The Future of Europe and the European Union (Leaving Cert Geography): Revision Notes

The Future of Europe and the European Union

The European Union has undoubtedly brought stability and prosperity to its member nations. However, several important questions remain about how the union will continue to develop.

Political union

Creating a strong political union between member states represents a crucial challenge for the EU's future development. The main difficulty lies in establishing common laws on sensitive issues such as tax rates, environmental policies, defence strategies, and international relations.

Key treaties and their impacts

Several major treaties have attempted to strengthen political unity within the EU:

• Maastricht Treaty (1992): Proposed creating a 60,000-strong EU army, which raised concerns about member states' neutrality, particularly for countries like Ireland that have maintained neutral positions since World War II.

• Amsterdam Treaty (1997): Introduced common immigration laws for EU member states and supported further EU enlargement. However, as the EU expanded, creating unified political goals became increasingly difficult.

• Unified in Diversity Treaty (2005): Initially rejected by member states, this treaty aimed to present the EU as a single trading bloc. It was later replaced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, which established a President of the European Council to make the EU more efficient in decision-making.

Economic union

The EU's economic integration offers free movement of both people and goods between member states. With Croatia becoming the 28th member in 2013, the union expanded by 13 members in just 10 years, bringing both advantages and challenges.

Positives of economic union

• Increased prosperity: Each new member state expands the market size and labour force, making the EU more powerful in global trade. New members also provide access to raw materials for industries throughout the union.

• Sharing of skills: Labour shortages in one member state can be addressed by migrant workers from other EU countries.

• Development opportunities: Newer EU members, often dependent on primary economic activities, benefit from modern technologies shared by established members, which helps develop their agriculture and industrial output.

Negatives of economic union

• High costs: Most new members have less developed economies than existing members. The EU Structural and Cohesion Funds must invest substantial amounts to develop these economies.

• Outward migration: When poorer countries join the EU, they often experience significant outward migration as people seek better employment opportunities in more prosperous member states. This was particularly evident after the 2004 enlargement.

• Limited funding availability: Since EU Structural Funds are primarily invested in new member states, less money becomes available for development projects in other areas.

• Debt crisis challenges: Uncontrolled lending and borrowing led to massive debts in countries like Ireland, Italy, and Greece. This created economic instability that threatened both the euro currency and EU unity. Countries receiving bailout packages had to surrender some economic independence to EU and International Monetary Fund monitoring.

Sovereignty

EU membership has significantly weakened the national sovereignty of member states. Countries must now comply with EU legislation in areas including environmental protection and family law. Previously, national governments could veto or block new laws and policies, but this has become much more difficult since the Single European Act of 1987.

EU institutions managing sovereignty

Four key organisations oversee EU governance and future development:

• European Commission: Consists of 28 commissioners (one from each member state) responsible for proposing new EU laws. Although commissioners come from member states, they must act in the EU's best interests rather than representing their home countries. Proposals suggest reducing commissioners to 18, which would decrease some member states' influence on EU policy.

• Council of the EU: Responsible for decision-making within the EU, including adopting EU laws, coordinating new policies, and negotiating agreements with other countries and international organisations.

• European Parliament: Enables democratic debate among 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who discuss and vote on newly drafted legislation. The Parliament's power has grown significantly over time.

• European Council: Provides political guidance to the EU through meetings of government leaders from all 28 member states. These "EU summits" occur at least four times yearly, with most decisions made by consensus.

Despite political and economic unity achievements in some areas, many EU member states maintain strong individual national identities. Many citizens, including Irish people, see themselves as belonging to their home country first, and as European second.