Enlargement and the
Political Institutions of the EU
Christophe Crombez
Introduction
• Institutions and the Legislative Process
• The Political dynamics of the past 20 years
• The Current Commission Appointment Problems
• Enlargement
• An EU Constitution
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Institutions
• A Bicameral Legislature
– The Council
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consists of representatives of the 25 member states
national government ministers
uses unanimity or qualified majority (around 70%) rule
comparable to US Senate
– The Parliament
• consists of 732 directly elected MEPs
• comparable to US House
• An Executive
The Commission
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consists of 25 Commissioners, one per member state
appointed by the Council and the Parliament
responsible for the implementation of legislation
also the monopoly proposer of legislation
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The Legislative Process
Most important legislation
– is proposed by the Commission
– needs the approval of the Parliament and the
Council
– can be amended by the Parliament and the
Council
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Political Dynamics
A move away from unanimity in the
Council, toward qualified majority
– in the legislative process (since 1987)
– in the Commission appointment process
(since 2003)
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Current Problems
• There is a center-right majority in the
Council and in the Parliament.
• As a result the nominated Commission is a
center-right Commission.
• However, the center-right is short of a
majority in the Parliament.
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Enlargement
How does this relate to enlargement?
– The EU institutions were set up for a union of 6
member states.
– Successive enlargements have brought in member
states with more heterogeneous preferences.
– Agreeing on policies has thus become more difficult.
– This has led to a move away from consensus politics,
toward more majoritarian politics.
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A Constitution for the EU
• EU institutions may still not have been well
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prepared for the most recent and future
enlargements.
That is one of the reasons why a new treaty
establishing a constitution was signed last week.
The Constitution
– further expands qualified majority voting
– gives more weight to the larger member states
– also introduces an EU foreign minister
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