Supranational union
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A supranational union is a type of international organization that is empowered to directly exercise some of the powers and functions otherwise reserved to states.[1] A supranational organization involves a greater transfer of or limitation of state sovereignty than other kinds of international organizations.[1]
The European Union (EU) has been described as a paradigmatic case of a supranational organization,[2] as it has deep political, economic and social integration, which includes a common market, joint border control, a supreme court, and regular popular elections.
Another method of decision-making in international organisations is intergovernmentalism in which state governments play a more prominent role.
Origin as a legal concept
After the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945,
With its founding Statute of 1949 and its Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which came into force in 1953, the Council of Europe created a system based on human rights and the rule of law. Robert Schuman, French foreign minister, initiated the debate on supranational democracy in his speeches at the United Nations,[4] at the signing of the council's Statutes and at a series of other speeches across Europe and North America.[5]
The term "supranational" occurs in an international treaty for the first time (twice) in the Treaty of Paris, 18 April 1951. This new legal term defined the community method in creating the European Coal and Steel Community and the beginning of the democratic re-organisation of Europe. It defines the relationship between the High Authority or European Commission and the other four institutions. In the treaty, it relates to a new democratic and legal concept.
The Founding Fathers of the European Community and the present European Union said that supranationalism was the cornerstone of the governmental system. This is enshrined in the Europe Declaration made on 18 April 1951, the same day as the European Founding Fathers signed the Treaty of Paris.[6]
"By the signature of this Treaty, the participating Parties give proof of their determination to create the first supranational institution and that thus they are laying the true foundation of an organised Europe. This Europe remains open to all nations. We profoundly hope that other nations will join us in our common endeavour."
This declaration of principles that included their judgement for the necessary future developments was signed by Konrad Adenauer (West Germany), Paul van Zeeland and Joseph Meurice (Belgium), Robert Schuman (France), Count Sforza (Italy), Joseph Bech (Luxembourg), and Dirk Stikker and Jan van den Brink (The Netherlands). It was made to recall future generations to their historic duty of uniting Europe based on liberty and democracy under the rule of law. Thus, they viewed the creation of a wider and deeper Europe as intimately bound to the healthy development of the supranational or Community system.[6]
This Europe was open to all nations who were free to decide, a reference/or an invitation and encouragement of liberty to the
Distinguishing features of a supranational union
A supranational union is a supranational
The union has
The European Union, the only clear example of a supranational union, has a parliament with legislative oversight, elected by its citizens.[2] To this extent, a supranational union like the European Union has characteristics that are not entirely dissimilar to the characteristics of a
Supranationalism in the European Union
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Historically the concept was introduced and made a concrete reality by
The five institutions (besides the High Authority) were a Consultative Committee (a chamber representing civil society interests of enterprises, workers and consumers), a parliament, and a Council of government ministers. A Court of Justice would decide disputes coming from governments, public or private enterprises, consumer groups, any other group interests or even an individual. A complaint could be lodged in a local tribunal or national courts, where appropriate. Member states have yet to fulfil and develop the articles in the Paris and Rome treaties for full democracy in the European Parliament and other institutions such as the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions.
Schuman described supranational unions as a new stage in human development. It contrasted with destructive nationalisms of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that began in a glorious patriotism and ended in wars.[10] He traced the beginning concept of supranationality back to the nineteenth century, such as the Postal Union, and the term supranational is used around the time of the First World War. Democracy, which he defined as "in the service of the people and acting in agreement with it", was a fundamental part of a supranational community. However, governments only began to hold direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, and then not according to the treaties. A single electoral statute was specified in the treaty for Europe's first community of coal and steel in 1951. Civil society (largely non-political) was to have its own elected chamber in the Consultative Committees specific to each Community as democratically agreed, but the process was frozen (as were Europe's parliamentary elections) by Charles de Gaulle and other politicians who opposed the Community method.
