The Issue of the Legal Nature of the Europion Union

Abstract

The article reveals the basic concepts and opinions of scientists about the legal nature of the European Union, in particular, such as: a confederation – a temporary union of independent states, a supranational (superstate) integration formation endowed with power, an interstate association, which combines the features of an international intergovernmental organization and a state-like formation, and some others opinions. However, the author determines that she is addicted to the theory that the European Union can be recognized as a federation. Then the author examines the structure of the European Union and examines it from the side of the main features of a federal state, for instance: the existence of legal acts that form a «constitution», which by their nature are recognized above the legislation of each specific member state (it also refers to a two-level system of legislation), the presence of a two- level system of governments, the presence of a two-level judicial system, the presence of a representative body of government directly elected by society, the presence of its own citizens and territory, the existence of its own budget system and taxation of citizens, as well as the existence of certain police and law enforcement agencies. The author compares the European Union with certain modern countries to confirm his own thoughts about its similarities. Further, the author analyzes views of certain scientists, who claims that the European Union is not a federation, as an example, the absence of a unified armed forces, or the fact that each participating state is a sovereign state, and gives his own reasoning on these issues. Then the author gives his own opinion about why the European Union cannot be decisively recognized as a federation, in particular, relying on the fact that a federation is, first of all, an independent state. At the end of the article, the author summarizes and provides a conclusion throughout the research, paying attention to the main points of the entire article.