Everything about European Politics totally explained
The
politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as well as the modern day trend towards increased political unity amongst the European states.
The current politics of Europe can be traced back to
historical events within the continent. Likewise
geography,
economy and
culture have contributed to the current political make-up of Europe.
Modern European politics is dominated by the
European Union, since the fall of the
Iron Curtain and the collapse of the
Eastern Bloc of
Communist states. With the end of the
Cold War, the EU expanded eastward to include 27 member states that are represented in the
European Parliament.
Modern political climate
Despite vastly improved relations between Russia and the Western European states since the end of the cold war, recently tensions have risen over the spread of "
Western" organisations, particularly the EU and NATO, eastwards into former USSR states.
Most European states have either joined, or stated their ambition to join, the European Union. This has led to governments overhauling corrupt and overly-bureaucratic systems in order to bring themselves in line with membership criteria. This has also led to improved relations between former enemies, such as Greece and Turkey.
There are few conflicts within Europe, although there remain problems in the
Balkans, the
Caucasus,
Northern Ireland and the
Basque Country.
International alliances
European states are members of a large number of international organisations, mainly economical, although several are political, or both. The main political unions are detailed below.
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is the only pan-European organisation of which almost all European states are members. It is involved in a broad range of activities, including treaties and other programs to harmonize law and regulations between its member states, in policy areas such as human rights, citizenship, bioethics, mutual recognition, private international law, environmental and heritage protection, rights of minority cultural and linguistic groups, etc. It is much closer in its nature to a traditional international organization rather than the quasi-federal entity which is the EU - it negotiates treaties which must be ratified individually, and which generally lack direct effect or individual legal access to an international court - thus it could be compared to a regional version of the United Nations. However, in the area of human rights, it has become much more quasi-federal in nature, through the
European Convention on Human Rights and its
associated court.
European Union
» Also see: Politics of the European Union, Foreign relations of the European Union
The
European Union or EU is an
intergovernmental and
supranational union of 27 states. It has many activities, the most important being a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a
single currency (adopted by 13 out of 27 member states), a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy. The European Union also has various initiatives to co-ordinate activities of the member states.
The EU, considered as a unit, has the largest economy in the world with a 2007 nominal
GDP of 15.849
trillion USD. There is also a trend of moving towards increased cooperation in terms of
common defence and
foreign policy.
The union has evolved over time from a primarily economic union to an increasingly political one. This trend is highlighted by the increasing number of policy areas that fall within EU competence; political power has tended to shift upwards from the member states to the EU. The further development of the political competencies of the EU is the subject of heavy debate within and between some member states.
Commonwealth of Independent States
The
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a
confederation consisting of 12 of the 15 states of the former
Soviet Union, (the exceptions being the three
Baltic states). Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it's more than a purely symbolic organization and possesses coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking and security. The most significant issue for the CIS is the establishment of a full-fledged free trade zone / economic union between the member states, launched in 2005. It has also promoted cooperation on democratisation and cross-border crime prevention.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
The
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a military alliance of mainly European states, plus the
United States of America and
Canada. The organisation was founded as a
collective security measure following
World War Two.
This provision was intended so that if the Soviet Union launched an attack against the European allies of the United States, it would be treated as if it were an attack on the United States itself, which had the biggest military and could thus provide the most significant retaliation. However the feared Soviet invasion of Europe never came. Instead, the provision was invoked for the first time in the treaty's history on 12 September 2001, in response to the
September 11 attacks on the United States the day before.
GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development
GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development is a regional organization of four
CIS states:
Georgia,
Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, and
Moldova. The group was created as a way of countering the influence of
Russia in the area, and it has received backing and encouragement from the
United States. Though at one point it was generally considered to have stagnated, recent developments have caused speculation on the possible revival of the organization.
Devolutionary pressures
It should be noted that these movements, seeking either autonomy or independence, vary greatly in their popular support and political profile, from fringe movements to mainstream campaigns.
Belgium
Two of Belgium's parties, the
Vlaams Belang (biggest party of Flanders) and
New-Flemish Alliance, want Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, to become independent. Other Flemish parties plead for more regional autonomy. There is also a minor movement aiming at unification of Flanders with the
Netherlands (see
Greater Netherlands).
The autonomous
Belgian region of
Wallonia has a movement seeking unification with
France.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Inhabitants of one of the two constituent entities,
Republika Srpska, vast majority of them being ethnic
Serbs, would opt for independence from
Bosnia and Herzegovina and unification with
Serbia. Republika Srpska comprises 49% of the territory of Bosnia and functions independently from the rest of the country in many spheres. Even though independence isn't on the official government agenda, Serbian politicians from the region see a link between a possible future status of
Kosovo and the status of Republika Srpska.
