European Union Final Review 1 Principle of subsidiarity EU can only act in areas that are not better addressed at the national level Established under the 1992 Maastricht Treaty 2 ECJ Jurisdiction and Procedures Formal Law Primary Acts aimed at reforming institutional structure of the EU framework Secondary Legislative Executive Acts arise out of treaties Example CAP any time of law out of how the EU is structured 1 Regulations binding on EU and member states Applies at EU and national level 2 Directives binding in terms of ultimate outcome Binding to member states Tend to be really details so there isn t a lot of leeway EU tends to lay out how it should be accomplished 3 Decisions addressed to member states private citizens or entities Legally binding Conceptual European citizen rights 4 Recommendations address to member states or individual citizens Non binding recommendations Policy directive based 5 Opinions similar to recommendations Informal Law Directed to general concepts like transparency in the EU General principles of law Takes foundations of democratic ideals and use them as building blocks to create EU law Take parts for national constitutions and build upon it in the EU Basis for jurisdiction in Courts European Court of Justice jurisdiction 1 Principles of legislative and administrative legality Legal traditions in member states 2 Principles of Economic Freedom Come from treaty of the EU Aimed at ensuring the single market 3 Fundamental Human Rights Encompassed in the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the EU 4 Political Rights Political rights of member states and included in the Charter of the EU Composition of the ECJ Judges One from each member state Advocates general 8 members Characteristics of Judges and Advocates General Rotate every 3 years on a partial turn over Expected to be impartial but member states nominate judges who align with preferences Elect judge and seek approval of other member states unanimously First appeared in the development of the ECSC Court hearings have increased substantially 600 cases a year Easing the workload Court of First Instance Following the Lisbon Treaty it is now known as the General Court Cases brought by EU citizens or member states against EU institutions Field cases for transition to ECJ Smaller hearings Docket control Procedures to hear cases in front of 3 or 5 judges Almost 50 of cases are heard by 5 judges now Court can refuse to hear any case if they believe it can be resolved at the national level Jurisdiction Constitutionalization Three primary areas 1 Infringement proceedings a Failure to comply with EU treaty or legislation b Brought about by the Commission or another member state c Limited ability to enforce rulings against other nation state Naming and shaming principle 2 Judicial Review a Any acts adopted by EU institutions can be investigated on constitutional grounds for regulatory acts or doctrines 3 National Case Rulings a Preliminary ruling that national court don t have to completely agree with ECJ only real power is financial punishment for being brought back to court Constitutionalization through rulings EU law has supremacy over national law Doctrine of state liability makes states liable for compliance with EU directives Doctrine of supremacy official ruling that EU law trumps all Principle of Subsidiarity EU can only act in areas that are not better addressed at the national level 3 First Order Contest Determine the government executive power in a political system Example EU national elections for parliament or US president 4 Second Order Contest Causes significantly lower turnout than national elections Used as a barometer of sentiment towards national elections Voters vote differently in EP elections than national elections Strategic v Sincere Vote sincere preferences rather than strategic Arguments against second order voting Attitudes influence turnout and party support Persistence of second order claim Claim that it allows citizens to vote for policy preferences but it is not the case Referendum voting Public referendums only occurs on treaty reform or new member inclusion Unless countries like Ireland or Denmark which require it all the time Only two issues voted on so it tends not to be salient Research shows that if citizens trust both sides they will vote more on European issues than national performance Don t allow citizens to vote directly more indirect opinions 5 Democratic deficit its sources in the EU Increased executive power Led to decrease in national parliament power Weak EP Function on national party politics Doesn t have necessary power to compensate for loss of power at national level Distant from citizens Public referendums are only held on treaty reform National elections are fought on domestic issues not European issues Disconnect between representation at national and EU levels Disconnect of citizens prevents an accurate representation of citizen policy preferences in the EU High degree of policy drift Preferences are more favorable to elitist and ignore citizen interest Credibility crisis v Democratic deficit Some argue that democratic deficit is not a problem EU was created as a regulatory body Therefore there shouldn t be political divide because it is what is in the best Pareto efficient outcomes most benefit to the most people Instead of redistributive outcomes which is argued to happen if the EU becomes interest for everyone more politicized EU needs better credibility instead of addressing democratic deficit Occurs by becoming more transparent 6 Aspects of democracy Standards of Democracy Fair Elections Voters can vote freely without threat or corruption Choices among candidates or parties Government turnover Actual alteration in government New government comes in old government steps down EP Reforms Direct elections Elections allow voters to chose polices and who runs the country Directly through referendums and indirectly through parties Policy making power In order for the EU to meet theses standards they made the EP elected by direct vote and gave them more power Individual citizens still lack choices in candidates and policy choices 7 Strategic voting 8 Sincere voting 9 Utilitarian Support 10 Affective Support 11 Pluralism Voting for a candidate different from sincere choice to prevent an undesirable outcome Voting for an outcome that you prefer and is most desirable to your ideology Derived from belief that a policy or institution Ideological or emotional