The document is a lesson focused on analyzing the European Union (EU) as a regional organization through various theoretical perspectives such as rationalism and social constructivism. It examines the EU's institutional structure, including its legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and discusses key concepts such as intergovernmentalism, supranationalism, and veto player theory. The lesson also highlights objectives of the EU, critiques regarding its democratic deficit, and sets up frameworks for understanding EU policymaking.

1. Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 500 words
The readings this week apply different theoretical perspectives
to analyze the European Union as a regional IO. For example, in
the articles, we read about rationalism, social constructivism,
multi-level governance, enforcement and management theory,
and more. In addition, the lesson notes discuss
intergovernmentalism, supranationalism, and veto player theory.
Which theoretical perspective(s) do you find the most
persuasive and why when it comes to analyzing EU
policymaking? Which is the least persuasive and why? Please
incorporate specific examples to support your arguments.
Reading and references:
Lesson 7 | Regional Organizations: The European Union
In this lesson, we will turn our attention to regional
organizations, taking the European Union (EU) as our case
study. We examine and assess several theories that explain how
EU policy-making works. At the end of this lesson, students
will be able to:
Examine the institutions of the EU
Assess important issues in EU policymaking
Apply concepts and theories about IOs to the operation of the
EU
The European Union (EU): An Overview

2. The purpose of this lesson is not to master the history of
European integration; rather, we focus here on setting up the
framework for the study of the European Union (EU) as a
regional organization. It makes sense to approach the complex
processes of economic enlargement and political integration by
first providing a brief overview of the different key stages of
enlargement.
View the interactive map of the current EU member states. This
is worth taking 10 minutes to explore. You can filter by states
using the euro currency, by prospective member states, and
more.
EU Website
1951
Six states enter into the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC): Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
and West Germany.
1957
The six states enter into the Treaty of Rome. This treaty
extended the European Coal and Steel Community, established a
customs union through the creation of the European Economic
Community (EEC), and created the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom) for cooperation in developing nuclear
energy.

3. 1973
The first enlargement occurs with the membership of Denmark,
Ireland, and the UK (for a total of 9 total members).
1979
This year marks the first direct, democratic elections to the
European Parliament.
1981
Greece enters into full membership, in part to “lock in”
democracy after a period of military dictatorship. With Greece’s
membership, the total stands at 10 members.
1986
Spain and Portugal become members, bringing the total to 12.
1990
East Germany was folded in by way of its unification with West
Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
1993

4. The Maastricht Treaty formally establishes the European Union
(EU).
1995
Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU, bringing the total to
15 members.
2002
The Euro is introduced as the common currency of the
Eurozone. Only 12 member states adopted the Euro at first
(today there are 18).
2004
This year marks the biggest round of enlargement to date, as the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia join. This round brings
the total to 25 member states.
2007
Romania and Bulgaria join, bringing the total to 27.

5. 2013
Croatia joins the EU. This brings us to the current total of 28
member states.
Scroll for more
(Source: "European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement
Negotiations,"
www.europa.eu
)
The Institutions of the European Union
Much like the United States, the EU has three branches of
government that characterize the supranational level:
Legislative
The legislative branch is composed of the European Parliament
(which can be thought of as the “lower house”) and the Council
of Ministers (the “upper house”).
Executive
The executive branch consists of the European Commission and
the European Council.
Judicial
The judicial branch consists of the European Court of Justice.
In the following sections, we consider the functions of each of
these institutions in turn. The goal is to gain a working
understanding of the role and functions of each institution
within the three branches, which will help prior to reading the

6. theoretical articles and applying the different theoretical
perspectives to the workings of the EU.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is a legislative institution of the
EU, and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are
directly elected by citizens of the EU member states. MEP
elections take place every five years. There are currently over
700 MEPs in the European Parliament ("EU Institutions and
Other Bodies," n.d.).
In terms of its functions, the EP is responsible for passing laws
jointly with the Council of Ministers (the other legislative
institution, which we discuss below), in what is known as “co-
decision.” Although the EP can approve, reject, or amend
legislation, it does not have the power of legislative initiative
(that is, it cannot propose legislation – that’s the job of the
European Commission). In addition to voting on legislation, the
EP supervises the European Commission (the executive body of
the EU). It has the power to approve or reject the nomination of
commissioners, and it elects the President of the Commission
("European Parliament," n.d.). The EP also has authority over
the EU budget. Overall, we can think of the EP as the body of
the EU responsible for passing legislation.
The Council of Ministers
This legislative body of the EU is composed of 28 national
ministers (one for each member state). The Council Presidency
rotates every six months, with a new EU member government
taking the Presidency with each rotation. Decisions in the
Council are made by qualified majority voting in most areas,
but in other areas unanimity is required ("Council of the
European Union," n.d.).

