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Unique characteristics of the EU's institutional structure |
To finish this section, we will be recapping on the things we have learned during Basic Course 4. The main objective of Basic Course 4 was to: Establish a general picture of the EU's structural characteristics, especially those characteristics that have lead to it being classified as a supranational organisation and those that set it apart from more traditional international organisations. I would like to summarize these central characteristics. In what way is the EU's institutional structure unique? |
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Legal system |
Well, firstly, there is the EU's legal system and closely connected to this the role played by the European Court of Justice, which strongly reflect the sort of structure usually found in national political systems. |
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Differentiation at a functional level |
Then, secondly, there is the the EU's significant functional differentiation, which can be found across all its levels and which has made a considerable contribution to the way in which EU policy within the member states has and is increasingly losing its foreign policy character. |
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Successive supranationalization in a large number of areas |
And, lastly, there is the continual movement toward qualified-majority voting in the Council of Ministers, the enormous upgrading of the role placed by the European Parliament, which, in many areas, can now be regarded as an equal partner alongside the Council of Ministers, and the fact that the Treaty of Amsterdam managed to introduce at least some supranational aspects to the EU's third pillar, a pillar jealously protected as the last bastion of national sovereignty. |
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Analogies to national political systems |
Nonetheless, there are still a number of strong indicators for the EU's intergovernmental character, especially the Common Foreign and Security Policy. It can be said, then, that during our analysis of the EU's institutional structure it has become clear that this form of cooperation between national states does indeed represent an extreme pole in international politics, a pole which also demonstrates a large number of clear analogies to the way in which politics is carried out within national political systems. |
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Increasing knowledge in this area |
If you are interested in deepening your knowledge about the issues addressed by Basic Course 4, there is a great deal of information available online. An excellent place to start is the Google directory on EU institutions, which encompasses almost 200 sources! |
