Glossary of Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union
(Starting with "D")
©
European Communities, 1995-2007
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Debate on the future of
the European Union
Having given the green light to enlargement,
the 2000 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC 2000) called
for a broader and deeper debate on the future of the
European Union. To this end, the Nice Declaration,
annexed to the Treaty of Nice, called for the initiation
of a broad debate associating all the interested parties:
the representatives of the national parliaments, as
well as a wide range of public opinion, i.e. political
and commercial organisations, universities and representatives
of civil society, in both the Member States and the
candidate countries.
This debate on the future of the Union
continued until mid-2003, via discussions and the
Internet, so as to gather together as many opinions
as possible on the key issues relating to the future
of Europe. It was encouraged by the Commission, which
hoped the debate would be held both at European level,
with contributions and discussion forums involving
personalities from the Community, and at national
level, with national debates on the future of the
Union that involve a wide range of citizens.
The exchanges which took place in
the context of this debate were conducted in parallel
with the work of the preparatory Convention for the
IGC 2004.
On 18 June 2004 the heads of state
or government meeting as an IGC agreed, with some
compromises, on the draft European Constitution prepared
by the Convention.
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Decision
and framework decision (Title VI of the EU Treaty)
With the entry into force of the Treaty
of Amsterdam, these new instruments under Title VI
of the EU Treaty (Police and judicial cooperation
in criminal matters) have replaced joint action. More
binding and more authoritative, they should serve
to make action under the reorganised third pillar
more effective.
Framework decisions are used to approximate
(align) the laws and regulations of the Member States.
Proposals are made on the initiative of the Commission
or a Member State and they have to be adopted unanimously.
They are binding on the Member States as to the result
to be achieved but leave the choice of form and methods
to the national authorities.
Decisions are used for any purpose
other than approximating the laws and regulations
of the Member States. They are binding and any measures
required to implement them at Union level are adopted
by the Council, acting by a qualified majority.
With the abolition of the third pillar,
which is provided for by the European Constitution
currently being ratified, the decisions and framework
decisions currently in use will disappear and be replaced
by European laws and framework laws.
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Declaration
(CFSP)
The Declaration is an instrument for
which there is no provision in Title V of the Treaty
on European Union but which is a feature of European
political cooperation (EPC). The Declaration is the
general expression of a political line, but is not
legally binding. It is used frequently in connection
with the common foreign and security policy (CFSP).
Declarations are issued by the Presidency of the Council
on behalf of the European Union and, where necessary,
on behalf of the Presidency.
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Deepening
Deepening refers to the integration
dynamic present from the outset of the European venture.
Through the customs union, the internal market, and
then the Euro zone, the European Communities have
grown into what aspires to be an "ever closer union"
among the peoples of Europe (Article 1 of the EU Treaty).
Deepening is a process parallel to, and often viewed
as a necessary step prior to, enlargement.
In this spirit it has been decided
to reform the main Community policies (common agricultural
policy and structural policy) and the workings of
the institutions to create a favourable context for
new Member States to join the European Union.
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Democratic
deficit
The democratic deficit is a concept
invoked principally in the argument that the European
Union and its various bodies suffer from a lack of
democracy and seem inaccessible to the ordinary citizen
because their method of operating is so complex. The
view is that the Community institutional set-up is
dominated by an institution combining legislative
and government powers (the Council of the European
Union) and an institution that lacks democratic legitimacy
(the European Commission).
At every stage of the European integration
process, the question of democratic legitimacy has
become increasingly sensitive. The Maastricht, Amsterdam
and Nice Treaties have triggered the inclusion of
the principle of democratic legitimacy within the
institutional system by reinforcing the powers of
Parliament with regard to the appointment and control
of the Commission and successively extending the scope
of the codecision procedure.
In the meantime, two wider initiatives
designed to bring Europe closer to its citizens have
been launched.
Following the Nice European Council (December 2000),
a broad public debate on the future of the Union started,
in which citizens could take part, and a European
Convention was asked to examine various ways of improving
democratic legitimacy. The Convention eventually came
up with a draft European Constitution that was adopted
in a compromise form by the Heads of State or Government
in June 2004.
