European Union and Eradicating the Corruption (Essay Sample)

The Role of the European Union in Eradicating the Corruption in Greece and Solving its Debt Crisis
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Introduction
The establishment of the European Union was greeted with a lot of jubilation and positive anticipation CITATION Eur13 \l 1033 (European Union 2013). Ideally, the founders of the Union thought that with a joint market, Europe and indeed all its nations would be stable. In addition, the Union was intended to champion the economic, political and social goals of each member state. It is imperative to appreciate the fact that it was assumed all nations would be driven by the common goal of pursuit of economic success. However, while on paper that seems to be the case, the recent events in Greece and Ireland have proved otherwise CITATION Tay11 \l 1033 (Taylor 2011). One critical consideration the founders did not take into account was the differences in the economies. While large economies such as France, Britain and Germany were established sufficiently, smaller economies such as Greek and Ireland were still lagging behind. This paper shall specifically consider the Greek situation. In that aspect, the paper shall look into the role of the European Union in settling the Greek Crisis which sparked the Euro crisis. In addition, the paper shall be considering the Union’s role in solving the corruption cases in Greece and its mandate in solving the debt crisis. However, in analyzing the roles of the Union, it is imperative to appreciate the functioning of the European Union and how the debt crisis stood to affect its economy and equally examine the factors and circumstances around the Greek situation CITATION Man11 \l 1033 (Manolopoulos 2011). It is from that basis that the paper shall then consider the nexus between the Greek situation and the European Union’s role. From the onset, it must be appreciated that the failure of Greece was primarily due to corruption, inefficiencies and political maneuvering in the overall financial system. On that premise suffice it to say that the Greek situation has served as a good pointer lesson for the Union and perhaps the solution stands to leave the Union even stronger in its pursuit for economic stability and prosperity. In overall, the happenings provide good literature for other model Unions which are yet to get to the advanced stages of a monetary union. It serves to give a real life situation of potential threats to economies especially given the heterogeneity in the economies of the difference states falling in typical economic regions.[Officially founded on the 1st November 1993] [The three are the largest economies in the Eurozone]
The Operation of the European Union
The history of the European Union can be traced back to the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community set up just moment after the World War II CITATION Eur13 \l 1033 (European Union 2013). The spirit of the founders then was to have a political process that could see the region integrate their national objectives into one common approach. This was for purposes of avoiding any future wars. Indeed, it should not be lost on the world that both the two world wars were fought on the European soil and that the major participants in either opposing sides were European. The founders of the Union probably saw the economic ravages that the war occasioned and perhaps rightly observed that political commonality would the issue. However, this integration process would later grow in leaps and bounds. What had been anticipated as a political union for purposes of stability soon metamorphosed into economic and social co-existence CITATION Sha121 \l 1033 (Shambaugh 2012). Indeed, such was occasioned by the fact that the nations were neighbors locked in one region and with common interests. However, from the onset, all the member nations were not equal in stature in economic, political or social terms. Some of the member nations were more aggressive and domineering and had their social, political and economic states appear superior to the others. Notably, three strong nations that have continued to hold onto this superiority are Germany, Britain and France. The superiority notwithstanding, it was the common objective of all the nations that the Union be grown into more interactive and prosperous institutions. It is this that has led to the emergence of the common monetary union CITATION Lyn12 \l 1033 (Lynn 2012). Indeed, it has been suggested that after a successful launch of the common monetary union, the Union can now advance a position for a common political union whereby all the nations fall under one center of power as opposed to the position today where all individual states have their own political systems and are only united through the European Union legislature. However, a detailed exposition of the same is beyond this paper. This paper shall be limited to the establishment of the monetary union. The monetary union was essentially set in motion by the passage of the Maastricht Treaty herein after "the Treaty." It is the treaty that found the Euro, which the common currency used across the continent. It is indeed requisite to appreciate the fact that adoption of the treaty commuted to acquisition of some benefits and equal secession of others. It is this that has ideally captured the other states to the Greek debt crisis. The treaty in establishing the euro set some of the prerequisites that were necessary for all nations to consider before adoption CITATION Nel10 \l 1033 (Nelson, Belkin and Mix 2010). These prerequisites included the adoption of controls of the inflation rates, control of the deficit debts, the exchange rates and the interest rates at least at a national level. Ideally, the treaty envisaged a scenario whereby the nations were at liberty to run their own national economic goals but without prejudicing the euro, prejudice which would overlap into other nations. It was on that premise that issues of control of the inflation, control of debt deficits, exchange rates and interest rates came up. In addition, at this juncture it is essential to observe the fact that an adoption of the euro deprived nations some financial control mechanisms and at the same time incorporated other nations into national financial problems faced by member states by default. In fact, the Greece Debt crisis is a good example of this default incorporation CITATION Sib10 \l 1033 (Sibert 2010). This is because the use of common currency essentially extended the monetary shocks one country experiences into other nations.[World War II saw the ruining of the economies of the several European nations] [The Allies and The Central Axis members were all European Nations save for the United States of America and Japan] [Also referred to as the Treaty of the European Union, signed and passed on the 7th February 1992]
A lot of literature has attempted to canvass the issue of the monetary union. For starters, the approach by the European Union is laudable in three main fronts. First, it is the only union that has taken the first step towards a monetary union. By successfully introducing the euro, the European Union reduced what the world had only previously known in theory into practice. It should be the maturity in the European Union. It is on that premise that the developments and arising factors are essential for study and analysis. Secondly, by the introduction of the euro, which in essence is a monetary union, the European Union is taking the bold step towards a political federal unity. In that respect it should ring bells to the current world super powers CITATION Ard12 \l 1033 (Ardagna and Caselli 2012). This is because political philosophy tends to advance the point that there is strength in numbers. A glimpse into history of the Cold War suggests that the United States of America defeated their Soviet counterparts not because of much political strategy, but essentially because while the former remained firm in their union of states, the latter scrambled to its original pieces with only Russia remaining with some amount of leverage. Interestingly, as it stands today, even Russia, the strongest component does not fall within the ranks of developed worlds. Therefore, by showing the journey towards a political federation, the world should start entertaining the thoughts of a Europe with more international influence CITATION Lyn12 \l 1033 (Lynn 2012). Lastly, the introduction of the monetary union suggests an existence of mutual trust within the member states. This trust should not be taken for granted given the fact that most unions often fail for lack of sufficient trust among member states.[Non-military war between the United States of America and the Soviet Union]
However, despite these positive observations, critics have enumerated a number of reasons that should call for caution. One of the biggest observations is the apparent lack of political and economic institutions to oversee the euro. What in essence was established was a skeletal European Central Bank. However, it is noteworthy that critical decision making and policy formulation remained with the individual states. This in essence means that rogue members states who either advertently or inadvertently fails to implement the policies place the union at risk. In addition, the political union still retains most of the powers on the member nations. This means that the success of the policy depends on the aggression or otherwise of the nation’s leadership and not the union’s. It is such factors that place the monetary union at a loss CITATION Eur13 \l 1033 (European Union 2013). Coupled with the fact that entry into the union essentially dispensed with financial options for nations in debts and the additional fact that problems in one nation cannot be limited to that nation, the union has had its fair share of the debt crisis. In fact, while t...