European Union as a Unique Foundation

• Author: Mihaela Carausan
• Position: Associate Professor, PhD, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Faculty of Public Administration, Department of Law, Romania
• Pages: 97-102

Legal Sciences in the New Millennium

97

European Union as a Unique Foundation

Mihaela V. Crușan

1

Abstract: Europ ean Union is not a state and is becoming more than just one intergovernmental actor. Its

formal commitment to promote democracy has grown. European Union has had a strong dynamic of its own;

the increase in membership potentially helped it to become a more powerful actor. Democracy is a core

European Union value and through our analysis we will try to find out how much of this value is promoted by

its institutions. The hypothesis that led us to this research was that „European Union is not a state‟. In order to

find what it is, if not a state, we reviewed the development of the European Union, its basic principles and

values and analyzed them thorough the confederate state lens. The aim of this paper is to discuss arguments

that may develop into a study answering a haunting question: “Is European Union a state, a federation, a

confederation or what?” The answer seems to be spinning round the concept of “sovereignty” and since

European Union is in a dynamic evolution we will not use labels but only discuss arguments. By summing up

the comparative studies and based on qualitative methods we tried to establish what kind of found ation

European Union has and if democracy is really it s core value. And the conclusion is that result, European

Union is a political system which cannot (yet) be analyzed as a state, but rather as a distinctive hybrid.

Keywords: political system; state; confederation; democracy

1. Not a State – because of the Impact of its Formation

European Union is built on political values that demonstrate and share democracy in a process defined

by „partnership‟ and ideological acceptance. European Union (EU) managed alone to pass over a

century marked by two „world wars‟ and one „cold war‟. It had a distinctive contribution to

democratization of the Central and Eastern Europe, an effective proof of how democracy can be

peacefully established when the will of the people exists. That it is why we consider European Union

as a model of political harmony both within and among its states.

Even if modern social science (M. Weber) emphasized that only a state can have a democratic and

effective government EU proved that the power can be split between different actors and levels of

governments. EU has a constitutional framework with a balance of powers between EU and the

Member States (MS) and its policies have significant implications on the economy and in the

European society. Based on voluntary cooperation of the MS and without any force of coercion on

them, but with „incentives of compliance‟, EU should be understood and analysed as a distinctive

political system. EU is a political system, as we will see, with a unique foundation and which was not

tailored by any known type of state.

The atmosphere that governed post-war Europe in the early 50‟s proved favourable to start the

reconstruction of Europe on a new foundation. In the spring of 1950, Europe was on the edge of an

abyss: although five years had passed since the end of World War II, reconciling former enemies

1 Associate Professor, PhD, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Faculty of Public

Administration, Department of Law, Romania, Address: 6, Po vernei Str., District 1, Bucharest, Romania, Tel.:

(40)(021)318.08.97, (40)(021)318.08.98, Corresponding author: mihaelavcarausan@gmail.com.