Politics Of The European Union

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Absolute majority

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Absolute majority is reached in the EP when the number of votes in favour is more than half of the number of all MEPs.

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Accountable

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An actor is accountable to another actor if the actor needs to explain and justify its behavior to that other actor, and the other actor can impose consequences if it considers the behavior to be inadequate or inappropriate.

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Action for annulment 

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Case brought before the Court of Justice in which an interested party asks the Court to declare a decision by any of the EU’s institutions to be void.

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Agencies 

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Administrative organizations set up by the EU that provide technical expertise in different policy areas and assist in coordinating, implementing and monitoring policies. 

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Approximation of laws

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The adoption of EU laws to reduce the differences between member state laws in a given area. see also Harmonization; Positive integration

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Bargaining set

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The set of bargaining outcomes that all participants in a negotiation are willing to accept. see also Zone of agreement

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Bicameral legislature

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Legislature consisting of two houses or chambers. In federal systems one house represents the national population, whilst the other house represents regional populations by province, state or canton. 

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Coalition

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Set of parties that work together to achieve some political objective – for instance, to create a government (in parliamentary political systems) or to coordinate voting behaviour (in the EP). 

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Cohesion policy

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The set of EU policies designed to reduce economic disparities between regions by giving financial support to economically underdeveloped regions in the EU member states. 

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Cohesion

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The extent to which MEPs of the same political group vote together and often measured on a scale from 0 to 100. If all MEPs from a political group vote exactly the same, cohesion is 100. If exactly half of the MEPs vote in favour and the other half against, cohesion is 0.

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Comitology

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The system of committees through which civil servants from member states discuss the implementation of EU policies and supervise the Commission’s implementing acts.

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Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

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The set of EU policies designed to regulate agricultural markets and provide financial support to farmers. 

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Common Assembly 

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The predecessor of the European Parliament and was created as part of the ECSC in 1951. 

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Common position 

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In first reading the Council adopts a common position when its viewpoint on a proposal differs from the EP’s opinion and/or the Commission’s modified proposal. 

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Community method 

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A way of making decisions in which the EU’s supranational institutions (Commission, EP) play an important role. 

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Conciliation committee 

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The representatives of the Council and the EP, assisted by representatives of the Commission. Its task is to produce a compromise text if the Council and the EP have not reached an agreement after the second reading of the ordinary legislative procedure. 

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Copenhagen criteria

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Fundamental conditions regarding institutions, human rights and economic readiness aspiring member states have to meet before being able to join the EU. 

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Coreper

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Committee of Permanent Representatives. Highest preparatory body for meetings of the Council and European Council. 

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Corporatism 

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System of interest representation in which a limited number of interest groups has have privileged access to governmental decision-making. 

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Customs duties 

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Charges levied on imports or exports, resulting in higher prices for consumers buying those products. 

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Delegated acts 

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Acts adopted by the Commission to modify specific details of Directives or Regulations (Article 290 TFEU), as long as they do not change the essence of the legislation.

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Direct effect 

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Major legal principle in EU law holding that individuals can directly invoke EU legislation in cases before national courts. 

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Directive 

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Type of EU legislation that needs to be transposed into national law by the member state governments. 

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Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) 

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The coordination of economic and fiscal policies, a common monetary policy and a common currency. 

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Electoral treshold

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The minimum percentage of the votes that a political party needs to win in elections in order to be allocated seats. Countries may use such tresholds to avoid a too large number of small parties gaining seats after elections.

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Enhanced cooperation 

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Procedure through which a group of EU member states can adopt legislation (or a decision under the CFSP) that only applies to them and not to the other member states. 

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Eurogroup

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The ministers of finance of the Eurozone countries.

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European Economic Area (EEA)

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Area that comprises the EU member states and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Through the EEA-agreement these three countries take part in the EU single market and commit themselves to applying all applicable EU-legislation.

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European regulatory networks (ERNs)

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European regulatory networks (ERNs) are collections of member state (and sometimes also EU) authorities, which regularly meet to exchange information and/or coordinate implementation practices across their members.

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Euroscepticism 

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Term used to qualify people, member states or political parties that are highly critical of European integration.  

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Eurosystem

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The ECB and the national banks of the countries that have adopted the Euro. 

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Eurozone 

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All member states that have adopted the Euro as their currency.

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Focusing event 

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Occurrence that draws strong attention to a problem. 

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Frame 

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Interpretation scheme with which issues and events are defined and given meaning.

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Framing 

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The activity of (re-)defining an issue in such a way that it fits a particular frame. 

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Governance 

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Mode of governing characterized by collaborative and networked forms of policy-making. 

