The European Union is the formation of countries having similar geographic locations along with similar economic and political goals. This formation occupies its strong positions in the world political arena for decades. For this reason, its structure and its state concepts present an interesting area for research. In the following report, the European Union (EU) and the United States (the US) will be compared to conclude the main concepts of the EU formation. Overall, the evaluation of the facts shows that the EU is a unique union of independent countries having not many similarities with the other political formations in the world including the US.
The EU is not a nation or a state, it is a political and economic union or confederation of twenty-seven independent countries situated in Europe. This form of union is unique and has no other precedents in the history of humanity. According to The Columbia Encyclopedia (2009), the European Union is “an economic and political confederation of European nations and other organizations (with the same member nations) that are responsible for a common foreign and security policy and cooperation on justice and home affairs”. The following countries are the members of the union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. The member states of the EU perceive themselves as sovereign and independent countries united through confederation bonds and regulations. The citizens of member states view the EU in a very different way. In particular, the population of poorer countries such as Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania expresses contentment and joy on the reason of their being a part of the EU as this provides better economic opportunities for these countries. However, the citizens of Great Britain, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries are less enthusiastic at the current period. Their negative position is explained by the fact that they have to “feed” the other countries of the EU being the major sources of financial help for the countries of the Eurozone which appeared in a difficult economic situation. In 2011, when the economic crisis badly affected Greece to the extent that the country was about to announce default, the citizens of Germany and the Scandinavian countries started lively discussions concerning their exit from the EU as they believed that such a decision will secure a better life for them in future. Below, the table is shown with the results of one of the latest surveys among the citizens of the EU concerning their trust in the other countries belonging to the union. The results shown in the table prove that Europeans do not contend with the reason for the presence of certain courtiers in the union. In addition, the worries of many nations are connected to their goals of maintaining their cultural peculiarities and local languages which are threatened, as they believe, on the reason of global European culture.
The government of the EU is very different from the one in the US; however, there still exist some similarities. Discussing the differences, it should be stated that the EU is a different form of a state organization that has many reflections on its government organization (Burgess, 2000). The US, on the contrary, is a federation with traditional governmental bodies for this form of country organization. As a result, the EU government consists of unique parts including the European Parliament (which is the only similarity in the formation of the governments of the two countries), the European Council, the European Commission, and Directives.
The picture shown below illustrates the peculiarities of the US government formation. It shows that its main parts are different from the EU ones. They are the Senate, the President, and the Vice President, and the Supreme Court.
With regards to the similarities, it appears that they are not many: both of the formations have their parliaments and principal representatives such as the US President and the President of the European Council.
In the EU, identity plays its due part, but it is not as significant as in the US. Race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual identification are viewed differently in the EU. They do not cause so many hardships and conflicts as it happens in the US. Of course, from time to time some difficulties occur. They are mainly caused by the constant waves of immigration of Arabs and Africans to such countries as France, Germany, and Great Britain. The local population becomes indignant about the reason for occupying their working places and other social positions by the immigrants. In this vein, several cruel conflicts occurred in France and Great Britain in 2010 and 2011. However, evaluating the general situation, it should be stated that the EU has fewer problems in this area than the US which is explained by the traditional mentality and way of thinking European people possess. They are accustomed to showing tolerance to the representatives of the most varied races and ethnicities. In addition, Europe is much more emancipated. The cases of gender discrimination occur here on a more random basis than in the US. Even the heads of many European countries including Germany and Latvia are women.
Addressing the economic relationship between member states in the EU and the EU, it should be stated that they are rather transparent. First of all, every country of the EU makes its contribution to the budget of the union. These funds are spent on varied economical programs including providing economical help for the needy members of the union. One of the very important organs exercising control in the area of financial distribution is the Joint Commission. The table below shows particular ways and mechanisms it uses for this purpose. The situation with the EU economy is somehow similar to the situation with the US economy. In the US, funds are also collected from the local budgets of states to the federal budget. Then they are allocated in accordance to the needs of all the states and the country as a whole including defense and environmental protection.
There are also differences in the economical systems of the two-state formations, as the EU is a confederation of the independent countries, and it has no purpose of solving economic issues of any particular country whereas the US is to accomplish both local and federal economic tasks.
In conclusion, the EU and the US are different state formations which can be seen from the detailed discussion of their political, economic, and social peculiarities. The EU is a unique confederation union never existed before during the history of humanity. Of course, the EU is also a democratic state formation which makes it similar to the US in a way. In particular, some similar economic and political strategies are observed while studying the structures of these two formations.
References
Burgess, M. Federalism and European Union: The Building of Europe, 1950-2000 /. London: Routledge. Web.
European Union. (2009). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. Web.