Editing Federation (section)

====European Union====
{{Original research|section|date=March 2017}}
{{Update|type=section|the three pillars|date=June 2011}}
The [[European Union]] (EU) is a [[sui generis]] [[political union]] or confederation (the assemblage of societies or an association of two or more states into one state).<ref>"Federalist Paper No. 9", p. 70 Alexander Hamilton</ref> [[Robert Schuman]], the initiator of the European Community system, wrote that a [[Transnational governance|transnational]] Community like the founding of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] lay midway between an association of States where they retained complete independence and a federation leading to a fusion of States in a [[superstate|super-state]].<ref>''La Communaute du Charbon et de l'Acier'', p7 Paul Reuter with a preface by Robert Schuman. Paris 1953.</ref> The [[Founding fathers of the European Union|Founding Fathers of the European Union]] wrote the [[Europe Declaration|Europe Declaration (Charter of the Community)]] at the time of the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1951)|Treaty of Paris]] on 18 April 1951 saying that Europe should be organized on a transnational foundation. They envisaged a structure quite different from a federation called the [[European Political Community (1952)|European Political Community]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

The EU is a three-pillar structure of the original supranational [[European Economic Community]] and the nuclear energy cooperation and non-proliferation treaty, [[Euratom]], plus two largely [[intergovernmentalism|intergovernmental]] pillars dealing with External Affairs and Justice and Home Affairs. The EU is therefore not a ''[[De facto#De jure|de jure]]'' federation, although some{{who|date=April 2014}} academic observers conclude that after 50 years of institutional evolution since the [[Treaties of Rome]] it is ''becoming'' one.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Josselin | first1 = J. M. | last2 = Marciano | first2 = A. | doi = 10.1007/s11558-006-9001-y | title = How the court made a federation of the EU | journal = The Review of International Organizations | volume = 2 | pages = 59–75 | year = 2006 | s2cid = 153687230}}</ref> The European Union possesses attributes of a federal state. However, its central government is far weaker than that of most federations and the individual members are sovereign states under international law, so it is usually characterized as an unprecedented form of supra-national union. The EU has responsibility for important areas such as trade, monetary union, agriculture, and fisheries. Nonetheless, EU [[Member State of the European Union|member state]]s retain the right to act independently in matters of foreign policy and defense, and also enjoy a near-monopoly over other major policy areas such as criminal justice and taxation. Since the [[Treaty of Lisbon]], the Member States' right to leave the Union is codified, and the Union operates with more [[qualified majority voting]] (rather than unanimity) in many areas.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

{{quotation|By the signature of this Treaty, the participating Parties give proof of their determination to create the first supranational institution and that thus they are laying the true foundation of an organized Europe. This Europe remains open to all nations. We profoundly hope that other nations will join us in our common endeavor.|[[Europe Declaration]], signed by Konrad Adenauer (West Germany), Paul van Zeeland, Joseph Meurice (Belgium) Robert Schuman (France) Count Sforza (Italy) Joseph Bech (Luxembourg) and Dirk Stikker, J. R. M. van den Brink (The Netherlands).<ref>''Schuman or Monnet? The real Architect of Europe.'' p 129. Bron 2004</ref> }}

{{quotation|Europe has charted its own brand of constitutional federalism.|European Constitutionalism Beyond the State. Edited with [[Marlene Wind]] (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003) page 23|[[Joseph H. H. Weiler]]}}

{{quotation|Those uncomfortable using the "F" word in the EU context should feel free to refer to it as a quasi-federal or federal-like system. Nevertheless, for the purposes of the analysis here, the EU has the necessary attributes of a federal system. It is striking that while many scholars of the EU continue to resist analyzing it as a federation, most contemporary students of federalism view the EU as a federal system. (''See, for instance, Bednar, Filippov et al., McKay, Kelemen, Defigueido and Weingast'')|[[R. Daniel Kelemen]]}}

A more nuanced view has been given by the German Constitutional Court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/en/press/bvg09-072en.html |title=Federal Constitutional Court Press Release No. 72/2009 of 30 June 2009. Judgment of 30 June 2009: Act Approving the Treaty of Lisbon compatible with the Basic Law; accompanying law unconstitutional to the extent that legislative bodies have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation |access-date=17 November 2012 |quote=Due to this structural democratic deficit, which cannot be resolved in an association of sovereign national states (Staatenverbund), further steps of integration that go beyond the status quo may undermine neither the States' political power of action nor the principle of conferral. The peoples of the Member States are the holders of the constituent power. The Basic Law does not permit the special bodies of the legislative, executive and judicial power to dispose of the essential elements of the constitution, i.e. of the constitutional identity (Article 23.1 sentence 3, Article 79.3 GG). The constitutional identity is an inalienable element of the democratic self-determination of a people. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022061516/http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/en/press/bvg09-072en.html |archive-date=22 October 2012 }} <br />The original German uses the word ''Staatenverbund'', which they translate as "association of sovereign states", rather than the word ''Staatenbund'' (confederation of states) or ''Bundesstaat'' (federal state).</ref> Here the EU is defined as 'an association of sovereign national states (''[[Staatenverbund]]'')'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/es20090630_2bve000208en.html|title=Bundesverfassungsgericht  -  Decisions - Act Approving the Treaty of Lisbon compatible with the Basic Law - accompanying law unconstitutional to the extent that legislative bodies have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation|first=Bundesverfassungsgericht, 2.|last=Senat|date=30 June 2009|website=www.bverfg.de}}</ref> With this view, the European Union resembles more of a [[confederation]].