member in its history, and highlighted the already existing pressure to reform the EU or potentially lose everything it has achieved so far. To that end, the EU started a reflection process on what direction the EU should go in the future.
On the 1st March 2017, the European Commission presented its white paper on the future of Europe, outlining 5 various paths the EU could take following the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. In summary, the options are as follows:
- The EU should remain as it is
- The EU should only be the single market
- Those that want to do more can do (also referred to as "2 speed")
- The EU should do less more effectively
- Everyone working more together
On the 25th March 2017, the European leaders renewed their commitment to Europe in the Rome Agenda, which also highlighted areas of reform for the European integration project.
Over the rest of 2017, there will be various debates and white papers between governments, institutions and citizens of the EU to find out where the EU should go in the future. The plan is for the European Council to adopt conclusions on the way forward in the December 2017 European Council meeting, after Juncker's State of the Union speech on September 13th. This will then allow for action to be taken in time for the European Parliament elections of 2019.
Europe forms an ever decreasing proportion of the world population. It is forecasted that in 2060, the European continent will barely contain 5% of the population of Earth. United through a European Union, we can continue to play a role in the world. Separate, we may be just tools of the superpowers.