Case Study: The European Union
After the end of World War II, six Western European nations began a slow process of economic, political, and cultural integration. The collapse of Soviet power supplied a sudden jolt for accelerating this trend. In 1991, in the Dutch city of Maastrict, the members of the European Community, now twelve in number, negotiated the Maastrict Treaty, designed to shape Europe into a unified economic and political force. By 1993, the member states had ratified the treaty and, in recognition of its aims, the European community became the European Union. The new Europe, whose goal was the free movement of goods, labor, capital, and services between countries, has become a powerful presence in world affairs.
Many Europeans have unanswered questions about the future of their countries. Are they surrendering their identity, along with their sovereignty, to the EU? Are Europeanization and globalization (the latter frequently defined as "American imperialism") going to change irrevocably their national status? The problem is that Europeans do not identify with the EU, personified by remote Eurocrats headquartered in Brussels. Belgium. An unelected European Commission makes the decisions, and the elected European Parliament is a weak institution. The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the EU, celebrated in 2007, found widespread apathy among the majority of Europeans, who know little about the EU and cared less.
Many Europeans have unanswered questions about the future of their countries. Are they surrendering their identity, along with their sovereignty, to the EU? Are Europeanization and globalization (the latter frequently defined as "American imperialism") going to change irrevocably their national status? The problem is that Europeans do not identify with the EU, personified by remote Eurocrats headquartered in Brussels. Belgium. An unelected European Commission makes the decisions, and the elected European Parliament is a weak institution. The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the EU, celebrated in 2007, found widespread apathy among the majority of Europeans, who know little about the EU and cared less.
Guiding Question:
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Reading:
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For this case study you are to analyze Chapter 30 The New Institutions & Postindustrial Society (Pgs. 942 - 952) and review the sources provided below. You are expected to be able to answer the guiding question in full depth with specific historical evidence and supporting details.
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European Union Historical Perspective
The Revival of Western Europe
- When World War II ended, Europe faced a grim future. "What is Europe now?" Winston Churchill asked. "It is a rubble-heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground for pestilence and hate."
- Hunger and desperation stalked Europe from Bulgaria to Belgium. Tens of millions of homeless Europeans were classified as "displaced persons."
- Despite these seemingly insurmountable problems, Europe staged a remarkable recovery that is often called an "economic miracle."
- The European Coal and Steel Community
- Jean Monnet, a French economic planner, convinced French Premier Robert Schuman that economic cooperation would be the key to future prosperity between France and West Germany.
- The Schuman Plan, as the project became knows, led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
- The ECSC called for tariff-free trade in coal and steel among France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
- The ECSC proved to be a success. As a result, in 1957 its six member nations signed the Treaty of Rome creating the European Economic Community (EEC), popularly known as the Common Market.
- The EEC eliminated trade barriers among its members, thus closely resembling a tariff union.
- The EEC rapidly emerged as the driving force behind economic integration in Western Europe.
- Sparked by Marshall Plan aid and revitalized by economic integration, Europe entered a period of rapid economic growth.
- By 1963, Western Europe produced more than 2.5 times more goods than it did before World War II.
- The booming West German economy soon dominated the Euorpean electrical, automobile, chemical, and steel industries. Between 1950 and 1980, West Germany's gross national product (GNP), or the total value of goods and services produced, grew from $48 billion to an astounding $828 billion.
- The EEC proved to be a huge success. During the 1950's and 1960's, all six member nations experienced economic miracles. The EEC's succes prompted Great Britain, Denmark, and Ireland to join the organization in 1973.
- During the 1980's other European natoins applied for membership in the EEC. The original core countreis established econmic and political criteria that included free markets, domocratic politics and respect for human rights. By 1995, the EEC included 15 nations with a combined population of 395 million people.
- In 1991 leaders of the EEC countries met in the Dutch city of Maastricht. They adopted the Maastricht Treaty, changing the name of the EEC tothe European Union (EU). the treaty committed the member nations to adopt common production standards. uniform tax rates, a single European currency, and a common EU citizenship.
- The EU vindicated Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman's vision of an integrated European economy that permitted the free movement of goods, labor, capital, and services. On January 1, 2002, twelve of the EU member nations adopted the euro as a common currency. By 2009, sixteen EU countries comprised a new "euro-zone."
- Following the collapse of Communist, virtually all of the Eastern European governments applied for membership in the EU. These nations viewed membership as a source of economic prosperity and a symbol of their return to Europe.
