The Impact Of The Eu System Of Intergovernmental Negotiations

EU has got a series of outstanding achievements in its over 50 years of integrating process. On one hand, through treaty reformations, the cooperation range of EU has been enlarged, experiencing form process of Coal and Steel Community, Customs Union, Common Market, Economic and Monetary Union to Common Foreign and Security as well as House of Justice. On the other hand, every time after revising treaties, EU can constitute reasonable policies through legislation to make sure that the effect on new cooperation areas is real. Essentially, both EU treaty reformations and concrete policy institutions are outcomes of a series of successful intergovernmental negotiations.As a special form of international multilateral negotiation, the intergovernmental negotiations among EU countries are faced of many difficulties. So, the reason for their continuous success are worthy of deep research. It is pointed out in this thesis that the successful design and continuous development of EU institution (including physical originations and incorporeal institutions) has important and constructive influence on intergovernmental negotiations, the key link of European integrating process. This is not only the main character of intergovernmental negotiation in EU framework, but also an important reason why EU got constant achievements in its integrating process.In this thesis, the influence of EU institution to intergovernmental negotiation will be analyzed in detail. As to the two subjects of treaty reformation and decision-making, EU institution designed three forms of intergovernmental negotiations: Council of Ministers, Intergovernmental Conference and Council of Europe. The multilevel divided-negotiations mechanism and voting mechanism of these conferences themselves promote intergovernmental negotiations. What is more, EU organization like European Commission, rotating chairman, secretary department of council and European Parliament, have also intervened these intergovernmental negotiations through relevant mechanism, and played a positive role in promoting the efficiency of the negotiations, ensuring the outcomes of intergovernmental negotiations to reflect in some extent the interests of other demands besides national level and forming supervision of the negotiations. EU institutions do have important influence on the three kinds of intergovernmental negotiations through a series of relevant mechanisms and organizations. However, the effect and influence of EU institutions to the three intergovernmental negotiations are not in a balance and have biggish limitations. Under new circumstances, the three intergovernmental negotiations are faced of different degree of difficulties or even dilemma. To make further reformation on EU institution so that it can promote the process of intergovernmental negotiations in a better way, EU must gradually overcome the basic contradictions of its own and make balance in supra-national, intergovernmental and democratic dimensions, which will be a long-term and gradual process.