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SupranationalCooperation in theEuropean Union14.1 Introduction

CHAPTER

14

Have you ever traveled from the United States to another country? If so,you know that crossing international borders isn't like going from one stateto another back home. You probably had to stop and show identification.Youmight have had to trade your U.S. dollars for a different kind of money.

Now imagine that you're in Europe. You're crossing the borderbetween France and Germany.You don't have to stop to show your pass-port. You use the same money in both places. The main difference younotice is that people are speaking German instead of French.

People today travel easily among many European countries because ofthe European Union, or EU. The EU is a supranational organization. In2004, it had 25 member countries. Suprameans "over" or "on top of." Thegovernment of the European Union stands above the governments of itsmembers. As a result, the EU has been able to remove many barriers thatonce made travel among its members difficult. Members of the EU have"open" borders with each other. Many also use the same form of money.

EU countries use supranational cooperation to work towardshared goals. At the same time, they remain separate countries. Whilethey are united in some ways, they are divided in others. In this chapter,you will learn about the forces that work for and against supranationalcooperation in the EU.

What forces work forand against supranationalcooperatiOfl am~flg n,,~ions?

These two maps showEurope. The highlightedcountries are members ofthe European Union. The mapon the left represents thingsthat unite EUcountries. Themap on the right representsthings that pull EUcountriesapart. Keep these maps inmind as you try to ansvverthe Essential Question.

Graphic Organizer

~ EuropeanUnionflag flyingovera city in the CzechRepublic213

World War II Destruction

On May 14, 1940, German planesbombed the city of Rotterdam in theNetherlands. Much of the city wasdestroyed. Many other cities in Europewere also bombed during World WarII.The EUwas formed to make suresuch horrors never happened again.

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14.2 The Geographic SettingEurope is a region made up of many peoples and countries. Throughoutits history, different forces have brought its peoples together andpulled them apart. The forces that bring things together, or unite them,are called centripetal forces. The forces that divide things, or movethem away from one another, are called centrifugal forces. TheEuropean Union was formed to unite countries that had been tornapart by years of war.

A History of Bloody Conflict For much of its history, Europe hasbeen a battleground. This was true of the first half of the 20th century.In this time, two great wars began in Europe. Both were so wide-spread that they are remembered as "world wars."

The First WorldWar began in 1914. This bloody conflict lastedfour years and killed over 21 million people. The Second WorldWarbroke out in 1939. On one side were Germany, Italy, Japan, and theirallies. Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and othercountries opposed them.

WorldWar II was even more terrible than WorldWar 1. It lastedsix long years and left some 50 million people dead worldwide. ManyEuropean cities and farms were left in ruins. When the guns finallyfell silent, Europeans wanted to make sure that such horrors neverhappened again.

Creating a Future of PeacefulCooperation OnMay9, 1950,a French leader named Robert Schuman made a famous speech. In histalk, he put forward ideas for bringing a lasting peace to Europe. Theseideas led to what is now the European Union.

Schuman suggested that France, Germany, and other Europeancountries work together to manage their coal and steel production. Ifthese countries learned to work together, he said, they would not beso likely to make war on each other.

Six countries agreed with Schuman. By 1952, they had all ratifiedthe treaty creating the European Coal and Steel Community. Thisgroupcreateda common market for steel andcoalproducts.In acommon market, nations reduce or remove trade barriers, such astariffs. Tariffs are taxes on goods that cross country borders.

By 1958, the same six countries created the European EconomicCommunity (EEC). This group removed trade barriers for all kinds ofgoods. The EEC came to be known as the Common Market. Over theyears, more European countries joined the Common Market.

In 1993, twelve CommonMarket countries formed the EuropeanUnion. The EU works to create jobs, protect citizens' rights, andpreserve the environment. It also promotes freedom, security,and justice. Its main goals, however, are toCencourage peace andprosperity, or economic well-being. In 2004, the EU had 25 membersspread across Europe.

~ Geotermscentrifugalforcea force that divides people and countries

centripetalforcea force that unites people and countries

common market a group of countries that acts as a singlemarket, without trade barriers between member countries

supranationalcooperationa form of international cooperationin which countries give up some control of their affairs asthey work together to achieve shared goals

The European Union, 2004

~ATLANTICOCEAN

Original member countries. 1952

ARCTIC OCEAN

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0 250 500 milesI ' I, ,0 250 500 kilometersAlbers Conic E'f"al-Area projection,

III Countriesjoining in 2004

€ Countries using the euro

{RUSSIA

...!Mediterranean Sea

The Growth of the European UnionBefore 2004,all of the EuropeanUnion countries were in Western Europe.In 2004,ten new member countries put Central and Eastern Europe on theEUmap.The EuropeanUnion promotes cooperation among member countries.