Today supranationalism only exists in the two European Communities inside the EU: the Economic Community (often called the European Community although it does not legally cover all State activities) and Euratom (the European Atomic Energy Community, a non-proliferation community, in which certain potentialities have been frozen or blocked). Supranational Communities provide powerful but generally unexploited and innovatory means for democratic foreign policy, by mobilising civil society to the democratically agreed goals of the Community.
The first Community of Coal and Steel was agreed only for fifty years. Opposition, mainly by enterprises which had to pay a small European tax of less than 1% and government ministers in the council, led to its democratic mandate not being renewed. Its jurisprudence and heritage remains part of the European Community system.
De Gaulle attempted to turn the European Commission into a political secretariat under his control in the Fouchet Plan but this move was thwarted by such democrats in the Benelux countries as Paul-Henri Spaak, Joseph Luns and Joseph Bech as well as a large wave of other pro-Europeans in all the Community countries.
The supranational Community method came under attack, not only from de Gaulle but also from other nationalists and Communists. In the post-de Gaulle period, rather than holding pan-European elections under a single statute as specified in all the treaties, governments held and continue to hold separate national elections for the European Parliament. These often favour the major parties and discriminate against smaller, regional parties.
In the Lisbon Treaty and the earlier nearly identical Constitutional Treaty, the democratic independence of the five key institutions is further blurred. This moves the project from full democratic supranationalism in the direction of not just intergovernmentalism but the politicisation of the institutions, and control by two or three major party political organisations. The Commission defines key legal aspects of the supranational system because its members must be independent of commercial, labour, consumer, political or lobby interests (Article 9 of the Paris Treaty). The commission was to be composed of a small number of experienced personalities, whose impartiality was beyond question. As such, the early presidents of the Commission and the High Authority were strong defenders of European democracy against national, autocratic practice or the rule of the strong over the weak.
The idea in the Constitutional and Lisbon Treaties is to run the European Commission as a political office. Governments would prefer to have a national member in the commission, although this is against the principle of supranational democracy. (The original concept was that the commission should act as a single impartial college of independent, experienced personalities having public confidence. One of the Communities was defined in the treaty with a Commission with fewer members than the number of its member states.) Thus, the members of the commission are becoming predominantly party-political, and composed of sometimes rejected, disgraced or unwanted national politicians.
The first president of the High Authority was Jean Monnet, who never joined a political party, as was the case with most of the other members of the Commissions. They came from diverse liberal professions, having made recognised European contributions.
Governments also wish to retain the secrecy of their deliberations in the Council of Ministers or the European Council, which discusses matters of the most vital interest to European citizens. While some institutions such as the European Parliament have their debates open to the public, others such as the Council of Ministers and numerous committees are not. Schuman wrote in his book, Pour l'Europe[12] (For Europe), that in a democratic supranational Community "the Councils, committees and other organs should be placed under the control of public opinion that was effectual without paralysing their activity nor useful initiatives".
Categorising European supranationalism
Joseph H. H. Weiler, in his work The Dual Character of Supranationalism, states that there are two main facets to European supranationalism, although these seem to be true of many supranational systems. These are:
- Normative supranationalism: The Relationships and hierarchy which exist between Community policies and legal measures on one hand and the competing policies and legal measures of the member states on the other (the executive dimension)
- Decisional supranationalism: The institutional framework and decision making by which such measures are initiated, debated, formulated, promulgated and, finally, executed (the legislative-judicial dimension)
In many ways, the split sees the separation of powers confined to merely two branches.
Comparing the European Union and the United States
In the
EU exclusive competence | EU shared competence | EU supporting competence | U.S. exclusive competence |
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The Union has exclusive competence to make directives and conclude international agreements when provided for in a Union legislative act. | Member states cannot exercise competence in areas where the Union has done so. | The Union can carry out actions to support, co-ordinate or supplement member states' actions. | U.S. federal government in the 19th century.[13] |
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Democratic deficit in the EU and other supranational unions
In a supranational union, the problem of how to reconcile the principle of equality among nation states, which applies to international (intergovernmental) organisations, and the principle of equality among citizens, which applies within
Governments are also trying to treat the Lisbon Treaty as a simple classical treaty, or even an amendment to one, which does not require citizens' support or democratic approval. The proposed Lisbon Treaty and the earlier Constitutional draft still retain in the European Union elements of a supranational union, as distinct from a federal state on the lines of the United States of America.[14] But this is at the expense of the democratic potentialities of a full supranational union as conceived in the first Community.
