Federalism in The European Union: Treaty of Lisbon

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Federalism in the EU
Federalism is a system of administration involving two or more levels of government with autonomous power and responsibilities. It is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by a covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (such as states or provinces).
In the United States, Federalism argues for a stronger central government which is not the case with the EU. European federalism argues for a weaker central government. The strongest advocates of European federalism have been countries like Germany, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg while those historically most strongly opposed have been the UK and France; while countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc. have never campaigned specifically for a particular means of governance in Europe are considered as federalists. Thus, in European Union politics, federalists mostly seek a greater EU integration. But in contrast, in Spain and in post-war Germany, federal movements have sought decentralisation: the transfer of power from central authorities to local units.
Intergovernmentalism in the EU
Intergovernmentalism is a system in which multiple levels of governments are active in a given policy area. There is a formal equality among member states and their respective sovereignty is preserved. An approach to integration that treats states, and national Governments in particular, as the primary actors in the integration process. Various intergovernmentalist approaches have been developed in the literature and these claim to be able to explain both perio...

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...bon, despite the long and bumpy road before it was ratified, clearly shows some issues of neo-functionalism, and its self-enforcement seems to continue.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Intergovernmentalism.html http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/lisbon_treaty/ai0033_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/archives/lisbon_treaty/glance/index_en.htm http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=1652995&fileOId=1662489 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/8702/1/8702.pdf http://www.jhubc.it/ecpr-porto/virtualpaperroom/086.pdf
http://books.google.es/books?id=31kAWrDfNrcC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=treaty+of+lisbon+federalists+vs+intergovernmentalism&source=bl&ots=fxfetHUMgY&sig=ig-lw2vqFNTATYGG1zgILCZ-834&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jHNXU6HiGcyU0QWt5oGwCw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

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