Supranational Cooperation in the European Union 215

The EU Trade Bloc

This graph compares the GDPof theEUto other large countries. GDPis thetotal value of goods and services pro-duced in a place. By joining together,members of the EUtrade bloc havefar more economic power than theywould have acting alone.

14.3 EconomicCooperation in the EUIn the United States,people move freely across stateborders. Somework in one stateand live in another.Europe is slightly larger than theUnited States. Yetbefore the European Union was formed, nationallaws made it hard for citizens of one country to live or work in another.

Each country had its own rules about who could live or find workthere. Each had its own currency, or type of money. Each countrycharged tariffs, or taxes, on imports from its neighbors. These taxesraised the price of imported goods.

Today members of the EU work together toward shared economicgoals. Many centripetal forces promote such economic cooperation.But other centrifugal forces work against it.

Economic ForcesThat Unite the EU Thecreationof a commonmarket has been an important economic force uniting the EU. Thissingle market benefits EU consumers in several ways. With goodsmoving freely across borders, people have more choices in what tobuy. With no tariffs on EU goods, prices are lower. The single marketbenefits workers as well. They are able to travel freely to other EUcountries to find work.

The adoption of a common currency in 2002 also helped tounite the ED. The common currency is called the euro. In manyEU countries, the euro has replaced the national currency. No longerdo Europeans change money when they cross most borders. The euromakesit easierto traveland tradeacrosstheEU.

By joining their economies,EUmembershave alsocreatedapowerful trade bloc. Hundreds of millions of consumers live in theEU trade bloc. As a result, outside nations are eager to do businessin the EU. The size of its market has made the EU trade bloc animportant force in the global economy.

The EU has other shared economic goals. It works to create jobs,develop resources, and make improvements that encourage trade. Forexample, the EU has spent large sums to upgrade highways. It hasalso helped farmers modernize their operations.

GrossDomestic Product of Five Ecol1omicPowers, 2002

China

European Union

United States

0 2

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3 4 5 6 7 8GDP Iin trillions of U.S. dollars)

129 10 11

Source: The World Factbook 20M. Central Intelligence Agency.

EconomicForcesThat Divide the EU Other forces work againsteconomic cooperation. ED members don't always agree on the manyissues they face. Nor do they always agree on how ED money shouldbe spent.

In general, the WesternEuropeanmembers of the ED are wealthierthan those in Central and Eastern Europe. In an effort to bring all ofits members up to the same level, the ED spends large sums on proj-ects in its poorer nations. SomeWestern Europeans object to so muchED money being spent outside their own area.

Economic differences between ED members create other strains.In general, workers in Western Europe are paid higher wages thanthose in Central and Eastern Europe. Living costs are higher inWestern Europe as well. This has led someWestern European busi-nesses to move their factories to poorer ED countries. Costs are lowerthere, and they can pay workers less. As a result, workers in WesternEurope worry about losing jobs to poorer ED countries.

Wage differences also encourage workers in poorer ED countriesto move to richer ones in search of jobs. Workers in the wealthiercountries often resent these immigrants. They also fear that too manynewcomers from poor countries will drive down wages for everyone.

There are centrifugal forces at work in the use of the euro as well.Not all ED countries adopted the common currency in 2002. Threemembers decided to keep their own currency and make their owndecisions about money.Other countries have not been allowed to adoptthe euro. Before joining the euro zone, they must show that they havedeveloped stable economies. (See the map in Section 14.2,whichshows which countries use the euro.)

As you can see, both centripetaland centrifugaleconomic forces areat work in the ED. But overall, member nations have decided that theeconomic benefits of supranational cooperation far outweigh the costs.

Erasing EU BordersIn January 2002,the euro becamethe currency in 12EUcountries. About291million people traded in their oldmoney for euros. To prepare for thischange, banks were stocked with12.5billion new bills and 76 billioncoins. According to this cartoon, whateffect has the euro had on Europe?

