%0 Journal Article
%T HOW FAR IS THE EU FROM THE "UNITED STATES OF EUROPE"?
%A Emilia Kijanka
%A Katarzyna Lipska
%J Revista de Estudios Empresariales. Segunda ¨¦poca
%D 2011
%I Universidad de Ja¨¦n
%X The European Union was an attempt to concentrate the economic resources of politically and socially independent countries in order to meet the challenges that could arise in case of confrontation with stronger players. From the very beginning, the creators of the idea of integration put the goal: the unification of Europe must be done in the form of a federal structure, and it has been demonstrated by the fact that further reforms reflected the influence of the idea of federalism during the unification process. From a functional perspective, the European countries are today as integrated as the North American states were in the 19th century, but with the difference that the formal statehood of the European Union is still divided in 27 Member States. For the makers of the European Union, federalism was not so much a method of building a united Europe, but the result of its creation process in the form of concrete steps. Steps that have to rely on giving back sector by sector of public activity under the control of transnational bodies. The concept of a clear division of competences between the EU and the Member States seems real, while the proposal of formation of a European government or the creation of the category of "European nation" is still a difficult issue to implement. From this point of view, it seems that the perspectives for the creation of the United States of Europe are still relatively distant.
%K European Union
%K federalism
%K governance.
%U http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/REE/article/view/617