7. In those areas in which it makes decisions based on unanimity,
it consults the European Parliament, but the EP has no say on
Council decisions. However, in most policy areas, both the
Council and the EP share decision-making powers equally
(known as the ordinary legislative procedure); both bodies have
to agree in order for a proposal to pass.
Two concepts are important in understanding the tensions that
often arise between the Council and the EP:
Intergovernmentalism
Intergovernmentalism refers to the priority of the interests of
national member states in EU decision-making.
Supranationalism
Supranationalism refers to a preponderance of power and
authority in institutions above the state level.
The Council is often noted for its intergovernmentalist approach
in which national interests are prioritized above supranational
considerations, whereas the EP makes decisions based on
principles of supranationalism, which favor the interests of the
EU as a supranational system (Wallace and Wallace, 2000).
The European Commission
The European Commission is the executive branch of the EU.
The Commission operates on the principle of supranationalism –
that is, it is independent of national member-state governments
and, as such, represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a
whole. The key responsibility of the European Commission is
proposing legislation. It drafts proposals for legislation that the
European Parliament and the Council of Ministers then vote on.
In addition to proposing legislation, the Commission manages

8. EU policies as well as the budget. It also enforces EU law
together with the European Court of Justice. Every five years a
new Commission is appointed ("European Commission," n.d.).
As an institution, the European Commission is composed of 1
President, 7 Vice-Presidents, and 20 Commissioners ("European
Commission," n.d.). Any candidate for the President of the
Commission is proposed to the European Parliament. The
European Parliament then elects the Commission President by a
majority of its members. After the election, the President-elect
then chooses the 27 other members of the Commission. Member
states make suggestions about whom to select, and one person is
selected from each member state.
Veto Player Theory and EU Policymaking
Veto player theory is a helpful way to understand the process of
EU policymaking. At its most general level, it posits that the
more actors that are required to agree in order for change to
occur (i.e., veto players), the less likely policy change becomes,
and the more stability results (Tsebelis, 2002).
We can take the logic of veto player theory and apply it to the
institutions of the EU. When it comes to legislation, we know
that the European Commission’s job is to propose it, and the
European Parliament and Council of Ministers must approve it
through co-decision (in most policy areas). Based on the number
of actors required to agree, veto player theory would predict
that policy stability in the EU should be high. Although new
policies are difficult to adopt, those that are adopted are
difficult to repeal.
Overall, there is a great deal of veto power in the process of EU
policymaking. The result is a policy environment characterized
by a slow but stable deepening of economic and political
integration.

9. The Objectives of the EU
It’s interesting to note that the objectives of the EU are not only
economic, although we tend to think of the EU primarily as an
economic union. From its inception, two primary objectives of
the EU have been to ensure peace and prosperity on the
European continent after having experienced the devastation of
two world wars. More specifically, the stated objectives of the
EU include:
Ending the division on the European continent
Promoting the principles of liberty and democracy, and
respecting human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of
law
Deepening the solidarity among European citizens
Building an ever-closer union through decisions based on
transparency
Promoting economic and social progress for the people of
Europe
Overall, Article 3 of the European Union Treaty states that the
aim of the EU is to promote peace, its values and the well-being
of its peoples. It is based on the values of freedom, democracy,
equality, law enforcement and respect for human rights and
dignity.
The Democratic Deficit
The process by which the EU achieves its objectives has often

10. been criticized by scholars for its “democratic deficit.” The way
the EU is designed, its institutions are rather far away from the
individual EU citizen (Follesdal and Hix, 2006). The EU is thus
perceived by many as elitist. Despite the number and extent of
interest groups involved in the EU policy process, there is no
effective link between EU citizens and EU policymaking. That
is, EU citizens only elect the members of the European
Parliament; they can neither elect the Council nor the
Commission, which are very influential institutions within the
EU.
Additionally, the EU has been criticized for not providing direct
democratic rights for its citizens (Follesdal and Hix, 2006).
There is neither a system in which the citizens can petition for
an EU-wide referendum nor there is a system that allows the EU
citizens to petition for an initiative. In other words, the EU
institutions have been critiqued for not being very
democratically accountable. For these reasons, there is a
growing concern about a democratic deficit in the EU. Although
scholars debate the extent of the democratic deficit, as well as it
most salient features, the common thread is the notion that
governance processes in the EU in some form lack democratic
legitimacy.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we examined the EU as an example of a
prominent and important regional IO. We examined several
different theories to help us grasp how policymaking in the EU
works. Next, we'll evaluate the role of the United Nations and
regional organizations in peacekeeping initiatives and conflicts.
References
"Council of the European Union," n.d. Website of the European
Union.

11. https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-
bodies/council-eu_en.
"EU Institutions and Other Bodies," n.d. Website of the
European Union.
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-
bodies_en
.
"European Commission," n.d. Website of the European Union.
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-
bodies/european-commission_en
.
"European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement
Negotiations," n.d. Website of the European Union.
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/from-6-
to-28-members_en
.
"European Parliament," n.d. Website of the European Union.
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-
bodies/european-parliament_en
.
Follesdal, Andreas and Simon Hix. 2006. "Why There is a
Democratic Deficit in the EU: A Response to Majone and
Moravcsik."
Journal of Common Market Studies
44(3): 533-562.
Tsebelis, George. 2002.
Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work
. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Wallace, Helen and William Wallace. 2000.

12. Policy-Making in the European Union: Fourth Ed
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.