Other international organisations with some degree of integration
The only union generally recognised as having achieved the status of a supranational union is the European Union.[16]
Although the Soviet Union was created under an initial ideological appearance of forming a supranational union, it never de facto functioned as one, and constitutionally was a federation; see Republics of the Soviet Union § Constitutional status for details.
There are a number of other regional organisations that, while not supranational unions, have adopted or intend to adopt policies that may lead to a similar sort of integration in some respects.
- African Union (AU)
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)
- Benelux, a political union of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Though part of the EU, EU treaties contain an exception that EU law is subservient to Benelux integration.[citation needed]
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
- Central American Integration System (SICA)
- Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a successor organization to the Soviet Union
- Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations
- Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf(Gulf Cooperation council) (GCC)
- Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
- Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)
- Group of 77 (G77) is a coalition of 134 developing countries, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. It was founded by non-aligned states during the Cold War.
- Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI)
- Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
- Organization of Turkic States
- Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
- Union of South American Nations (USAN)
- Union State, a union of Russian Federation and Belarus
Other organisations that have also discussed greater integration include:
- Arab League into an "Arab Union"
- Pacific Islands Forum into the "Pacific Union"
- Eurasian Customs Union into the "Eurasian Economic Union"
- Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) into the "Latin American Union"
- East African Community into the "East African Federation"
- Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC)
- Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS)
See also
- Civic nationalism
- Constitutional patriotism
- Continental union
- Democratic globalization
- Devolution
- Economic union
- Federation
- History of the European Coal and Steel Community (1945–57)
- International human rights law
- International parliament
- List of economic communities
- List of free trade agreements
- List of military alliances
- List of supranational environmental agencies
- Multi-level governance
- Neofunctionalism
- New world order (Baháʼí)
- Regional integration
- Robert Schuman
- Schuman Declaration
- Staatenverbund
- Supranational aspects of international organizations
- Supranational law
- Transnational citizenship
- United Nations Parliamentary Assembly
- World government
Notes and references
- ^ JSTOR 797259.
- ^ ISBN 978-92-9079-493-6.
- ^ Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions (New York: Crown/Bonanza, 1954), p. 147 (emphasis in original); cf. pp. 118–61. See also Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007), ch. 22, pp. 487–500.
- ^ Schuman's speeches at the United Nations 1948. 1949 Archived 15 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine,
- ^ "Schuman Project". schuman.info. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010.
- ^ a b Der Schuman Plan. Vertrag ueber die Gruendung der europaeischen Gemeinschaft fuer Kohl und Stahl, p21 Ulrich Sahm mit einem Vorwort von Walter Hallstein. Frankfurt 1951. Schuman or Monnet? The real Architect of Europe. Robert Schuman's speeches and texts on the origin, purpose and future of Europe , p. 129. Bron 2004.
- ^ La Communaute du Charbon et de l'Acier p 7 Paul Reuter, preface by Robert Schuman. Paris 1953.
- ^ "Schuman Project". schuman.info. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010.
- ISBN 978-92-9079-493-6.
- ^ Schuman, Robert. [Pour l'Europe] Paris, 1963.
- ^ "European Parliament study, The European Elections, EU legislation, national provisions and civic participation" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 November 2009.
- ^ Pour l'Europe, p. 146.
- Press, 1995–2006, p. 6.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84113-426-0.
- ^ http://www.Schuman.info/ComHonest.htm/ Archived 22 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine Should the Commission be elected politically or be independent?
- S2CID 32911981. Archived from the originalon 27 January 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
A normative theory of supranational citizenship will necessarily be informed by the EU as the only present case and will be addressed to the EU in most of its prescriptions
External links
- "Towards Unity". Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- "Robert Schuman and supranational union of Europe". Retrieved 15 November 2009.
- "Supranational Alliance". Retrieved 20 February 2011.