European Union Citizen Engagement

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[...] Citizens feel more national than European As Jean Monnet said: 'Nothing is possible without men, nothing is durable without institutions' The legal nature of the European Union The European Union = This is an inter-state organization Which aims to bring together several states What the European Union is not: a federal state This question was posed at a given moment, because the federalism model is the one that imposes a loss of sovereignty on the federated entities to the benefit of a supra-national entity Common point Despite this common point with the federal state, the EU is not one: It lacks its sovereignty, there is no European nation Aside from the foundation of a state being that the people are the base of a state = Union of peoples Is the European Union a confederation of states? A state confederation Union for the purpose of promoting common interests in a number of fields . [...]

[...] Lack of public debate that kills Europe Growing populism, for example in Hungary, in Italy, etc . If citizens are not interested enough in the EU, is it because the EU is not interested enough in citizens? [...]

[...] Pooling of resources At first glance it looks like . BUT In a state confederation Each member state retains its full sovereignty in a state confederation decisions must be taken unanimously, each has a veto right This is not the case in the EU, majority vote A 'category apart'/'Sui generis' category The EU is part of an integration process we do not switch to federalism This is a category apart, without equivalent in the world Jacques Delors had used an original formula: 'The European Union is a federation of nation-states' The object of the European Union It is created in member states with the aim of pooling several defined areas: Customs domain Economic domain Budgetary domain Legal Union Political and citizen domain Objects are multiple Political and citizen domain: The Rome Treaties of 1947 did not provide for these domains, only simple cooperation This idea of political union was already born in the minds of the founding fathers 1992, Treaty of Maastricht (Treaty on European Union) States find an interest in uniting: A particular interest A common/general interest European citizenship makes the European political aspect visible, strengthens the democratic foundations of the EU This leads to: the right to reside and move freely within the EU the right to vote and be eligible for elections to the European Parliament as well as municipal elections in the place of residence diplomatic protection (at a foreign embassy or consulate of any European state) the possibility for every European citizen to address the European Ombudsman Objectives of the EU: Carrying more weight, being stronger together Objective of peace The European Union method The method applied has evolved: Initially, based on state cooperation (unanimity, veto power) Intergovernmental method (classic) Then community method Both methods have their place within the European process The intergovernmental method Classic method which assumes a vote, the will of a unanimous and veto power (guaranteeing the sovereignty of each) The community method is based on supranationality The supranational organization has its own authority and organs that overlap with national organs This method was invented by Jean Monnet, the founding father of the EU Theory of community integration Articulation of these two methods: Initially, before 1951, only the intergovernmental method was applied Very quickly, after 1951, introduction of the community method (but without thereby excluding the intergovernmental method) Today, the rule is the community method (but there are still sensitive areas for which we will still apply the intergovernmental method) Defense domain, taxation? [...]

[...] The European institutions Introduction : European construction has progressed over time . Today of French legislation reflects European directives Member states have transferred several sovereign competences to the European Union Example: The euro Disinterest in voting sometimes Low participation In France, we have moved from 39.3% abstention in 1979 (first European election) In 2009, it rose to 59.9% abstention Since 2014, a decrease in this abstention rate has been observed In 2024, the rate was 48.5% abstention Edmond HUSSERL, German Philosopher 'The greatest peril threatening Europe is fatigue' European questions appear as distant questions for citizens Europe has long suffered from a severe democratic deficit The construction of the European Union has been deployed with force since the 50s As it has progressed, decision-making places have moved upwards BUT this progress has been made without sufficient attention being paid to democratizing this process The people remain strangers to public issues, to European political parties, to debates . [...]