European Union Law-Assignment One

“It has been said that “an express “federal” goal was dropped from the final draft of The Treaty of European Union; nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the Union constitutes, at the very least, an embryonic federation”.

       

“It has also been said that “the … concept of federalism…does not feel quite right as an explanation of the EU which… is too sui generic, too complex, too multidimensional to fit any such categorisation”

  The interpretation of the above quotations will require a number of factors to be taken into consideration. This is in regards to analysing in depth the issues of constitutional structures, the concepts of the European Unions (EU’s) current structure, the institutions and their roles. This will require analysis of authoritative sources such as The Treaty of European Union (TEU), case law and also respective views of academics. The main question proposed by the above quotations is to what extent we can say the EU is evolving into a federal structure and if it will ever become a ‘united Europe.’  

     

  There are a number of classifications for a constitutional structure. Firstly there is a unitary state a “structure organised under a single central government “. Secondly there is a confederation “a formal association of states loosely bound by a treaty…a central governmental mechanism with specified powers over member states but not directly over citizens”. From the two concepts listed above it will become apparent if whether the EU falls into the following two categories. A Federal state “a state formed by the amalgamation or Union of previously autonomous or independent sates”, This advocates a federal system of government similar to that of the United States of America where power is drawn from member states to a central governing authority. Finally intergovernmental structure in which there “a loose association of states retaining sovereign power.” A ‘supra national’ system of government.

  Difficulty arises when trying to classify the EU into one these concepts. However, later on in the my analysis it will become apparent as if to why the EU is not part of any classification but merely extracting concepts from each one.

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  The statement that “an express federal goal was dropped” indicates that all elements of a federal state were removed from the (TEU). The issue here is whether the federal goal was actually dropped or whether it was merely just the ‘word’. The argument proposed is if whether the EU will ever be called a ‘United Europe’. The phrase ‘Unites Europe’ usually identifies a federation, was used by Sir Winston Churchill. However, it should be noted that when Churchill made the speech he did not envision that the UK would be part of the EU.

  In drawing ...

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