The European Union as an Emerging Federal System - by Dr.Thomas O. Hueglin in collaboration with Alan Fenna

Among the growing number of international organizations and systems, the European Union stands out for two reasons: First of all, it is the most advanced transnational system of political integration, comparable in size and economic power only to the United States of America. It may indeed have model character for transnational governance in a globalizing world. Secondly, while the European Union must be considered as an altogether new form of transnationalized multilevel governance, it can be regarded as an emerging federal system nevertheless. It is included in this section because it has followed the German model in several important ways.

Interlocking Powers in the European Council.

At first glance, the institutional set-up of the European Union very much looks like that of a federal state. There is a directly elected European Parliament, a European Commission in charge of executive governance, and the Council of Ministers, a kind of superior legislative chamber with ultimate decision making power. It is the construction of this Council of Ministers which resembles German federalism most closely. First of all, its composition is based on the council principle. The members are instructed representatives of the European member-state governments. Their votes are similarly weighted as in the German Bundesrat. Secondly, given the superior if not exclusive law making powers of the Council (see below), the European system of governance is very much one characterized by political interlocking rather than a separation of powers. 

Cultural Diversity. 

This is almost where the comparison ends. Obviously, since the European Union is currently composed of 27 member states with different histories, large variations in their social, legal and economic systems, and eleven different language, it can only be regarded as a case of cultural federalism. Its formation almost literally repeats at the European level the history of federalization in nineteenth century nation-states (see chapter 4). Its rationale has been based on a historical compromise between a shared desire to build a large integrated market, and an equally strong commitment to the retention of cultural autonomy and self-governance. As in the case of nation-state federations the question is to what extent the homogenizing forces of the market will eventually transform the federal system from a predominantly cultural one into an increasingly territorial one

An Eclectic Mix of Plural Powers. 

The institutional framework of the European Union departs farthest from the German, or, for that matter, any other federal model. The European Parliament has only limited powers and certainly does not follow the tradition of responsible parliamentary governance. The executive Commission is appointed by the national governments and only partly accountable to the Parliament. It is responsible for most European policy initiatives, and it watches over their implementation by the member states once the Council has approved them. That Council , on the other hand, operates more like an institutionalised form of intergovernmentalism than a second legislative chamber. As in Canadian First Ministers Conferences, for instance, changes to the Union Treaties require unanimity. Only when setting up specific policies to be carried within the framework of the existing Treaties, the Council has increasingly adopted qualified majority voting. 

With this eclectic mix of institutional arrangements, European governance somehow falls into the category of plural power dispersal. As master of the Treaties, the Council remains autonomous from parliamentary control and accountability. The Commission acts as the main executive, and as a semi-autonomous political entrepreneur for the entire process of integration, coordinating communication and interaction among a large number of public and private actors, member state governments, subnational regional and local governments, interest organizations and social movements. The transnational lobby in Brussels very much begins to look like its counterpart in Washington. So does the large and growing number of direct financial support programs the Commission administers. 

Legislative Cooperation, Competitive Administration. 

A categorical classification of the European Union’s functional division of powers and policy making style is even more problematic. The Treaties have the character of binding European law, and a very efficient European Court of Justice watches over the member states’ adherence to them. Insofar as these member states continue to be governed predominantly by national law, one can discern a legislative division of powers. At the same time, however, the directives and regulations which are put into place by the Commission on the basis of this Treaty Law, have to be implemented and executed by the member states, and this would point more into the direction of an administrative system of federalism. Evidently, all this requires a high degree of cooperation. Within the stipulations of the Treaties, the member states have agreed on a common vision of integration. This process of integration has remained a partial one, though, focusing on a common market in particular. A good deal of competition remains with regard to both unregulated policy areas such as social policy, for instance, and the general direction of the process of further integration.

In sum again, the European Union is both more than just another international organization, and less than a fully developed federal system. It is more than an international organization with specific and limited objectives because the achieved level of integration is unprecedented in quantitative as well as qualitative terms. It is less than a federation because the process is still ongoing and incomplete. 

Note EU-Digest: Probably it will always be a project in development, which makes it so unique.