The Treaty of Maastricht which established the European Union, divided EU policies into three main areas, called pillars. The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, TEU) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in
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The three pillars
- The first or 'Community' pillar concerns economic, social and environmental policies. The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992
- The second or 'Common Foreign and Security Policy' (CFSP) pillar concerns foreign policy and military matters. This article deals with the workings of European Union foreign policy
- The third or 'Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters' (PJCC) pillar concerns co-operation in the fight against crime. Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJC formally Justice and Home Affairs (JHA is the third of the three pillars of the European Union This pillar was originally named 'Justice and Home Affairs'.
| European Union | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First pillar | Second pillar | Third pillar | ||||
| European Community (EC) | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) | Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) | ||||
| ||||||
Within each pillar, a different balance is struck between the supranational and intergovernmental principles. The Sixth Framework Programme (abbreviated FP6) was the Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development from 2002 till 2006 set up by the European Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of Statutes, Common law, Treaties, conventions Regulations and policies which very Social policy relates to guidelines for the changing maintenance or creation of living conditions that are conducive to human welfare. According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race The term Schengen Agreement is used for two agreements concluded among European states in 1985 and 1990 which deal with the abolition of systematic Border controls An immigration policy is any policy of a State that deals with the transit of persons across its borders but especially those that intend to work and to remain in the country Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American Magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system Aid (from the french word aide, also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid, especially in the United States) is Security policy is a definition of what it means to be secure for a system organization or other entity The European Security and Defence Policy or ESDP is a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar of the European Union European Union battlegroups (EU BGs are military forces under the direct control of the European Council, each consisting of at least 1500 combat soldiers The Helsinki Headline Goal was a military capability target set for 2003 during the December 1999 Helsinki European Council meeting Peacekeeping, as defined by the United Nations, is "a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs Illegal arms trafficking, also known as Gunrunning is trafficking in ( Smuggling) contraband Weapons and Ammunition. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion Human trafficking is the recruitment transportation harbouring or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage and servitude "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual Supranationalism is a method of decision-making in political communities wherein power is democratically entrusted to independent experienced appointed personalities or to representatives The term Intergovernmentalism can mean different things A decision-making method Usually intergovernmentalism refers to the decision-making methods in International
Supranationalism is strongest in the first pillar. Supranationalism is a method of decision-making in political communities wherein power is democratically entrusted to independent experienced appointed personalities or to representatives Its function generally corresponded at first to the three European Communities (European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom) whose organisational structure had already been unified in 1965-67 through the Merger Treaty. The European Coal and Steel Community ( ECSC) was a six-nation International organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and creating The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom is an international organisation which is semi-independent of but completely controlled by the European Community The Merger Treaty (or Brussels Treaty) was an European treaty which combined the executive bodies of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC Later, through the Treaty of Maastricht the word "Economic" was removed from the EEC, so it became simply the EC. The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, TEU) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final Then with the Treaty of Amsterdam additional areas would be transferred from the third pillar to the first. The Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, commonly known as the Amsterdam Treaty In 2002, the ECSC (which had a life time of 50 years) ceased to exist because the treaty which established it, the Treaty of Paris, had expired. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 18 April, 1951 between France, West Germany, Italy and the three BeNeLux countries
In the CFSP and PJCC pillars the powers of the European Parliament, the Commission and European Court of Justice with respect to the Council are significantly limited, without however being altogether eliminated. The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. This article refers to the European Union court not the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe The Court of Justice The Council of the European Union is the principal decision making institution in the European Union (EU The balance struck in the first pillar is frequently referred to as the "community method", since it is that used by the European Community.
Origin of the three pillars structure
The pillar structure had its historical origins in the negotiations leading up to the Maastricht treaty. The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, TEU) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final It was desired to add powers to the Community in the areas of foreign policy, security and defence policy, asylum and immigration policy, criminal co-operation, and judicial co-operation.
