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Short Summary
Main recommendation: The European Union is not a country, because by the declaratory theory of statehood it fails the requirement of an independent government, and statehood is ultimately a social construct that depends on recognition by other sovereign states, which the EU does not receive. The EU does meet the criteria of a permanent population, a defined territory, a government with an essential core of independence, and the capacity to enter relations with other states—but it still isn't a state, because its power originates from its member states rather than from the people, and no other sovereign states recognize it as sovereign.
Key Points
- The EU has many country-like features, including passport-free travel within the Schengen Zone, a shared currency in the Euro Zone, directly elected Parliament members, and a single economic and aviation market.
- Lawmaking runs through the European Commission (which proposes laws), the European Parliament (which approves them), and the Council of the European Union (made up of rotating national ministers), and a law takes effect only if it passes both bodies.
- The declaratory theory of statehood sets four criteria: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government with an essential core of independence, and the capacity to enter relations with other states.
- The EU has over half a billion people and would be the third most populous country on Earth, but its territory overlaps with that of its member states.
- Since sovereignty is judged by recognition from other sovereign states, the EU's lack of sovereign recognition is the decisive factor, even though it functions in many ways like a government.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: No step-by-step instructions, checklists, or actions for the viewer are given; the video is an explanatory overview of the EU and statehood.
- The UK is cited as an example of a sovereign state without much territory of its own, since its land is part of England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
- Power in the EU comes from member states, while in sovereign states it comes from the people, and EU membership continues only as long as member states keep the system going.
- Some EU members are not in the Schengen Zone or the Euro Zone, and a few have opt-outs in their treaties; the UK was described as having voted to leave the EU but not yet completed the process.
- The video notes that statehood is socially constructed, comparable to money, and that the US states' level of sovereignty blurs the line between a country and a subnational entity, which the narrator raises as a question for a companion video.
Bottom Line
Whether the EU counts as a country depends less on how much it resembles one and more on whether other sovereign states accept it as sovereign, and currently they do not.