The European Constitution, currently
being ratified, represents decisive progress towards
a more democratic Europe. It boosts the Union's democratic
legitimacy by means of the following:
- simplification of the Treaties
- they are recast in a single instrument, the Constitutional
Treaty - and of procedures to make them easier for
the public to understand;
- affirmation for the first time
of the democratic foundations for the Union (pluralism,
liberty, human rights, justice, rule of law, solidarity,
non-discrimination etc.) and stronger protection
for fundamental rights with the incorporation of
the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution;
- closer involvement of the national
parliaments in the decision-making process (early-warning
mechanism regarding compliance with the subsidiarity
principle, offering direct involvement in the legislative
process);
- stronger powers for the European
Parliament (generalised use of the codecision procedure;
equal rights with the Council in the budgetary procedure);
- clearer allocation of powers to
the Union and its Member States, and as between
the Union institutions;
- new obligations for the European
institutions as regards consulting civil society,
transparency and access to documents;
- stronger democratic participation
with the possibility for members of the public,
if they can assemble more than a million signatures
in a significant number of Member States, to call
on the Commission to propose a law (legislative
petition).
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Development
aid
The beginnings of the European Community's
development policy coincided with the signature of
the Treaty of Rome in 1957, and the Member States'
overseas countries and territories were its first
beneficiaries. However, it is only since the entry
into force of the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht
Treaty, 1993) that this policy has enjoyed a specific
legal basis (Articles 177 to 181 of the EC Treaty).
With the successive enlargements of the Union, cooperation
has gradually extended to other countries, such as
the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP)
which have a particularly close and long-standing
relationship with certain Member States. The Cotonou
Agreement, signed in June 2000 and revised in June
2005, has strengthened this partnership, which is
to a large extent based on the various Lomé
Conventions, the first of which was signed in 1975.
In addition to these initial agreements,
other countries also benefit from the Community's
development policy, such as the countries of Latin
America and Asia.
The main objective of the European
Community's development policy is to eradicate poverty.
This policy is implemented not only through bilateral
and regional agreements but also through specific
programmes in certain sectors such as health and education.
The development policy also entails cooperation with
international institutions and the participation of
the Community and Member States in initiatives implemented
at global level such as the Initiative for Highly
Indebted Poor Countries.
Today, the Union is the main trading
partner of developing countries and the main contributor
to development aid. The European Community and its
Member States together provide 55% of international
development aid.
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Distribution
of competences
The distribution of powers between
the European Union and its Member States makes a distinction
between three different types of competence:
- concurrent or shared powers (the
most common case);
- exclusive Community powers (the
Member States have irrevocably relinquished all
possibility of taking action);
- supporting powers or areas of supporting
action (the Community's sole task is to coordinate
and encourage action by the Member States).
The principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality act as power regulators so as to ensure
compliance with this distribution.
The European Constitution, which is
in the process of being ratified, clarifies the division
of powers between the Union and the Member States.
It applies the conventional typology of powers, or
"competences", adding a list of areas which come under
each type. It distinguishes between exclusive competence,
shared competence and competence to take supporting,
coordinating or complementary action.
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Double
majority
In the light of enlargement, solutions
have been put forward for maintaining the current
balance between "large" and "small" countries in decision-making
in the Council of Ministers. Maintaining the present
system of weighting of votes in the Council after
enlargement could produce a qualified majority representing
only a minority of the population of the European
Union. For this reason, the Member States with the
highest populations wanted to see a reweighting or
double majority system which would ensure that a majority
in the Council represented a majority not only of
Member States but also of the population of the Union.
The Treaty of Nice 2001, which set
out to reform the operation of the Community institutions
in the run-up to enlargement, redefines the qualified
majority in terms of a double or even triple majority.
While the reweighting of votes works in favour of
the large Member States, the qualified majority must
also be a majority of the Member States. This is combined
with a system known as the "demographic safety net"
which means that each Member State can request verification
of whether the qualified majority represents at least
62% of the population of the Union. If this condition
is not fulfilled, the decision cannot be adopted.
These new rules entered into force on 1 November 2004.
The European Constitution currently
being ratified provides for a new qualified majority
system to enter into force from 1 November 2009, involving
a majority both of the Member States and of the population.
The qualified majority will be secured where there
is a majority of 55% of the Member States (minimum
15) representing at least 65% of the Union's population.
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