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Green Paper

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Discussion document from the European Commission that outlines general issues and options around an issue without presenting specific proposals. 

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Gross domestic product (GDP) 

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Measure of the size of an economy, which equals the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a given year. 

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Harmonization

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The adoption of EU laws to reduce the differences between member state laws in a given area.  see also Approximation of laws; Positive integration

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High politics 

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Politics concerning issues that affect vital national interests. 

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History-making decisions 

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Decisions that determine the fundamental choices about the course of the EU for years to come. 

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Ideology 

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More or less systematic and comprehensive set of ideas and beliefs about politics that guides the positions of politicians, political parties and/or citizens on specific political issues. 

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Implementation decisions 

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Acts that are adopted by the Commission to put legislation into practice. 

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Implementation 

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The process of applying policies and putting them into practice. 

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Implementing acts 

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Acts that the Commission adopts in order to make sure the member states implement legislation in a uniform fashion (Article 291 TFEU).

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Infringement procedure 

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Legal procedure set in motion by the European Commission against a member state if it does not comply with EU legislation, which may end in a ruling by the Court of Justice.

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Inside lobbying 

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Strategy in which interest groups seek to influence policies through direct contact with policy-makers. 

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Interest group 

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Group of people that share certain preferences regarding the outcomes of governmental decision-making and organize in order to influence those outcomes, without seeking elected office. 

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Intergovernmental Conference 

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Meeting of the member states to discuss and decide a revision of treaties. As its name indicates an IGC is a purely intergovernmental affair that only involves representatives of the member state governments. 

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Intergovernmental institutions 

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EU institutions that represent the member states: European Council and Council. 

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Intergovernmental method 

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A way of making decisions in which member state governments play a central role. 

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Intergovernmental organizations

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Organizations in which member states work together on policies of common concern but retain their full sovereignty. 

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Intergovernmentalism 

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Integration theory which holds that member states are fully in charge of cooperative steps they take and only collaborate with a view to their direct self-interest. 

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Interinstitutional agreement 

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Binding agreement between the Commission, the Council and/or the EP, in which the institutions define arrangements for their cooperation. 

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Issue linkage 

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Constellation in which the outcome of the decision on one issue is made contingent on the outcome of the decision on another issue. 

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Joint-decision trap 

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Constellation that arises if the participation of non-central governments in the making of central government decisions leads to policies that are ineffective, inefficient and/or outdated but these policies cannot be changed because at least one non-central government benefits from them. 

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Judicial activism 

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Type of judicial behaviour where judges take a broad and active view of their role as interpreters of the law. 

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Legitimacy 

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The condition of being in accordance with the norms and values of the people.

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Lobbyist

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Individual engaged in attempts to influence governmental decision-making on behalf of an interest group. 

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Low politics 

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Politics concerning issues for which the political stakes are not that high. 

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Luxembourg Compromise 

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Informal agreement between the member states allowing a member state to block a decision in the Council if it declares the matter to be of ‘vital national interest’. 

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Monetary policy

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Policy aimed at ensuring financial stability through managing the supply of money and controlling the interest rates at which banks can borrow and lend money. 

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Negative integration 

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The abolition of trade barriers that are imposed by member states. 

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Neo-functionalism

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Integration theory which states that member states will work together to reap economic benefits, setting in motion a process in which ever more tasks are delegated to the supranational level. 

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Non-attitude 

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Expression of opinion which is not rooted in strongly held beliefs and hence can be very volatile. 

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Non-tariff barriers 

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Kinds of conditions, restrictions or regulations that do not consist of tariffs, but still make the import or export of products difficult or impossible. 

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Open Method of Coordination

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Mechanism which aims at convergence of member state policies through a process of benchmarking and policy learning. 

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Opt-outs 

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Specific exceptions that are granted to a member state when it is unwilling or unable to fully accept all provisions of a treaty or a law. 

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Ordinary legislative procedure 

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Decision-making  procedure that is most commonly used in the EU for adopting legislation, giving equal powers to the European Parliament and the Council. 

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Outside lobbying 

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Strategy in which interest groups seek to put pressure on policy-makers by mobilizing public opinion. 

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Parliamentary committee

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Subdivision of Parliament dealing with specific policy areas. Prepares and debates proposals before sending them to the full, plenary Parliament for final decision-making. 

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Permanent representatives 

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Member states’ ambassadors to the EU who reside in Brussels and prepare much of the work of the European Council and Council. 

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Permissive consensus

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Generally broad support that existed amongst citizens for European integration during the first decades after the Second World War.  