- Between 2004 and 2013, the EU added 13 new member nations. The 28 EU nations boasted a combined population of just over 500 million people. the EU now accounts for about one-third of the world's gross national product and about 40 percent of global exports.
Source: The Global Market and the Coming Storm, William Greider (1997)
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Imagine a wondrous new machine ... a machine that reaps as it destroys. It is huge and mobile... but no one is at the wheel... It is sustained by its own forward motion, guided mainly by its own appetites. And it is accelerating...
The machine is... modern capitalism driven by the imperatives of global industrial revolution. The metaphor is imperfect, but it offers a simplified way to visualize what is dauntingly complex and abstract and impossible diffuse - the drama of a free-running economic system that is reordering the world... The symptoms of upheaval can be found most anywhere, since people in distant places are now connected by powerful strands of the same marketplace. The convergence has no fixed center, no reliable boundaries or settled outcomes... The earth's diverse societies are being rearranged and united in complicated ways by global capitalism. The idea evokes benumbed resignation among many. The complexity of it overwhelms. The enormity makes people feel small and helpless. |
Source: Pros and Cons of the European Union
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Pros
1. No tariffs and free trade between the members of the nations. 2. Provide Common Currency: EU provides the same currency. The practice of Euro is compulsory as seen in many countries including Great Britain. 3. EMU also sets a widespread currency exchange fee. 4. Citizens of Europe allows for a free action between affiliate countries. 5. European Union opens up many job opportunities, so more possibility to gain significant amount of money. 6. The extensive sort of member nations opens up an entry to many more sources. 7. No conflict between affiliate nations. The answer to squabbles should be found in accordance to rules imposed by the European committee and parliament. 8. This can make a sense of unity and belonging among European Union members. 9. Multiple European Union capitals so entree to government affiliates is instantly accessible to citizens. 10. European Union members work as one in order to help other affiliate sustainability. 11. Regional growth funding and the European Union have scholarships which encourage education of people. 12. The European Union members identity is not at risk or compromised. 13. No certified languages and rules have been properly designated so wealthy nations such as Germany and France cannot control or rule smaller nations. 14. This provides lots of public companies to people and also there are lots of subsidies for farming. 15. The EU central bank tracks the interest rates. |
Cons
1. There is no common language use between the nations, so communication is very difficult for the members and citizens as well. 2. The additional level of institution can eliminate some of the responsibility and power of the nation. 3. The rule imposed in order to secure the poor or smaller nations. 4. This threatens the national individuality of the members such as Sweden. 5. Meeting the necessities to join is so hard. 6. The edge of Europe is not identified; on the other hand you need to be a part of Europe to partake the European Union like Morocco. 7. Economic standard and government criteria are essential. 8. The administrative, the EC serves the European Union interest and not the entity of the country. 9. Members have lesser rule of what is sold and made in the borders. 10. This loss the sovereignty because a lot of people in Greece have commended. 11. Well developed nations such as Germany share their prosperity with other nations. 12. All members are restrict by similar regulations, so outside nations are able of influencing other country. 13. Difficult to withdraw and European Union can throw out leader of the institution once they think it is necessary. |
Source: CGPGrey: The European Union Explained*
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Source: David S. Landes, The Futures of Rich and Poor (1998)
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The old division of the world into two power blocs, East and West, has subsided. Now the big challenge and threat is the gap in wealth and health that separates rich and poor. These are often styled North and South, because the division is geographic; but a more accurate signifier would be the West and the Rest, because the division is also historic. Here is the greatest single problem and danger facing the world in the Third Millennium...
How bid is the gap between rich and poor and what is happening to it? ... The difference in income per head between the richest industrial nation, say Switzerland, and the poorest nonindustrial country, Mozambique, is about 400 to 1. Two hundred and fifty years ago, this gap between richest and poorest was perhaps 5 to 1, and the difference between Europe and, say East or South Asia (China or India) was around 1.5 or 2 to 1. Our task (the rich countries), in our own interest as well as theirs, is to help the poor become healthier and wealthier. If we do not, they will seek to take what they cannot make; and if they cannot earn by exporting commodities, they will export people. In short, wealth is an irresistible magnet; and poverty is a potentially raging contaminant: it cannot be segregated, and our peace and prosperity depend in the long run on the well-being of others. |