Europeans Or Different Nationalities - United Europe

Introduction

Europe is home to 742, 452, 000 people and is made up of 50 Countries. To those millions of people there is a constant debate as to whether they should be considered Europeans or of their different nationalities. This assignment is to delve into the barriers that are stopping us European Members to proclaiming ourselves as Europeans and to highlight the many ways that the Countries within Europe are too different to be labelled as one. Barriers to this proclamation of a “Untied Europe” include various political systems that co-exist in Europe, the different languages spoken, the unrelated monetary systems and unrelated national laws. Other factors dividing Europe include different religions being worshipped, the income inequality between the Countries, and the recent issue of refugees seeking asylum in the EU.

Political Systems/Government

Europe has too many political systems existing to be considered as one. In fact, there are 3 political systems co-existing within Europe today,

First, there is the Presidential System, this is a democratic system where the head of state is the head of government and they hold political power in the Country. In this political system there is a couple sub divisions in the government, (the Executive, Legislative and Judicial). All three are separate of the others. The executive branch is responsible for enforcing and executing law while the legislative branch role is to make laws on behalf of a political entity, the judicial branch meanwhile oversees applying the law. Laws created by this legislative body are known as primary legislation. The main idea here is to guide governing actions and in particularly help keep government budgets in line.

Secondly there is the Semi-Presidential System, this is where the head of state and the head of Government share several responsibilities. Within this political system, a President, a Prime Minister and a Cabinet co-exist in the leading of the Country. Power is more divided here compared to that of a Presidential System. This Semi-Presidential System is the current political system used in many Countries within Europe, most notably France, Poland and Portugal.

Taking France as an example where the President and Prime Minister are elected from different parties power is divided. The President usually is involved in Foreign Policy and defence issues while the Prime Minister is more involved in the Domestic Policy and Economic Policies within the Country. This sharing of power is not set out by their constitution but more of an arrangement followed on. Of course, this is not the same as if the President and Prime Minister are from the same party where in this instance the President delegates different roles chosen by themselves down to the PM. The advantages and disadvantages of this Political System have been debated where many claims this political system as a strong format of government because it can provide a stable Government in case of any issues with the PM or the President and it aids the President in making the tough decisions as he is shielded from most criticism via the PM. Many argue that this political system is confusing for voters and many are never sure of who holds power within the Country.

The third Political System that is used in Europe is Parliamentary Republic System. This is where the head of State is a figurehead who has little political power. There are a number of variations of the Parliamentary Republic system is Europe, but all have a clear distinction between the head of State and the head of Government while the latter holds the real power. The Government receives its rules and laws from the legislature (the parliament). This form of system is renowned for the fact that power is quite divided between several different parties.

Taking Ireland as an example, Ireland is a bicameral system. This means the legislatures (part of government, in contrast with the executive and judicial) contains two houses (Dail & Seanad). Dail Eireann is the lower house of the Oireachtas, it consists of 158 members who are directly elected at least once every 5 years. The Dail holds the power to pass any law it wishes and nominate and remove the Taoiseach as the leader of the Country. The Seand is the upper house in the Irish political system, there is 60 seats in this house and its members are chosen in a number of different ways. It is quite less powerful than the Dail and its main purpose is to play more of an advisory role and aid in the completion of making laws by their ability to delay laws until the Dail improves them (only for a limited time).

Taking these 3 Systems into account it can be clearly seen that Europe Politically is too vast to be considered as one! How can these different Countries which are run so differently be considered together as one entity? Although one could argue that the EU Parliament is the link that these Countries use to establish that one entity, the independent Governments still have too much influence and abilities to make changes independently to their Countries that European unification is unlikely to be recognised.

Languages & Laws

The European Union claims their main intention is to unite the European Continent as one market and place for its people, but can Europe really be truly united if there are over twenty different official languages spoken?. This fact causes serious doubt in the united Europe theory, especially in consideration to laws and the translation affect into the different languages. One such example of a simple variance is when EU laws talk about the “average consumer”, when speaking about this consumer, one is usually categorised by the means of one’s wealth, (the average Irish person has an approximate net worth of €170. 513 while the average Spanish person has a net worth of €97, 799 so what do they mean when it comes to an average consumer in Europe? The only way an organisation can truly target the average consumer around Europe is to segment the market in each Country by its location and this means adapting to the different surroundings. This in turn further rebukes the ideology of the “United European Market”.

This language also causes issues for the legal systems in the different European Countries. According to the European Parliament. European Legislation should be “clear, easy to understand and unambiguous”. The only solution to this statement is that there needs to be a reference version to all laws for the EU body, so it can be compared to in translation. This Language divide further proves that Europe should be considered as many and not as one as communication barriers exist for citizens of Europe.

Currency

Although the European Union would like us to regard ourselves as one there simply too many differences to truly submit to this way of thinking. One such hurdle the EU has in uniting its members is that of currency. Currently within the EU there are eleven different types of currency being used, such include the “official” European Currency the Euro, the Sterling, and Swiss Franc. When the EU was first formed, the main goals were to enhance Europe politically and economically through means of creating a single currency and a united foreign and security policy. The fact that other currencies are still being used in the “one market” ultimately proves Europe is still not yet achieved its intention of being one. This point can also be stressed as both Denmark and the United Kingdom were granted permission to continue to use their own currency while being members of the EU.

Social FactorsMany social factors are inhibiting Europe in becoming united still to this day. First, there is still a huge income inequality between the countries of the EU and the divide between the rich and poor is also growing. In fact, back in the 1980’s the divide between the rich were earning around 7 times more than that of the poor and in 2017 it was reported the difference between the rich and poor had grown with the rich earning 9. 5% more. This divide in income is another issue that is preventing Europe in becoming more recognised as a single entity.

Conclusion

While deliberating the question of whether we should consider the European Union as one or many, the research undertaken continually drew the conclusion that the EU is far too divided to be considered united. Having different languages spoken, different forms of currency used and different political systems ruling the countries, the EU is still far too diverse to be considered as “one”. One must also consider the social and economic factors that the European Union must defeat in this present day. These issues of course include dealing with the fallout of Brexit, (will other Countries follow? Financial Implications?) and what this means for the other members both socially and economically, (travelling to Britain/working in Britain) and with their own economic issues within the EU like the income divide between the rich and poor. Although the evidence proves that the European Union has still yet to achieve the status of being a single entity, one should not be so quick to dismiss the work the European Union has done for its members. Being an EU member is beneficial and has been responsible for stabilising a number of its Countries both economically and socially, and it is also responsible for bringing peace to its members after a very turbulent past between the Countries that make up this powerful body.