Q&A of the Day – How the European Union Works
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Today’s Entry: European elections are confusing. What does the EU actually do?
Bottom Line: If you’ve paid attention to the recent Eurozone elections you’re likely to know that conservatives had historic wins. In fact, as results are still being tabulated from the 27 European Union countries, what’s become clear is that it was the best showing for conservatives in the history of the European Union. To put the size of this political shift in Europe in perspective consider this. Conservatives (through the various political factions that exist in Europe), won 417 of the 720, or 58%, of the European Union seats. To attempt to put this into an American political perspective conceptionally. The last time a politician, or a political party, pulled in 58% of the vote nationally was Ronald Regan in 1984 – when he won 49 states. That’s how sizeable this political shift in the Eurozone is proving to be.
It’s clear voters in Europe widely rejected open border policies, high tax and spend policies which have driven inflation and onerous environmental mandates that have limited access to resources in Europe adding to inflationary pressures. It’s for those reasons that Democrats in this country are on notice heading into this November’s elections as the top issues for Americans were the top issues for Europeans when they went to the polls. But today’s question isn’t about policy but how the European Union works so let's get to it.
There are significant differences between our system of governance, a representative republic, and the parliamentary form of governance used in Europe. The easiest way that comes to mind to best illustrate how the European Union works is to think of it like this... Picture the European Union as the federal government and the EU countries as individual states. The EU sets policy that the member states must adhere to, while individual European countries still elect their political leadership to govern within their country. This is analogous to the federal government setting policy that all states must adhere to, while we also elect our representation to set policy within our states. This is why, for example, the Euro is the currency of all EU countries. It’s also why European citizens can move freely between countries without going through customs checks. From a point of practicality there’s one primary difference.
In the United States our founding document is our constitution which contains a supremacy clause. The Supremacy Clause to the U.S. Constitution states that when there is a conflict in policy between states and the federal government, the federal government’s policy takes precedence over that of state governments. Conversely, the European Union was established by member countries, and it retains authority over Eurozone policy that has been granted by the countries. The European Union operates under four competences.
- Exclusive competences are laws that may only be passed by the EU. Examples of exclusive competences include monetary policy, trade agreements, and certain agricultural and environmental policies
- Shared competences are laws that may be passed by the EU or by member countries, although EU policy has supremacy over member countries if there are conflicts. Examples include employment, consumer protection, energy policy, justice, immigration, public health, scientific research, transportation, humanitarian aid
- Supporting competences are laws established by member countries that may be supported by EU policy but not overruled within each country. Examples include healthcare, culture, industrial policy, tourism, education, athletics, civil protection
- Special competences are exceptions in which the EU may step in to coordinate policies between countries. Examples include economic, social and employment policies
That might sound a bit convoluted (and in my opinion it is – I think our system of government has proven to be far more effective), but as mentioned, basically the European Union works similarly to our federal government in setting policy. And essentially what’s happened in Europe in these elections is the equivalent of a Regan-sized victory for the right.