However, some member-states opposed the addition of these powers to the Community on the grounds that they were too sensitive to national sovereignty for the community method to be used, and that these matters were better handled intergovernmentally. To the extent that at that time the Community dealt with these matters at all, they were being handled intergovernmentally, principally in European Political Cooperation (EPC). The European Political Cooperation (EPC was introduced in 1970 and was the synonym for European Union foreign policy coordination until it was superseded by the Common
As a result, these additional matters were not included in the European Community; but were tacked on externally to the European Community in the form of two additional 'pillars'. The first additional pillar (Common Foreign and Security Policy, CFSP) dealt with foreign policy, security and defence issues, while the second additional pillar (JHA, Justice and Home Affairs), dealt with the remainder.
Recent amendments in the treaty of Amsterdam and the treaty of Nice have made the additional pillars increasingly supranational. The Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, commonly known as the Amsterdam Treaty The Nice Treaty was signed by European leaders on 26 February, 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. Most important among these has been the transfer of policy on asylum, migration and judicial co-operation in civil matters to the Community pillar, effected by the Amsterdam treaty. Thus the third pillar has been renamed Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters, or PJCC. The term Justice and Home Affairs is still used to cover both the third pillar and the transferred areas.
| 1948 Brussels | 1952 Paris | 1958 Rome | 1967 Brussels | 1987 SEA | 1993 Maastricht | 1999 Amsterdam | 2003 Nice | 2009? Lisbon | |
| European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) | |||||||||
| European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | European Union (EU) | ||||||||
| European Economic Community (EEC) | → P I L L A R S → | European Community (EC) | |||||||
| ↑European Communities↑ | Justice & Home Affairs (JHA) | ||||||||
| Police & Judicial co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) | |||||||||
| European Political Cooperation (EPC) | Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) | ||||||||
| Western European Union (WEU) | |||||||||
Abolition of the pillar structure
In a speech before the Nice Conference, Joschka Fischer, then Foreign Minister of Germany, called for a simplification of the European Union, resulting in the draft of a European Constitution. This article is on the 1948 treaty which served as a basis for the Western Union The Treaty of Paris, signed on 18 April, 1951 between France, West Germany, Italy and the three BeNeLux countries The Merger Treaty (or Brussels Treaty) was an European treaty which combined the executive bodies of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC The Single European Act (SEA was the first major revision of the Treaty of Rome that formally established the single European market and the European Political Cooperation The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, TEU) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final The Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, commonly known as the Amsterdam Treaty The Nice Treaty was signed by European leaders on 26 February, 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. The Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) is a Treaty designed to streamline the workings of the European Union (EU with amendments to the The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom is an international organisation which is semi-independent of but completely controlled by the European Community The European Coal and Steel Community ( ECSC) was a six-nation International organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and creating The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 The Merger Treaty (or Brussels Treaty) was an European treaty which combined the executive bodies of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJC formally Justice and Home Affairs (JHA is the third of the three pillars of the European Union Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJC formally Justice and Home Affairs (JHA is the third of the three pillars of the European Union The European Political Cooperation (EPC was introduced in 1970 and was the synonym for European Union foreign policy coordination until it was superseded by the Common This article deals with the workings of European Union foreign policy The Western European Union ( WEU) is a partially dormant European defence and security organization established on the basis of the Treaty of Brussels of 1948 Dr hc (Haifa Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer Bundesminister a The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE commonly referred to as the European Constitution, was an unimplemented international Treaty intended Even though, this constitution failed due to referenda in France and the Netherlands, the main ideas remained the same. One of these core ideas was the de facto abolishment of the pillar structure. Therefore the draft Treaty of Lisbon, if ratified by all member states, will simplify and unify the legal structure of the European Union. The Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) is a Treaty designed to streamline the workings of the European Union (EU with amendments to the The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in As such the current three pillar structure will be replaced as all functions will be merged into the European Union which will have a legal personality of its own for the first time. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Note This Wikipedia entry deals with the legal concept legal person.
See also
External links
- The three pillars of the European Union European Navigator
- A proposed evolution in the CFSP/defence pillar of the EU-WEU : The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept at the European Parliament in June 2003
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