Is
the European Union a federal union
or one?
The Schuman Proposal announces that the European Coal and Steel Community is a 'first step for the European federation'. The pooling of basic industrial production and the setting up of the European Community 'will bring into reality the first solid groundwork for a European Federation vital to the preservation of world peace.'
But it is a union quite different
from federal unions known so far in history.
It had a founding
purpose that had never been put into practice before:
Most Federal Unions are based on common defence against a potential
enemy. They start with common military policy and common foreign policy,
sometimes customs unions directed against a threat. The European Union
was based on a diametrically opposite purpose: creating
peace. It was based on anti-war principles.
It would change the destiny
of regions .. long devoted to manufacturing munitions of war.
It would make plain that war between
France and Germany was not only unthinkable but materially impossible.
It would go far beyond that as it was 'vital for the preservation
of world peace.' It put in concrete form the principles to build world
peace and to save the world from the 'war system' that saw war as the means
to solve political problems.
Was the aim to create a Super-State?
In
Schuman's view classical federalism will create a Super -State. Supranational
links won't.
Was the European Community that Schuman
created an association of sovereign states or a federation or something
entirely new?
Schuman called the supranational 'a
new stage in human development.' It was the first time in history
that such an idea had been put into practical effect.
It provided a new innovation, a new instrument in political science. It encourages the traditions, culture and flourishing of national interests except those that might lead to antagonism with neighbouring states and to war. The national flourishes within the supranational.
Is the word 'federal' in the founding Treaty
of Paris for the European Coal and Steel Community?
No. But the word 'supranational' appears twice. It is the first treaty
in world history that is based on supranational principles. The supranational
concept and supranational law is the main basis of subsequent EU development.
The European Union (which does not have a legal personality; only the European
Community does) is a mixture of supranational elements that are subject
to law and proper democratic review and some intergovernmental elements
which do not.
How do classical federalism and supranationalism
differ in conception?
Federalism tries to coordinate and control by central organisms specific
areas of life. Lower decisions can be decentralized. Supranationalism is
much more specific in its choice of sectors. They are chosen by common
consent as representing a means to arrive at common solutions to common
problems. The supranational management can be relaxed once the problem
is solved. It is more flexible and aimed at helping nations live together
rather than creating a bureaucracy.
Will the European Union develop federal
institutions like the USA?
No. At present the budget of the EU institutions cost about one and
a quarter percent of GDP. American Federal institutions take about TWENTY
times as much. Economically both the EU and the USA are about the same
size. The system of coordination and administration is quite different.
The number of European civil servants is minimal -- equivalent to those
that administer locally a medium-sized town. The European system
encourages national government by strengthening self-discipline on policies
that are for the public good, such as common standards, open markets, trade
and development, environment and cooperation and sound monetary policy.
These help long-term cooperation, essential for strategic planning between
partners in all walks of life.
Will nation states lose sovereignty?
No, quite the reverse. They have gained sovereignty by the supranational
method. A country like Portugal now has a strong currency. It also has
a say in the new world currency, the euro. Its economy has been revitalised.
Democracy has been strengthened. Its people have free movement around the
EU. It has gained in inward investment and the choice of goods and services
for its people. Its industries have means to cooperate with other groups
in a huge market and participate in exporting to world markets more effectively.
Most importantly of all, it has its future and a vision for peace. It can
make powerful contributions based on its own history, culture, work and
intelligence. So can all member states of the European Union.
How does the supranational guarantee real
democracy?
The European Union is presently a mixture of supranational law and
intergovernmental agreement. The supranational law element has been agreed
only in certain sectors. The supranational is a joint decision-making system
under the RULE OF LAW. Decisions are made together with care after numerous
aspects of them are examined. These laws are scrutinized by Parliament
(democratic safeguard), the Economic and Social Committee (safeguard by
partners involved in economic activity), the Court (legal safeguard and
justice), the Committee of Regions (geographic safeguards) and the Court
of Auditors (financial safeguards), not to mention investigation by national
parliaments and their committees, various associations, companies, citizens
and the media. These provide means to guarantee the objectivity of Community
measures given the varied cultures, histories but common values
of the European peoples. Such institutions have the power to modify and,
if necessary, stop legislative proposals if they don't feel that that are
just and equitable. Even any private citizen, organization or company can
object to any law if he or she finds it unjust. Such powers are rarely
found in any other system whether national or federal.
Supranational law is a law binding democratic states by majority vote of democratic government ministers meeting in Council. It is a democracy at a higher level than the state or the nation. It is very limited. A supranational community acts only in certain sectors such as coal and steel or the internal market. Furthermore, its action is confined generally to commonly agreed law in existing areas of common interest.
A SUPRANATIONAL COMMUNITY IS A DEMOCRACY OF DEMOCRACIES. It is aimed at supplying all citizens with a maximum of liberty. It has already opened up freedoms to citizens, associations and firms to an extent undreamed of just a few short decades ago. It is a SUPERPOWER OF DEMOCRACIES.
Supranational law has a democratising effect
in improving national democracies
Where it exists, supranational law has the effect of a searchlight
on national democratic law. All the other states can be guardians that
the common European law is applied in any single member state. Furthermore
any citizen can complain to a court that the citizen's member state or
another member state is not applying law equitably. His MEP can open an
examination of it in Parliament. Others institutions, including the European
Ombudsman, can examine any
such case at the European level. The European Community therefore embodies
and refines the best European values of liberty and democracy. All this
is done without creating bureaucratic federal agencies and a powerful,
sometimes overpowerful, federal presidency.
