Governing the European Union, by Michele Boselli

9. In what ways membership of the European Union contributed to the transformation of the lives of its citizens

Today's European Union is the ever-developing result of a 50-year-old mainly economic process undertaken among previously belligerent countries so that the horrors of World War II would not repeat. During half a century such a project has evolved to encompass the juridical, cultural and socio-political spheres of the citizens of the Union's member-states, tranforming their lives to a considerable extent, although a total transformation has been prevented by traditions historically routed in each nation or region of the Union. To examine the ways these transformations have taken place, we will briefly consider them in the area of (a) politics; (b) economy; (c) society; and (d) identity.

Politics. Nowadays European citizens have got accustomed to deal with European institutions and legislation (Directives). Everybody knows about (and sometimes curses) “Brussels”, the place where the “government” of Europe is based, and since 1979 we vote to elect the European Parliament. The EP is an assembly that despite its weaknesses (in origin it was a merely symbolic institution), has gradually acquired powers to influence the decision-making process of what remains a mainly intergovernmental institution, the above-mentioned “Brussels government”, made of an executive Commission and a pivotal Council of Ministers. It looks like a very loose institutional system, and indeed it may be, but so wide has been its ramification in every area of human activity that local governments (i.e. regions or big city councils) have begun to develop direct links with Brussels, thus by-passing national governments.

Economy. Having been the focus at the time of the establishment of the first European Community (on coal and steel), economics is the area where the largest developments have occurred. Up to the point that, having a common market already in place and working, and a monetary union under implementation in the upcoming months, it makes sense to speak about a single European economy. Differences remains among member-states in the labour and fiscal policy, but the biggest part of economic integration has already been done. Even too much, as the protectionist regulatory intervention in agriculture (Common Agricultural Policy) has harmed poorest developing countries and has now become a headache in view of the enlargement to Eastern Europe agricultural countries. As for the political one – and the two things always come together -, economic integration in the framework of the Union can be welcomed or can be cursed. It can hardly be ignored or dismissed that it has a very significant effect on the every day life of the citizens of Europe and even beyond.

Society. Besides the transformation implied by political and economic changes, European society in the past 50 years has been greatly influenced by cultural developments coming also from outside Europe, especially from America. Social movements such as labour unions have become both less accountable toward their members and less influential in political institutions and parties, while a new model of self-organised network such as the environmental groups emerged as the “product of changes in the socio-economic relations and cultural values which underpin European societies” (Mark J. Smith). Some of the demands of the women's movemnt for equal rights have been taken up by the European Union, giving women greater choice in arranging their lives. The EU “played an important role in encouraging gender equity in the field of employment, regulating discriminatory treatment of women at the workplace and setting up structures to help reconcile occupational and family roles” writes Catherine Lloyd emphasising that this has been a force of transformation as opposite to national frameworks that may pose obstacles to this.

Identity. Determining a European identity is as much a political and economic task as a social and cultural one. For example, European media policy, driven primarily by the economic goal of enlarging the market and encouraging competition, indirectly contributed to a sense of European identity by promoting audio-visual self-sufficiency, albeit with controversial results. In general, write Denis McQuaid, new technologies such as the internet have the potential for increasing cultural independence as well as for reducing it, but “their impact and the vulnerability of national […] diversity […] have been much overestimated”.

In conclusion, if the transformation of our lives has not been total, on the other end it certainly cannot be argued that no changes have taken place.