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Basic Course 4: Institutions belonging to the EU's multi-level system
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Looking back at the previous Basic Courses |
We have already addressed the way in which the integration process of the EU has developed over the years. While our interest may have been focused on gathering the necessary facts,
this was not the end in itself but rather, firstly, to identify the fundamental questions concerning any investigation of the EU and, secondly, to get an insight into the determinants and development patterns at work in this integration process. But to begin with I would like to mention some of the results that our efforts have unearthed so far. What core issues and what special qualities have we encountered during our look at the EU? We have already established,
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Special characteristics of the EU |
 | that the ECSC, EEC, EC and EU represent new and unique forms of cooperation; |
| that a very peculiar form of coexistence exists between supranational and intergovernmental elements; |
| that remarkable development has taken place within the scope of cooperation from sectorially limited to comprehensive and from intergovernmental to supranational; |
| that many EU measures could only be realized with time, sometimes requiring decades to be realized; |
| that the number of member states has grown enormously.
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The subject addressed by Basic Course 4 |
With the same goal in mind, the aim of this basic course it to take a more detailed look at the EU's institutional structure. Starting with the first two points in the list above, we will be examining more closely the things that actually make the EU unique at an institutional level and trying to identify the supranational and intergovernmental elements within it. Three objectives for Basic Course 4 arise from these preliminary considerations. We have to
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Objectives of Basic Course 4 |
| One, establish a general picture of the EU's structural characteristics, especially those characteristics that lead to it being classified as a supranational organization, that is, an organisation that is different from those based solely on intergovernmental relationships and those features common to more traditional international organisations. |
| two, we have to make sure that our investigations capture the entire picture and the complexity of this structure. This means, then, that we will have to go beyond the supranational level and include the member states in our investigations and, finally, |
| three, investigate all three pillars. As well as the EC, then, we will also be taking a closer look at EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs, because of the way in which the institutional structure and "rules" between these three areas greatly differ. |
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Why do we need to include all these levels? |
Given that the supranational level is complicated enough on its own, why does our investigation have to take in all these differing factors and levels? The following illustration has been designed to highlight the reasons.
On the one hand, the illustration shows that representatives from the national and sub-national levels are represented at the EU level and that they play a part in the decision-making process, such as the national governments in the EU Council and European Council (central role), sub-national governments in the Committee of the Regions, associations in the Economic and Social Committee. In addition to this, the citizens of the member states elect MPs to represent them in the European Parliament.
On the other hand, however, it is also recognizable that EU decisions, that is, its laws are as binding as national laws in the member states. Indeed, the significance of the scope of EU law is increasing in both quantitative and qualitative terms. Just consider for a moment the Euro Zone group of nations. Here it was the governments of the member states themselves that handed over sovereignty and authority of nothing less than monetary policy with all its importance for national politics!
In other words: These three areas are so closely entwined that it is absolutely necessary to address and analyse these areas and the interplay between them together. And it is for this reason that scientific discussion in this area is on the "EU system or "EU multi-level system".
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Basic Course 4 has been designed with this in mind and is structured thus:
| Structure of the EU 1: |
| The first stage of Basic Course 4 will be concentrating on the supranational level and taking a closer look at the individual institutions, their structure, their tasks and the interplay between them. We will be starting with the institutional triangle formed by the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament.
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| Structure of the EU 2: |
| We will be completing our picture of the supranational level by taking a look at the Court of Justice and the European Council.
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| Structure of the EU 3: |
| The second stage of Basic Course 4 will be dealing with the key structural conditions and other major determining factors of the EU policy followed by member states, that is, the EU at a national level.
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| Structure of the EU 4: |
| This basic course will finish by addressing the second and third pillars: Common Foreign and Security Policy and cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs. This section will try to establish which authorities play a central role, how they work together, how responsibilities are distributed between the EU and the member states, whether there are any differences in the decision-making procedures used compared to the EC and where the responsibilities at this level meet those of the first pillar and how they interlock.
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| Assessment: |
| Our final assessment rounds of this basic course by systematically summarizing the major characteristics of the EU's structure. |
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[Author: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schumann]
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