besides the european union, what other institutions, treaties, etc. are breaking down the sovereignty of european nations? i need this for a class and i’m struggling coming up with a couple more examples, thanks.
We’re a bit leery of being used by people to do homework for them, so, I’m not going to write out a full essay answer for you. In fact, I will throw in language that will get you in trouble with your teacher if you simply cut and paste. 
But, assuming that you’re just stuck, I’ll just throw out a few pointers for you to follow:
First, consider what makes a nation ‘soveriegn’ and what that means (dictionary time).
Then, consider what causes a nation to loose some or all of that sovereignty.
This loss of sovereignty can either be voluntary or involuntary.
[list=a][li]Involuntarily: Loosing at war and having sovereignty taken away (consider the former Yugoslavakian republics when they fought internally and needed to be spanked by the U.S. and their European neighbors). [*]Voluntarily: This is done through treaties amongst nations. The European Union was fashioned through treaty.[/list=a] [/li]Sovereignty can be given up to another nation or nations; or, it can be given up to some other institution, such at the U.N. or the International Court of Justice.
So now, how many sovereign functions of a nation are there, and how many of those function have the nations of Europe given up to each other, to NATO, to the UN?
Consider: borders; currency; trade negotiation and tariffs; defense; standards and practices (scientific, commercial, consumer protection, environmental, etc…); and criminal justice.
Speaking of criminal justice, not only have most of Europe signed onto the International Court of Justice, but the EU has its own EU court to adjucate the treaties they’ve signed (I’ll leave it to you as an exercise of internet searching to dig up its official name).
And… to top it all off, the EU is working on its own constitution that would incorporate as supreme law many of the treaties already in place, and maybe even more. (google: +“european union” +constitution).
Good luck with your assignment.
Peace.
You’ve gotta fight… for your right… to parrrrrley.
thanks for your help, although i wasn’t trying to get a finished essay off of here. i understand involuntary and voluntary loss of sovereignty and was looking for the name of some sort of organization/treaty/etc. that i could look up to finish my paper. i have no problem doing the work, i’m just kind of stuck on getting the sources/examples. any other examples are welcomed, and moriah, thanks for the above.
I doubt that there any other supernational institutions in existance that impede on the sovereignty of European nations outside of the EU framework. The EU by its very definition is the body to bring all european nations into compliance on treaties, conventions etc. that fall within the EU mandate. Youre unlikley to find any other external body that impedes Euro-sovereignty.
In other words, you cant find examples because they dont exist. But then again, thats just my opinion. Maybe other posters may be able to dredge something up.
What about military treaties with the USA? Those that gave rise to the situation of US bases such as Fylingdales and (the now defunct) Greenham Common in the UK, and Thule in Greenland, whose activities are effectively out of the sovereignty of the host country.
ata66, conversely, you might consider whether sovereignty is a good thing per se. For instance, sovereignty can prevent extradition of criminals. Or another example: many British people have welcomed partial loss of sovereignty to the EU because the EU offered higher standards of human rights (e.g. freedom of speech) than the UK government provided.
The European Court of Human Rights is completely separate from the EU; it pertains to the Council of Europe which includes almost all nations from both western and eastern Europe, and allows individuals to bring cases against governments that have denied their basic human rights. You can see its website here: http://www.echr.coe.int/
Also, there are many international bodies and treaties limiting sovereignty. The World Trade Organization seems to be dying, but it was intended to be able to override national governments when they defied free trade.
The World Court, a branch of the United Nations, allows nations to sue each other for violations of international law, although it has no real power to enforce its decisions.
Further to my comments on the WTO, you can get more information on the World Trade Organization from its website http://www.wto.org/ This page describes the WTO’s dispute procedure. It emphasises conciliation and consensus, but can enforce its decisions by allowing the imposition of trade sanctions. Whether that actually counts as an attack on the sovereignty of a nation is debatable.
I think NATO is worth looking at. It binds most of western Europe in a military alliance with the US.
It depends how you define “sovereignty” but I have a very hard time agreing to the premise that the EU countries are losing sovereignty. The EU is based on treaties into which nations have voluntarily entered but if we consider any nation which is a signatory of an international treaty has lost some degree of sovereignty then there is no absolutely sovereign nation on earth and rogue states would have the most sovereignty while those with the most international treaties would have the least.
The USA is party to many international treaties of all sorts, military, trade, political, etc. and I would not consider that as a loss of sovereignty. maybe you could call it, at the most, a trade of sovereignty: country A obligates itself to do or not do certain things in exchange for country B obligating itself to do or not do certain things.
International treaties are a “loss of sovereignty” in the same sense that buying a car is a “loss of money” or that selling a car is a “loss of a car”.