The EU, Euro and Eurozone

Introduction and Statement of Purpose

Traditionally, "sovereignty" is discussed and assessed in the context of the nation-state, an autonomous entity that pursues specific goals and objectives in its interactions with other political entities and which acts to protect its autonomy when threatened by others. Today, however, new mechanisms of governance have been created that pose a challenge to this traditional interpretation of "sovereignty" and the state. One example is the European Union (EU), which has launched not only a currency regime (the Euro) and a corresponding zone of influence (the EUROZONE), but also created a central bank (The European Central Bank or ECB) and a parliamentary organ as well as a potentially normative constitution bringing EU and EUROZONE members into a closer and closer relationship.

European integration, initiated first by the creation of the Common Market and now expanded dramatically to include political as well as economic integration structures, may be a consequence of globalization. It is also a harbinger of a changing attitude toward the state-centric concept of sovereignty. The EU, particularly in light of the creation of a transnational currency regime and a legislative assembly and central bank, has become a sovereign entity in and of itself; however, the question of how such an entity will ultimately impact upon the activities of member states remains unanswered. As signi

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cluding Peter Hylarides, believe that many of the Member States which have participated in many of the institutions described above have asserted their own national sovereignty by refusing to adopt the euro and become full members of the euro zone. The end result is that while the EU via the euro and the euro zone appears to be creating a pan-European approach to sovereignty, this is not necessarily the case. Hylarides points out that in the recent European elections, only 45 percent of possible voters in Member States turned out to vote in elections to the European Parliament. A number of countries have also rejected the euro, including Denmark, Sweden, and Great Britain. What the new European Constitution provides, according to Louis Ortega, is a set of guarantees of the fundamental rights that are enjoyed by most citizens in most Member States. This Constitution Charter has, in Ortega's opinion, the capacity to move from merely declared rights to fully recognized rights. It is seen as particularly important for ensuring that as workers move from one country to another, they do not lose their status as fully empowered citizens of both their own country and the country to which they migrate. Adoption of the new Const
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Michael Sodaro, Jonas Tallberg, European Union, Central Bank, United Europe, France Netherlands, Europe Elemental, Jan Palmowski, European Constitution, Klaus Czechs, central bank, eu institutions, european union, european integration, european constitution, monetary policy, european central bank, single currency, monetary policies, eurozone participants, european central, monetary policy euro, delegation supranational institutions, currency central bank, alternative governance structures,
Approximate Word count = 6553
Approximate Pages = 26 (250 words per page)

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