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Supranational Cooperation in the European Union 217

The EU HeadquartersThe EUgovernment works on issuesshared by member countries. Its head-quarters is in Brussels, Belgium. In2004,this was the center of govern-ment for more than 450million peoplein 25countries. Because of this,somemight call Brussels the "capitalof Europe."

218 Chapter 14

14.4 Political Cooperation in the EUBefore the EU was formed, there were many political divisionsamong European countries. Each nation was independent. Each nationset its own policies. Nations could choose to work together, but theydid not have to. As you have read, political conflict was often morecommon than cooperation.

The EU encourages political cooperation among its members.They all take part in a common EU government. The EU governmentdoes not replace the governments of its member nations. Instead, it isa supranational government. That is, it works above the governmentsof the EU countries.

How the EU Government Unites Europe The EU governmentworks in two ways to unite Europe. First, it brings its memberstogether to work on issues they all share. For example, it tries to takea common approach to environmental problems.

Second, the EU encourages Europeans to think of themselves ascitizens of Europe. This is on top of their citizenship in their homecountries. With European citizenship, citizens of member nations canlive and work anywhere in the ED. They can also vote in EU elections.They have this right no matter where they live in the ED.

The EU government has several important bodies. The Councilof the European Union is the main decision-making body. It is madeup of national leaders from each member country. The council setsoverall goals for the EU.

The European Commission is the executive body. It is made upof commissioners who are appointed by member governments. Thecommission's main duty is to see that EU decisions are carried out.

The European Parliament is the largest EU body. Citizens of theEU countries directly elect its 700 members. The parliament's roleis to watch over the work of the European Union. It can approve orblock the EU budget. This budget says how money should be spenton EU projects.

The EU government helps to unite Europe by speaking with onevoice for all of its members. Within Europe, the EU focuses on sharedissues, such as transportation and the environment. Outside of Europe,the EU works to strengthen Europe's role in the world. By workingtogether, EU members have more power in world affairs than anyone European country would have by itself. In these ways, the EUgovernment acts as a centripetal force in Europe.

How the EU Government Divides Europe There are centrifugalforces at work as well in the EU government. When a country joinsthe European Union, it is expected to give up some power to theEU government. This may mean carrying out decisions made by theEU that it does not agree with.

Giving up power has been a problem for many EU members.Some countries still want to make independent decisions in areas like

defense and foreign affairs. This is more often true when they don'tagree with ED decisions.

The growing size of the ED is also a centrifugal force. By 2004,the ED included more than 450 million people in 25 countries. As thesize of the ED has increased, so have the differences among the ED'snations and peoples. With more countries and cultures, cooperationhas become more difficult.

Finally, the idea of European citizenship has been hard for someEuropeans to adjust to. A recent poll of Europeans found that almosthalf would not mind if the ED simply disappeared. People who feelthis way may fear that their national identity will get lost in the pushfor a more united Europe. For them, the advantages of political coop-eration may never be worth the costs.

Supranational Cooperation in the European Union 219

Europe Day in the EUCelebrations and symbols help createa cultural identity. Everyyear on May 9,people celebrate EuropeDay.The dayhonors Europe's "birthday." It was onthis day in 1950that Robert Schumanproposed creating a more unitedEurope. Symbols like the EUflag addto the feeling of a shared culture.

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14.5 Cultural Cooperation in the EUIn theyear2000,studentsacross the European Union took part in acontest. The contest was to create a motto for the EU. Students frommany countries sent in more than 2,000 ideas. After consideringthe students' suggestions, the EU announced its choice in 2003.The official motto is "United in Diversity."

The words in this motto are important. The goal of the EU isto unite Europeans into an "ever closer union." Since the EU wasformed, it has promoted a common European cultural identity. Atthe same time, the EU recognizes the diversity of its members. Theword diversity refers to all the ways in which people are different fromone another. They may include language, religion, beliefs, traditions,and values. These are the things that make each member nation of theEU unique.

How the EU Promotes a European Cultural Identity A com-mon cultural identity is a centripetal force. The EU has worked inmany ways to create a European cultural identity. For instance, it hascreated common cultural symbols. The EU has its own flag, whichshows 12 stars on a blue background. The EU has also adopted itsown anthem. Its choice was "Ode to Joy" by the German composerLudwig van Beethoven.And every year on May 9, Europeans celebrateEurope Day.