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Pluralism 

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System of interest representation in which large numbers of interest groups compete with each other for access to governmental decision-making. 

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Policy entrepreneur

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Actor that successfully influences decisions made by others, by skillfully mobilizing support, building coalitions and proposing solutions in the direction of an outcome close to its own preferences. 

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Policy network 

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Set of participants in a given policy field who are connected through regular interactions. 

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Policy venue

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Institution that has the authority to make decisions about an issue. 

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Policy window 

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Short period in which an issue commands a lot of attention and decisions on that issue can be taken. 

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Policy-setting decisions 

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Decisions about the choices between alternative courses of action for dealing with a given issue. 

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Policy-shaping decisions 

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Decisions about the choices between alternative policy instruments to tackle a given issue. 

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Political agenda 

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The set of issues that policy-makers give serious attention to. 

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Political cleavage 

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Stable conflict dimension between political groups that is rooted in social differences between groups in society. 

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Political elites 

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The relatively small number of people at the top of a political system who exercise disproportionate influence or power over political decisions. 

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Political opportunity structure 

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The institutional and political context within which an interest group operates and that determines the receptiveness of decision-makers to the claims of that group. 

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Political participation 

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All activities that are aimed at influencing policies and/or the selection of politicians. 

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Political party 

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Group of like-minded people who organize in order to influence politics through winning political office. 

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Positive integration 

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The adoption of EU laws to reduce the differences between member state laws in a given area.  see also Approximation of laws; Harmonization

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Preferential trade agreement 

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Agreement between countries on lowering the tariffs they charge for importing goods. 

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Preliminary ruling 

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Binding interpretation on a matter of EU law delivered by the Court of Justice at the request of a member state court. 

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Principle of proportionality

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Principle that states that the burden to implement legislation should be minimized and commensurate with the objective to be achieved. 

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Qualified majority voting

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Decision-making rule in the Council which requires a majority that is substantially larger than a simple majority of (50% + 1), but does not require unanimity. 

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Rapporteur 

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Member of Parliament responsible for drafting the EP’s opinion on a legislative proposal and drawing up a report that contains all the proposed amendments to it.

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Ratification 

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Procedure through which a sovereign state a member state formally commits itself to the obligations that arise out of the signing of an a international treaty.

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Regulation

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Type of EU legislation that is directly applicable in the EU and in all member states. 

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Side-payments 

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Monetary compensations given to a participant in a decision-making process in order to secure the support of that participant for a proposal that is unrelated to the payments. 

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Simple majority

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Simple majority is reached in the EP when the number of votes in favour is more than half of the number of MEPs present during voting.   

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Soft power 

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The ability to wield influence, not through the use of force or money, but through the attractiveness and legitimacy of one’s values, culture and policies. 

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Sovereign debt

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The public debt of a country which it finances through issuing bonds. 

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Spillover 

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The phenomenon where an integrative step in one policy area generates pressures to take further integrative steps in neighboring policy areas so that more competences are shifted towards the EU level.

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Strategic culture 

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The set of assumptions and values through which a country typically interprets and reacts to international events. 

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Subsidiarity principle 

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Principle stating that the EU is only allowed to act if the objectives of that action can be better reached at EU level than at member state level. 

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Supranational institutions 

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All those EU institutions that represent the general interest of the EU (Commission, Court of Justice, European Central Bank and Court of Auditors) as well as the European Parliament. 

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Supranational organizations 

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Organizations in which countries pool their sovereignty on certain matters to allow joint decision-making. 

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Supremacy 

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Major legal principle in EU law holding that if national legislation is in conflict with EU law, EU law overrides national legislation. 

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Technocracy 

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The view that policies should be exclusively based on knowledge and that policy decisions should be made by scientific experts rather than politicians. 

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Transnational organization

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Organization that connects subnational levels of governments or brings together any other type of organization (businesses, civil society groups) from different countries. 

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Transposition 

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The process of incorporating the legal provisions of EU directives into national legislation. 

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Trilogues 

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Regular meetings of representatives of the three institutions (Commission, EP and Council) that are convened in order to identify points of agreement and differences, and find a compromise on a legislative text. 

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Unanimity voting

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Decision-making rule in the Council which requires all member states to support a proposal. This requirement gives every member states the possibility to veto a proposed decision.  

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Veto player 

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Actor who can prevent a decision from being taken. 

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White Paper 

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Discussion document from the European Commission that presents specific proposals for EU action. 

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Zone of acceptability 

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The set of bargaining outcomes that a participant in a negotiation is willing to accept. 

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Zone of agreement 

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The set of bargaining outcomes that all participants in a negotiation are willing to accept. see also Bargaining set