In the USA -- to quote Woodrow Wilson-- 'The President is at liberty, both in law and conscience, to be as big a man as he can. His capacity will set the limit; and if Congress be overborne by him, it will be no fault of the makers of the Constitution. ... The initiative in foreign affairs, which the President possesses without any restriction whatsoever, is virtually the power to control them absolutely.' (W Wilson's book: Government of the United States). The US relies on checks and balances; the European Community relies on mutual democratizing control, democratic refinement of legislation and several types of safeguard.
The European Union is in the process of transformation to a more just form of democracy.
The European Community safeguards Europeans from demagogic or populist control. Decisions of the EC bodies are generally in the form of specific law. Two separate bodies at the very least are required to make the decision based on independent logic. These involve both European values and national values. At the highest European level it is not the states that take the initiative for joint action but an independent body equivalent to an arbitrage and strategic planning group: the European Commission. Its purpose is to analyze impartially Europe's requirements and propose solutions. Its proposals can be modified and possibly rejected by the Council of Ministers, based on a legal Opinion, usually in the form of communique or other written form. In the treaties the Council of Ministers is not alone with this power. Civil society has full right to the same type of Opinions in its own domains. Equally the Committee of Regions must also give its Opinion where appropriate. This is shown by the fact that the European Commission must submit its proposals to the Council, Parliament and EcoSoc and Committee of Regions where the treaty specifies. It does not have to submit the proposal to any particular commune or golf club even though they may be affected. That is because the four bodies (Council, Parliament and the two Legal Consultative Committees) are the legally charged bodies to investigate repercussions for all citizens.
The Commission is obliged by law not to act until it has received the Legal Opinions of these bodies (Council, Parliament and the two Legal Consultative Committees). It does not have to wait for any comment from any borough, commune or golf club, nor any small company or major multinational company, even the largest in the European Union. It can institute legislation on software without asking Microsoft. Why? Because Microsoft and all other software companies should be engaged in a permanent dialogue through the appropriate body. In this case the most appropriate body is the EcoSoc, a body for economic and social interests, not the Parliament or the Council, which deals with national matters.
What happens if the Commission proceeds before it has received the Opinion of the EcoSoc? If any of the procedures of justice in the treaty articles are not respected, these institutions have access to the European Court of Justice to modify or overthrow any such faulty and incomplete legislation. European law is defined by the act of publishing in the Commission's Official Journal. So far the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions have not reached the level of maturity of the Parliament. In the 1970s the Parliament took the matter to Court because its was being ignored by the Council and a subservient Commission. This resulted in direct elections being implemented. Treaty articles had been ignored for some three decades.
Note that this analysis describes how the treaties say the Community should work. In practice States have yet to unblock what are probably illegal constraints on full democracy in the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions to allow these key institutions to play their allotted democratic role. The Maastricht process also provided a mechanism for States to make intergovernmental decisions without adequate democratic control in areas such as justice and home affairs and external relations. A proper functioning Community system would have a much more powerful, just, balanced and coherent internal and external policy. The Maastricht three pillar system can be seen as an attempt by governments to retain central powers that they do not wish to place under democratic investigation and supervision.
The democratic wellspring that Schuman opened in the Community system will make it inevitable that eventually governments, that is party politicians, will have to cede the new areas of democracy that they are presently blocking. Eventually there will be proper Europe-wide elections for the EcoSoc and the Committee of Regions with a subsequent increase in their moral authority and influence. This will increase the efficiency of the whole EC, boost the economy and save millions of Euros. It will also vastly improve Community coherence through enhanced mutual understanding.
What is the goal of a supranational Community?
Schuman said that the European Community was a means to create a 'zone
of peace'. It should be devoted externally to 'works of peace'.
Was the Community directed against the Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe?
As distinct from Schuman's work in the creation of NATO which was a
defensive alliance aimed at discouraging Soviet expansion, the European
Community was based on quite different principles. There is nothing in
the Schuman Proposal that is aimed against any state. Quite the reverse.
It is open to all European states.
On 9 May 1950 Schuman was asked if Russia was part of Europe. He replied:
'Yes, of course.' (Mais oui). In
April 1951 all the signatory states of the founding treaty of the European
Community signed a document pledging that Europe would be open to all other
states on the basis of supranational principles, which they called the
'TRUE FOUNDATION' for Europe. It embodied the best expression of our culture
and history of liberty, democracy and community.
What were the exact words of this pledge?
The document signed at the time of the EU's founding Treaty of Paris
said:
How can the supranational method help central
and eastern Europe?
Schuman said 'It is our duty to be ready' to receive these countries
into the Union. His method was not to create complex negotiations but to
identify a strong and vital sector for supranational action. This would
form for all willing Europeans the strong backbone of a new relationship
around which unity could grow more rapidly. Creating a Community was to
help reform, he said, not the other way around. A vibrant supranational
community in one sector would accelerate reform in other sectors and consolidate
the rule of law, democracy and justice. He
warned about leaving it too late to unify Europe.
Schuman spoke of 'reconstituting' the European
Community after the fall of the Soviet Union. Why?
The aim of the supranational method is to solve common problems together
treating partners equally. Joining a club does not deal with central and
eastern Europe equally. Nor do long, technical and intricate discussions
on the pesticides and fish-farming engage Europe's most urgent problem:
long-term peace and security and freedom from domination. Like the early
coal and steel community, this problem can best be tackled not by building
armies but merging common, most vital interests
in a Community.
Go back to Welcome page (c) D Heilbron Price Dec 1999, 2000