The EU supports many cultural programs across Europe. Oneexample is the European Union YouthWind Orchestra. It bringstogether young musicians from across Europe. Also, each year theEU chooses one or two cities to be a European Capital of Culture.The EU pays for special shows and events that highlight the city andits culture.

The euro and EU passports make travel within the EUeasy.As more Europeans visit other EU countries, theybegin to view Europe as a united region. The EU alsoencourages people, especially youth, to learn otherEuropean languages.

ForcesWorkingAgainst a EuropeanCultural Identity DespiteEUeffortsatcultural unity, Europe remains diverse.Many languages are spoken in theEU. When people speak differentlanguages, it's hard for them to com-municate. The diversity of languagescreates extra work for the EU gov-ernment as well. Every EU speech.and document must be translated into20 languages. In 2004 alone, the EUhad to translate over 2 million pages.

Other centrifugal forces workagainst a shared cultural identity.National pride is one of them. Soare competition and rivalry betweencountries.

Even cultural traditions can get in the way of cooperation. Forexample, traditional Czech foods are often cooked slowly. They tasteeven better the next day. Yet EU rules state that cooked food can't beserved if it is more than two hours old. One Czech citizen complained,"This will make many of our best dishes illegal."

14.6 Beginning to Think GloballyIn this chapter, you have learned about the European Union. The EUis built on supranational cooperation. You have read about centripetalforces that work for such cooperation. You have also read about cen-trifugal forces that work against this kind of cooperation.

The EU is the best example of supranational cooperation in theworld today. It works because its member nations have been willingto give up some power. Just how much power remains an issue. SomeEuropeans want the EU to become a "United States of Europe."Others fear giving up any more power to the ED.

Cooperation among nations is not limited to Europe. Other coun-tries also work together on problems they share. In the next section,you'll look at several examples of international cooperation aroundthe world.

Cultural Clashes in the EUCulturaltraditions can divide EUmembers. For example, bullfightingis a cultural tradition in Spain. Everyyear, matadors kill thousands of bullsin bullfights. In other EUcountries,bullfighting is seen as cruel. ManyEuropeans think that bullfights shouldbe banned.

Supranational Cooperation in the European Union 221

14.7 Global Connections

Themapshowsinternationalorganiza-tions in the world today. The countriesin these organizations work togetheron common issues. The most trulyinternational organization is the UnitedNations (UN). Its members includealmost every country in the world.

What kinds of internationalorganizations do countries join?Countries form many kinds of organ-izations. Some work to promote theeconomic well-being of their mem-bers. The Free Trade Area of theAmericas (FTAA) is a good example.Others bring nations together todefend themselves. The North AtlanticTreaty Organization (NATO)is adefense organization.

Are all international organizationslike the EU? The EU is the bestexample of a true supranationalorganization. Other organizationshave more limited goals and powers.For example, NATO commits itsmembers to defend one another. Theypromise to view an attack on onemember is an attack on all. But NATOcountries don't give up as much con-trol in other areas as EU nations do.

What forcesmight work againstsupranationalcooperationin theUnited Nations? TheUnitedNations (UN) is the world's largestinternational organization. Its 191member countries range in size froma few thousand to more than a billionpeople. Each has its own interests. Forsuch diverse countries to cooperate,they must agree to put the world'sinterests above their own. This isoften difficult or impossible for UNmembers to do.

222 Chapter 14

Organizations of International Co

...

0 1,000 2,000 milesI ' I, ,0 1,000 2,000 kilometersRobinson projection

..,.

The UN HeadquartersTheUnitedNationswasfoundedin 1945. Its goalis to promotepeaceand cooperation among the countries of the world. Member countriesmeet at the UN headquarters in New York City to discuss world issues.

W+ES NEWZEALAND !L~.t//

Economic Cooperation

.. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)

~ Organization of Economic Cooperatonand Development (OECD)

III Organization of the Petroleum ExportingPt\ Countries (OPEC). Southern Cone Common Market

Economic and Political Cooperation

D African Union

The United Nations FlagThe UNflag shows a world map centered on theNorth Pole. Twoolive branches frame the map.The world map represents all the people of theworld,while the olive branch is a symbolfor peace.

Political Cooperation

, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Political and Cultural Cooperation. League of Arab States

Economic, Political, and Cultural Cooperation

European Union (EU)

Supranational Cooperation in the European Union 223