IP 325 European Integration

ZS 2011/2012

19.10.2011

Treaty of Maastricht

• The Treaty on European Union (TEU), signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992, entered into force on 1 November 1993.

• The Maastricht Treaty created the European Union and led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro.

• The Maastricht Treaty has been amended by later treaties of Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon.

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Treaty of Maastricht - 1

• strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the institutions;

• improve the effectiveness of the institutions;• establish Economic and Monetary Union EMU;• develop the Community social dimension;• establish a common foreign and security

policy.

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Maastricht criteria

The Maastricht criteria (also known as the convergence criteria) are the criteria for European Union member states to enter the third stage of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro as their currency. The 4 main criteria are based on Article 121(1) of the European Community Treaty.

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Maastricht criteria – cont. 1

• 1. Inflation rates: No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing (lowest inflation) member states of the EU.

• 2. Annual government deficit: The ratio of the annual government deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) must not exceed 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Only exceptional and temporary excesses would be granted.

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Maastricht criteria – cont. 2

• ratio of gross government debt to GDP must not exceed 60% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Even if the target cannot be achieved due to the specific conditions, the ratio must have sufficiently diminished and must be approaching the reference value at a satisfactory pace.

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Maastricht criteria – cont. 3

• 3. Applicant country should have joined the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM II) under the European Monetary System (EMS) for two consecutive years and should not have devalued its currency during the period;

• 4. Long-term interest rates: The nominal long-term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than in the three lowest inflation member states.

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The First Pillar of EU

• The European Communities pillar handled economic, social and environmental policies. It was the only pillar with a legal personality, consisting of the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, until its expiry in 2002), and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).

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Second Pillar

• The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar took care of Foreign policy:

• Human Rights, • Democracy, • Foreign Aid and• Security policy:• Common security and defense policy,• EU battlegroups, peacekeeping

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Third Pillar

• Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC), originally Justice and Home Affairs (JHA):

• Drug trafficking and weapons smuggling• Terrorism• Trafficking in human beings• Organised Crime• Bribery and fraud

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CITIZENSHIP

One of the major innovations established by the Treaty is the creation of European citizenship over and above national citizenship. Every citizen who is a national of a Member State is also a citizen of the Union. This citizenship vests new rights in Europeans:

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Citizenship - cont. 1

• the right to circulate and reside freely in the Community; • the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for European

and municipal elections in the State in which he or she resides;

• the right to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of a Member State other than the citizen's Member State of origin on the territory of a third country in which the state of origin is not represented;

• the right to petition the European Parliament and to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman.

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European Economic Area

• Signed in May 1992 in Porto between EU (12) and EFTA (7). The EEA is based on the same "four freedoms" as the European Community: the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital among the EEA countries. Thus, the EFTA countries that are part of the EEA enjoy free trade with the European Union.

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EEA – cont.

• The EFTA countries that are part of the EEA do not bear the financial burdens associated with EU membership, although they contribute financially to the European single market.

• In addition, the Agreement covers cooperation in other important areas such as research and development, education, social policy, the environment, consumer protection, tourism and culture.

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Copenhagen Criteria

Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a country is eligible to join the European Union. The criteria require that:

• state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights;

• has a functioning market economy; • accepts the obligations and intent of the EU.

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Copenhagen Criteria - cont. 1

The European Union Membership criteria are defined by the three documents:

• The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht (Article 49) • The declaration of the June 1993 European Council in

Copenhagen, i.e., Copenhagen criteria—describing the general policy in more details:

• political • economic • legislative Framework for negotiations with a particular candidate state

(absorption capacity of the EU). 16

Copenhagen Criteria - cont. 2 Political criteria: • Democracy Functional democratic governance requires that all citizens of the country should be able to

participate, on an equal basis, in the political decision making at every single governing level, from local municipalities up to the highest, national, level. This also requires free elections with a secret ballot, the right to establish political parties without any hindrance from the state, fair and equal access to a free press, free trade union organisations, freedom of personal opinion, and executive powers restricted by laws and allowing free access to judges independent of the executive.

• Rule of law The rule of law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with

documented laws, which were adopted through an established procedure. The principle is intended to be a safeguard against arbitrary rulings in individual cases.

• Human Rights• Respect for and protection of minorities

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Amsterdam Treaty

• officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts;

• signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; it made substantial changes to the Maastricht Treaty, which had been signed in 1992.

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Amsterdam Treaty - cont.1

• Amsterdam Treaty produced a political solution for further progress on free movement, incorporating the Schengen Agreement into the Union Treaty;

• clarifies the link between European and national citizenship. It states that "citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship".

