Abstract
What are we to make of all this? Many people draw attention to the complexity of EU processes. One rather facile response to this is to invite people to present their own national legislative processes in the same terms and see just how much simpler, or not, they actually are (most are not). The real point, however, is that EU processes are complex because EU realities are complex. We are talking about, in 2015, a Union which encompasses half a billion people living in 28 sovereign countries. The largest country, Germany, has a population which is just over 200 times bigger that of the smallest, Malta. Several countries have sub-state levels with legislative competences as well as distinct identities. There are 24 official languages. Regional GDP per capita ranges from around 266 % of the average to 30 %. And one cannot forget that the historical background which made it possible for such a uniquely deep union to emerge is the fact that Europe has a unique history of both intense cooperation and appalling conflict.
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Notes
- 1.
At the time of writing, in early 2015, it seemed symbolic (and to other regions and in other times, probably fantastical) that the future of Greek debt support in the framework of the European Stability Mechanism was accompanied by renewed Greek claims for German war reparations.
- 2.
The two considerations may not necessarily conflict. As Madison observed when defending the equality of State representation in the US Senate: ‘as the larger States will always be able, by their power over the supplies, to defeat unreasonable exertions of this prerogative of the lesser States, and as the facility and excess of lawmaking seem to be the diseases to which our governments are most liable, it is not impossible that this part of the Constitution may be more convenient in practice than it appears to many in contemplation’ (Madison et al. 1788/1987: 366).
- 3.
‘The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.’ (Article 2 TEU).
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Best, E. (2016). Conclusions. In: Understanding EU Decision-Making. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22374-2_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22374-2_9
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