1 / 31

European Union Constitution

Where do they go from here?. European Union Constitution. Decades of War. Franco-Prussian War WWI WWII. Verdun. Maybe this . . . . . . at least this much. Brief History of the EU. 1951, Treaty of Paris): European Coal and Steel Community (Community I)

jaden
Download Presentation

European Union Constitution

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Where do they go from here? European Union Constitution

  2. Decades of War • Franco-Prussian War • WWI • WWII

  3. Verdun

  4. Maybe this . . .

  5. . . . at least this much

  6. Brief History of the EU • 1951, Treaty of Paris): European Coal and Steel Community (Community I) Belgium, West Germany, Luxemburg, France, Italy, Netherlands • 1957: Euratom (Community II), EEC (Community III) • 1967: Communities I, II, III merge; establishment of EU Commission, Council of Ministers • 1972: Direct elections to parliament

  7. Brief History (cont’d) • 1973: Denmark, Ireland, UK join • 1981: Greece joins • 1985: Schengen Agreement (excl. UK, Rep of Ireland; incl. Iceland, Norway, Switzerland)

  8. Brief History (cont’d) • 1986: Spain & Portugal join • 1995: Austria, Finland, Sweden join • 2002: EURO introduction

  9. Brief History (cont’d) • 2004: Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland (now 454 million EU citizens) • 2007: Bulgaria & Romania • Future: Croatia, Turkey (?)

  10. Brief History (cont’d) • 1952 European Defense Community; rejected in 1954 by France • 1961 UK applies for EU membership under Harold McMillan; vetoed by France in 1963 • France & NATO

  11. Those French…they’re hard to figure

  12. Brief History (cont’d) • 2002-3 Constitutional Convention in Brussels • 2004 Constitution (Constitutional Treaty) signed by heads of gov’t in Rome (Treaty of Rome)

  13. Brief History (cont’d) • May 29, 2005: France rejects proposed constitution 45.1% NO v. 24.2% YES • June 1, 2005: Netherlands rejects proposed constitution 38.5% NO v. 24.3% YES

  14. The mood in Europe in June…

  15. Who Has Approved the Constitution? • Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, • Estonia, Germany, Greece, • Hungary, Italy, Latvia, • Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, • Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (15)

  16. Who Has Yet to Vote? • Who has yet to vote? Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic • Portugal, Republic of Ireland, UK, Poland (8)

  17. Important Question: • Who approves by referendum? • Who approves by parliament alone?

  18. Constitutional ConventionBrussels, 2002-3 • Valery Giscard D’estaing, Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin • Federalist Papers? (ct. Gordon Brown who reportedly takes the Fed Papers on vacation.) • Your citizens “will one day build statues of you on horseback in the villages you all come from.” • Convention ended with draft but no agreements • No statues yet

  19. Why a Constitution for Europe? • Coherence out of patchwork of treaties • Overcome “democratic deficit”

  20. Why a Constitution (cont’d)? • Improvements: Parliament, QMV, Commission • More towards a “super-state”: foreign policy, presidency of Council of Ministers, “legal personality”

  21. EU Commission

  22. EU Parliament

  23. Comparison: EU v. US Constitutions • 60,000+ words v 4543 words • Elegance? EU hardly looks like a traditional constitution • View of human nature (cf. Fed. Paper #10) • View of power (cf. Fed. Paper #51); comparative absence of separation of powers, checks and balances

  24. Comparison (cont’d) • Bill of Rights: U.S.: limited EU: expansive

  25. Comparison (cont’d) • Institutional comparison: EU hardly looks like a traditional government: U.S.: Executive, Legislative, Judicial + Bureaucracy EU: EU Commission, Council of Ministers, Parliament, Court of Justice

  26. Why did the EU Constitution Fail? Why Might it Fail? • Politics • Nationalism e.g. France, Netherlands, UK, Denmark, Poland • Fundamental Issues “Papered Over” e.g. foreign policy, nature of the European welfare state v. market economy, view of U.S., role of France & Germany, agricultural subsidies

  27. Failure? (cont’d) • No common culture (e.g. religion) • No proper debate, not understood by average citizen (not even read by average citizen) • Sense of arrogance & condescension

  28. Contemplating the Future

  29. Future? • Approval by sleight of hand (but the “game may be up”) Cf. 1992 Denmark and Treaty of Maastricht; 2002 Ireland and Treaty of Nice • Total rejection If so, this may mean “Europe” goes no farther

  30. Future (cont’d) • Partial approval, either in “slim-downed version” or as a result of “cherry picking” • Postponement • Should be considered in light of other European trends: Immigration, esp. Islamic Economic stagnation

  31. Dusk or Dawn in Europe?

More Related