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Treaty of Nice

• Treaty of Nice was signed on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome. The Treaty of Nice reformed the institutional structure of the European Union to prepare for an eastward expansion, a task which was originally intended to have been done by the Amsterdam Treaty, but failed to be addressed at the time.

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Treaty of Nice - cont. 1• Germany 29 Austria 10• United Kingdom 29 Slovakia 7• France 29 Denmark 7• Italy 29 Finland 7• Spain 27 Ireland 7• Poland 27 Lithuania 7• Netherlands 13 Latvia 4• Greece 12 Slovenia 4• Czech Republic 12 Estonia 4• Belgium 12 Cyprus 4• Hungary 12 Luxemburg 4• Portugal 12 Malta 3• Sweden 10 TOTAL 321 (QM 232)

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Treaty of Nice - cont. 2Country Voting weight Pop.(Mio.) Rel.weight Country Voting Pop. Rel. w.Germany 29 82.0 1.00 Austria 10 8.1 3.49UK 29 59.4 1.38 Bulgaria 10 7.7 3.67France 29 59.1 1.39 Slovakia 7 5.4 3.67

Italy 29 57.7 1.42 Denmark 7 5.3 3.73Spain 27 39.4 1.94 Finland 7 5.2 3.81Poland 27 38.6 1.98 Lithuania 7 3.7 5.35 Romania 14 22.3 1.78 Ireland 7 3.7 5.35Netherlands 13 15.8 2.33 Latvia 4 2.4 4.71Greece 12 10.6 3.20 Slovenia 4 2.0 5.67Czech Republic 12 10.3 3.29 Estonia 4 1.4 8.08Belgium 12 10.2 3.33 Cyprus 4 0.8 14.14 Hungary 12 10.0 3.39 Luxembourg 4 0.4 28.28 Portugal 12 9.9 3.42 Malta 3 0.4 21.26 Sweden 10 8.9 3.18

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Treaty of Lisbon

• international agreement that amends the two treaties which comprise the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Lisbon Treaty was signed by the EU member states on 13 December 2007, and entered into force on 1 December 2009. It amends the Treaty on European Union (also known as the Maastricht Treaty) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (Treaty of Rome).

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Treaty of Lisbon

• more democratic and transparent Europe • more efficient Europe • Europe of rights and values, freedom,

solidarity and security (introducing Charter of Fundamental Rights)

• Europe as an actor on the global stage

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Treaty of Libon - cont. 1

• Negotiations to modify EU institutions began in 2001, resulting first in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which was abandoned after being rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. After some modifications the Lisbon Treaty was proposed as an amendment of the existing Treaties which implemented many of the reforms included in the European Constitution.

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Treaty of Lisbon – cont. 2Country 2007 2009 Lisbon Country 2007 2009 LisbonGermany 99 99 96 Austria 18 17 19 France 78 72 74 Bulgaria 18 17 18 Italy 78 72 73 Finland 14 13 13 UK 78 72 73 Denmark 14 13 13 Spain 54 50 54 Slovakia 14 13 13 Poland 54 50 51 Ireland 13 12 12Romania 35 33 33 Lithuania 13 12 12 NL 27 25 26 Latvia 9 8 9 Belgium 24 22 22 Slovenia 7 7 8 Czech R. 24 22 22 Cyprus 6 6 6 Greece 24 22 22 Estonia 6 6 6 Hungary 24 22 22 Luxembourg 6 6 6 Portugal 24 22 22 Malta 5 5 6 Sweden 19 18 20 TOTAL 785 736 751

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Treaty of Lisbon - cont. 3

• In the Lisbon Treaty the distribution of competences in various policy areas between Member States and the Union is explicitly stated in the following three categories:

• exclusive competence• shared competence• supporting competence

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Treaty of Lisbon – exclusive competence

• the customs union • the establishing of the competition rules necessary

for the functioning of the internal market • monetary policy for the Member States whose

currency is the euro • the conservation of marine biological resources

under the common fisheries policy • common commercial policy

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Treaty of Lisbon – shared competence

• the internal market • social policy, for the aspects defined in this Treaty • economic, social and territorial cohesion • agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological

resources • environment • consumer protection • transport • trans-European networks • energy • the area of freedom, security and justice • common safety concerns in public health matters, for the aspects defined

in this Treaty

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Treaty of Lisbon - shared competence

• Union exercise of competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs in: research, technological development and space; development cooperation, humanitarian aid

• The Union coordinates Member States policies or implements supplemental to theirs common policies, not covered elsewhere: coordination of economic, employment and social policies; common foreign, security and defence policies

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Treaty of Lisbon - supporting competence

The Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States' actions in:

• the protection and improvement of human health • industry • culture • tourism • education, youth, sport and vocational training • civil protection (disaster prevention) • administrative cooperation

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