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Encyclopedia > Supranational union

A supranational union, sometimes called also a supranational state, is a group of countries that has:

In other words, it is a hybrid or transitional institution. Some decisions need the member states' consensus (intergovernmentalism) and others need only a majority, either of the member states or of elected representatives (supranationalism). An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... A federal state is one that brings together a number of different political communities with a common government for common purposes, and separate state or provincial or cantonal governments for the particular purposes of each community. ... Intergovernmentalism is a theory of decision-making in international organizations, where power is possessed by the member-states and decisions are made by unanimity. ... Supranationalism is a method of decision-making in international organizations, where power is held by independent appointed officials or by representatives elected by the legislatures or people of the member states. ...


The process leading to such groups

The trend to globalization makes country isolation less and less possible. Globalization (or globalisation) refers to the worldwide phenomenon of technological, economic, and cultural change, as brought about by expanding facilities for intercommunication and interdependency between traditionally isolate cultures. ...

  • Political / military alliances / coalitions / leagues / blocs, are either things of the past or, in modern days, may lack stability, clear inner decision process, and international legitimity.
  • International organizations, that started to flourish in the 20th century, are one step as being bodies helping cooperation between states, but they depend mostly on the goodwill of the nation-states that comprise them.
  • Also the trend to create trade blocs, leading to common markets, (NAFTA, MERCOSUR), or one step further, to economic unions like (CARICOM), is growing.

But some countries, in a given world region, like a continent or subcontinent, feel the need for more integration, without adopting immediately all the institutions of a federal nation. Whence their idea to become united into supranational entities. A coalition is an alliance between entities, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest. ... An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... A trade bloc is a large free trade area or near-free trade area formed by one or more tax, tariff and trade agreements. ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... The Caribbean Community and Common Market or CARICOM was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas which came into effect on August 1, 1973. ... Integration may be any of the following: In the most general sense, integration may be any bringing together of things: the integration of two or more economies, cultures, religions (usually called syncretism), etc. ...


An institutional model: the European Union

This kind of organization has many of the traits of a sovereign country. It aims at unifying various parts of the legal base, building common instititutions, and being recognized by outside countries and organisations.


More practically, the European Union is the project that went further in this direction. It is still the sole member of its class, but its organization is studied by other would-be country groups as a basis for their own projects (see SACN for example). A practical description of this reference model includes such institutional traits as: The South American Community of Nations (SACN) (Spanish: Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones (CSN), Portuguese: Comunidade Sul-Americana de Nações (CSN)) will be a continent-wide free trade zone that will unite two existing free-trade organizations—Mercosur and the Andean Community—eliminating tariffs for non-sensitive products by 2014 and...

  • A body of "Commissioners", with a President, to prepare laws and regulation for the whole area. Some of the commissioners have negotiation powers with other organizations (the WTO for example) or countries, and some sanction power about the obeyance of common rules (free trade...)
  • A system of first decision on those proposed legislations assigned to the Council of Ministers, made up of ministers from all member states.
  • A final voting system by a citizen-elected Parliament.
  • Integration of legislation into the legal systems of the member states as the treaties of the Union commit them to.
  • A common passport.
  • A common currency for all or part of the union.
  • Its own budget to fund common programmes such as the European Union's programs in agriculture, research and education.
  • A common investment bank for trans-country infrastructure projects and for regional development.
  • etc.

The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ... For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ... The Council of the European Union forms, along with the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union (EU). ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... The Sixth Framework Programme (abbreviated FP6) is the current (2002-2006) Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development set up by the EU in order to fund and promote European research and technological development. ...

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
European Union - MSN Encarta (918 words)
In 1991 the governments of the 12 member states signed the Treaty on European Union (commonly called the Maastricht Treaty), which was then ratified by the national legislatures of all the member countries.
Supranational organizations, on the other hand, require members to surrender at least a portion of their control over policy areas and can compel compliance with their mandates.
Formed in 1948, the union grew from the recognition that the economies of the separate states were individually too small to be competitive in the global market.
European Union (1826 words)
The European Union is the world's largest confederation of independent states, established under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty).
For example, in the United Kingdom one poll suggested that around 50% of the population are indifferent to the European Union and 20% voted for parties that wanted to withdraw from the EU in the 2004 EU elections.
The European Union is a densely populated, culturally diverse union of 27 member states, constantly expanding and developing.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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