European Union and Sui-Generis



European Union and Sui-Generis

Introduction

This essay discusses the sui-generisity of the European Union's structure as an institution that by 2007 comprised of 27 member states and more than 497 million people.  The European Union is a unique example because for the first time in modern history it sought to create federation from the bottom up, making the foundations of Europe supra-national and diffusing issues that would otherwise be decisive such as competition for natural resources and economic space. Although the concept of Europe as a political entity in one shape or another has existed for centuries, it is the way the European union came about its processes that make it unique, leaving sovereign nations binding them together so that there be an invisible force keeping them together. 

Discussion

The sui-generis nature of the European construction has profound impact on the budgetary system - particularly differences in power sharing and accountability in comparison with national systems.  Even though it is accepted that the European integration as a modern phenomenon was initiated in the consequences of the negative experiences of the founding member states ( original six), in the immediate aftermath of the World War II, but the idea of European cooperation had been around for centuries(Gershman 2000).  Today, not only the institutional structure and decision-making process, but also the comprehensive objectives of the Union, has given it a positive rather than a union for economic cooperation, and shows that after half of a century from the date it was created, now not only its structure but its objectives also dramatically changed. The European union which as an institution sits somewhere between a traditional international organisation and a state, was initially set up with the primary objective of maintaining peace and aim of ending frequent wars between neighbouring states.

Today the possibility of war is extremely slim between the western European member states of union, and as the European union has also dramatically changed since the first days of the community, primary objectives of the integration seems to be irrelevant with today's European Union. (Dorsch Mols 1998)In other to review the development of the European Union as an institution and to summarize its history, it is useful to set out some events those mark the periods of development within the Union. The first period ( 1945-1959) has been names as the beginning of cooperation. In this period the European Coal and Steel community (ECSC) established by the treaty of Paris signed by France, Germany and Benelux; The Treaty of Rome led to the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom); European Free Trade Association (EFTA) established by the United Kingdom as rival to the EEC.  The second period (1960-1969) the 'Swinging Sixties' has been named as a period of economic growth in which the UK, Denmark and Ireland apply for EEC membership; European Court of Justice (ECJ) rules in Costa that EC law is supreme over any national law with conflicts; merger Treaty merged the institutions ...