The Guardian of Democracy

Typical moules and frites.

       Brussels, Belgium may lack the allure that Prague, Paris, and Rome have, but it is certainly a city worth discussing because it is the home of the largest group of democratic countries in the world, the European Union. Belgium is known for their moules and frites, chocolate, waffles, and beer, but it is arguably most distinguished on the world stage for being the very heart of Europe. Here, members of the twenty-seven democratic countries that make up the Union gather in Parliament to make decisions regarding Europe. These members represent the interest of Europe through legislative activities; promote communication and diplomacy between countries, work together on the European economy, and push to promote issues such as human rights throughout the world.

       To understand the European Union, it is first necessary to understand what prompted its formation. According to Gareth Harding, the Mizzou Brussels Program Director, after World War II, Europe faced two issues: How to make peace permanent and how to reconstruct the devastated Europe.  In 1949, the Council of Europe began, but it held no legislative power. The EU, as we know it today, went through several treaties and transformations to finally end up as the official European Union, and went from six original member countries to end up with the present count of twenty-seven nations. These member states strive to allow free movement of people and goods across their borders. Fairly recently, most of the countries adopted the official EU currency, the euro, as their national currency to accommodate this.

Outside of the EU

      So what exactly is the European Union, and how does it work? This is a question that is somewhat complicated to answer, but necessary in order to comprehend what the EU is doing to promote its causes worldwide. It is the world’s biggest economic power with an annual budget of 130 billion Euros (about one third of the U.S. defense budget), and this is paid through dues that each member state must provide. In order to maintain a sense of “unified diversity” there are twenty-three official languages to keep somewhat nationalistic representation present. There is a set list of qualifications in order for a country to join. A prospective country must have a free market, govern through rule of law, have a democracy with no death penalty, full human rights, and be a European country. This last component has brought up a lot of debate recently regarding adding new countries like Turkey, who is only partly located in Europe.

The EU works through three main institutions. There is the European Commission, whose nominated members propose legislation, but do not vote on it. Then there is the Council of the European Union, which represents the interests of the individual member states. Finally, there is the European Parliament, who is the voice of the people with elections every five years. These members also decide on the budget. This is the institution that I will focus most on for the remainder of this essay.

One of the responsibilities of the EU is legislative activity regarding a multitude of things. One of those activities involves environmental policy regarding climate change and pollution. These policies help to unify Europe on environmental issues such as clean bathing water through passing legislation such as the EC Bathing Water Directive. This strives to ensure that the lakes and seas are cleaner than ever before in Europe. Members of Parliament are also making significant strides to try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and industry plants. Their goal is to limit this by 20 percent and increase energy efficiency and renewable energy by 20 percent by 2020, according to the European Parliament Pamphlet. We attended a seminar regarding the European Union’s take on response to climate change versus that of the United States. The speakers expressed the EU’s concern that a newly elected Republican House would take backward steps with its efforts to increase climate health.

Climate Change Seminar

Another concern of the European Union is to protect democracy and human rights in both Europe and other regions of the world. It hopes to further a cooperative humanitarian aid effort as well. The Lisbon Treaty, which worked to establish some of the present day functions of the EU, says that it is founded on “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and respect for human rights.” This is seen in its cooperation with the war on terror, and through its position on replying to citizen petitions. The EU works to fight against poverty and provide disaster relief to non-EU countries in order to encourage human rights and democracy in those countries. According to the "A Day in Europe" video, it also wants to support “light being spread to darkness”, or in other words it strives to support journalists’ safety as they are reporting from dangerous situations in other countries.

European Parliament

While supporting rights outside the Union, EU member states are also working to produce legislation that increases trust and regulation aimed at protecting consumers. Members have passed legislation that prevents misleading advertisements from harming consumers and their choices. They also are working to make sure that all food labels are clear and consistent for children and other consumers’ health. Now parents can really know what is actually in that juice box their kids are drinking. Finally, with open borders between all the member countries they have worked to provide competition between markets, which allow for such things as airline companies to compete. They have passed legislation to protect consumers’ rights, so when visiting different countries travelers can trust the EU to “look after rights, while you take in the sights.” This includes the passage of the Compensation Regulation for Airplanes, which allows fair competition, but compensates consumers if their flight is canceled for some reason such as overbooking.

Finally, a major focus of the European Union, especially with the difficult economic situation that is now facing the world, is the EU budget. The European Parliament with agreement from members’ governments decided on an appropriate budget to fund things like road maintenance, environmental protection, and medical research to fight diseases like Alzheimer’s. The EU funds are funneled into different programs for sustainable economic development, conservation of natural resources, foreign policy, and promotion and protection of democracy. The countries have united to find cures for international killers like AIDS and to secure public health.

 The key to the EU single economy market is the currency, the euro. The euro has come under a lot of heat lately with economic crises in countries like Greece, but the European Union supports a single currency for several reasons. It helps prevent crimes, such as drug and human trafficking, because it allows for large quantities of cash to be more easily traced across borders. It also enhances cooperation between international banks and credit agencies, which makes it easier for consumers.

Although the European Union has had some controversial moments in its past, the overwhelming consensus is that it is making great strides to a more democratic world. It supports the journalistic presence of reporters in dangerous situations in order to shed light on human rights issues and the lack of democracy that goes against the EU’s values. It seeks to protect consumers’ rights and safety, while increasing competition in the marketplace. Finally, the values of democracy and liberty in the EU are very much in line with the values of the United States, and we should do what we can in order to maintain a healthy relationship with the EU.

If you are interested in watching some entertaining videos about the European Union visit the EU's youtube channel.

Katelyn Young

University of Missouri-Columbia

Strategic Communication and Political Science