Croats, who remain a constituent nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina remain united with ethnic
Bosniacs in a joint entity. Some Bosnian Croat politicians have proposed a separate constituent entity for Croats along the lines of the Republika Srpska.
Denmark
The
Danish territories of
Greenland and
Faroe Islands have very strong independence movements.
Finland
The
Åland Islands has an autonomy. In 2003, the
Alandian separatist party
Ålands Framtid was formed. There hasn't been much support for full independence since the
Independence of Finland, but in the last years the support has slightly grown.
France
The
Mediterranean island of
Corsica has a significant and growing group calling for independence from
France. There are also movements in the
Brittany region of northern
France who wish to regain independence lost in 1532, and in
Savoy in the south east, which was annexed to France following a disputed referendum in 1860.
Parts of
Navarre,
Basque Country and
Catalonia cross into France.
Georgia
Georgia has two regions wishing to join with
Russia:
Abkhazia and
South Ossetia.
Italy
The
Mediterranean island of
Sardinia has a small independence movement.
An Italian political party, the
Lega Nord, supports the independence of
Northern Italy under the name
Padania, blaming Southern Italy for siphoning away tax funds and blocking progress, and a racial nationalist group, the
Lombard League (political party) wants to divide Italy into two countries, the North (
Lombardia-Romagna) and the South (
Napolitiana). A similar, though not as active movement, is found in the
Southern Italian provinces (for example the island-region of
Sicily) long resented the distant rule and neglect of regional and provincial issues in Rome.
Moldova
The eastern
Moldovan region of
Transnistria, which has a large ethnic Russian and Ukrainian population, has declared independence from Moldova. Despite having no control over the region, the Moldovan government refuses to recognise this claim. There is a significant movement in Moldova and
Romania aiming at the
reunification of the two countries.
Netherlands
The
Frisian National Party seeks more autonomy for
Friesland without striving for complete independence. The preservation of Frisian culture is an important goal of the party.
Norway
The
Sami people desire independence for
Lapland.
Romania
Before the
Treaty of Trianon after
World War I,
Transylvania belonged to
Austria-Hungary, and it contains minorities of ethnic Hungarians who desire autonomy in the country.
Russia
Several of
Russia's regions have independence movements, mostly in the state's north Caucasus border. The most notable of these are
Chechnya,
Dagestan and
Ingushetia, which have well supported guerrilla groups involved in open conflict with the Russian authorities.
The
Tatar people seek an independent state for the region of
Tatarstan.
To the west of Russia lies the
enclave of
Kaliningrad oblast, (formerly known as
Prussia). This enclave is separated from the main Russian state by EU member states, which has led to an increased call for autonomy. However, some ethnic-
German groups call for complete independence.
The
Sami people desire independence for
Lapland, the Eastern part of which is located within Russia.
Serbia
The province of
Kosovo is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the
Serbian (and previously, the
Yugoslav) government and Kosovo's largely ethnic-Albanian population. International negotiations began in
2006 to determine final status (
See Kosovo status process). Kosovo declared independence on 17th February 2008 and some countries are expected to recognize the province's independence in the following days.
Spain
Within
Spain there are independence movements in some of the
autonomous regions, notably the regions of
Catalonia,
Basque country and
Navarre. These are mostly peaceful but some, such as
ETA and
Terra Lliure, have used violent means.
Sweden
Some
Sami people desire independence for
Lapland.
However, Sweden is practically a
Nation-state.
Ukraine
The
Ukrainian autonomous region of
Crimea has several movements, calling either for greater autonomy, complete independence, or unification with Russia.
The East of the country is majority
Russophone, and there are calls from some groups for the area to leave Ukraine and join Russia. This is particularly the case since the pro-western
Victor Yuschenko became president.
United Kingdom
Within the
United Kingdom there are elected political parties in
Scotland and
Wales calling for independence from the union. There are also movements, such as the
English Democrats, calling for devolution for
England and movements, such as the
Wessex Regionalists, calling for greater devolution of power in the English regions. In
Northern Ireland there are parties calling for the province to leave the union and be reunited with the
Republic of Ireland. Movements seeking autonomy or independence are also present in the peninsula of
Cornwall.
Crown dependencies
There is a movement which seeks to revoke the status of the
Isle of Man as a British
Crown dependency and establish a completely
sovereign state.
Politics by country
Foreign relations by country
Further Information
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