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| 1 | Which of the following developments express increased European Economic Integration (more than one answer is correct) |
 | A) | The creation of the customs union. |
| B) | The creation of the cohesion policies. |
| C) | The creation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. |
| D) | The creation of EU competition policies |
| E) | The creation of the EU Court of Justice. |
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| 2 | Which of the following statements represents ways in which supranationality arises in the EU? (more than one answer is correct) |
| A) | The Commission can propose new laws that are then voted on by the Member States and the European Parliament. If passed, these new laws bind every Member State, even those that disagree with them. |
| B) | The Member States send representatives of their governments to the Council of the EU and heads of states and governments to the European Council that is the highest decision-making power in the EU. |
| C) | The Commission has direct executive authority in a limited number of areas – the most prominent being competition policy. For instance, the Commission can block a merger between two EU companies even if their governments support the merger |
| D) | The EU Member States’ National Parliaments have since the Lisbon Treaty been given a special responsibility in guarding that EU legislation upholds the principle of subsidiarity. |
| E) | The rulings of the European Court of Justice can alter laws, rules and practices in Member States, at least in limited areas |
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| 3 | The Treaty of Rome called only for removal of barriers to trade in goods; the idea of trade in services was established later. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 4 | The Treaty on the European Union agreed in Maastricht in 1991 implemented a three pillar structure. One of the following names is not part of these three pillars: |
| A) | Economic |
| B) | Monetary |
| C) | Justice and Home Affairs |
| D) | Common Foreign and Security Policy |
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| 5 | The pillar structure of the Treaty on the European agreed in Maastricht can be seen as giving powers back to the Member States compared to the previous situation. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 6 | All new EU Treaties must be ratified by each Member State according to its own constitutional provisions. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 7 | The principle of subsidiarity is the principle enshrined in the treaty whereby any legislation should be decided on the lowest possible level of governance, closest to the citizens of the European Union. Thus, the principle means that the powers should only be transferred from the local or national level to the European Union level if there this is advantageous or can be considered to provide some net benefits. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 8 | In the ordinary legislative procedure, a legislative proposal will go a special conciliation committee if the Council has amendments to the proposals after the second Parliamentary discussion. Which of the following are not valid as advantages of having a conciliation procedure at this stage of the decision-making process? |
| A) | Avoid indefinite back and forth amendments when the Council amends at this stage |
| B) | Trying to reach an agreement under pressure on both sides |
| C) | Provides more democratic accountability |
| D) | The mere existence of the conciliation procedure also sends a clear signal to the Council and the Parliament in the earlier stages of the ordinary legislative process that failing of the proposal is not really an option |
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| 9 | The Members of the European Parliament are: |
| A) | all members of their own national parliaments. |
| B) | under instruction of their own party from their home nation. |
| C) | appointed by their national governments. |
| D) | directly elected by EU citizens and are in office for 5 years. |
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| 10 | The President of the European Council |
| A) | is directly elected by European citizens. |
| B) | is elected by qualified-majority voting in the European Council. |
| C) | is elected for five years. |
| D) | can hold a position in a Member state. |
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| 11 | Which of the following arguments are valid as important differences between EU’s budget and spending and Member States’ own national budgets. |
| A) | EU’s budget is only approximately 1 per cent of EU GDP while typically Member States’ national budget account for 25-40 per cent of GDP. |
| B) | EU’s budget is financed by own resources, so the EU cannot run deficits as the individual Member States can. |
| C) | EU spends considerable amounts in support of the agricultural sector. |
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| 12 | Which of the following are not sources of the financing of EU’s budget: |
| A) | Tax on financial transactions |
| B) | Share of agricultural levies |
| C) | Share of Common External Tariff |
| D) | Share of VAT income |
| E) | Share of Member State GNI (main source) |
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| 13 | The two biggest items in the EU budget are: |
| A) | administration and research. |
| B) | foreign policy and development assistance. |
| C) | CAP and cohesion spending. |
| D) | foreign policy and cohesion spending. |
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| 14 | Cohesion spending account for about ____ of the EU budget today. |
| A) | 30 per cent |
| B) | 25 per cent |
| C) | 10 per cent |
| D) | 15 per cent |
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| 15 | One of the following statements does not represent the basic economic difference of the now 28 Member States of the European Union:
Differences in area size of the Member States,
Differences in population (tiny, small, medium, large),
Differences in GDP/capita,
Differences in absolute economic size (six nations account for 80 per cent of total GDP, the rest are either small, tiny, or minuscule) |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 16 | European Council:
The European Council is comprised of the EU’s national leaders and as such is the highest political-level body in the EU. It provides political guidance to the EU as a whole, but especially to the European Commission. All EU major strategic choices are made by the European Council, sometimes in cooperation with the European Parliament. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 17 | The Council of the EU:
The Council is the EU’s the executive branch of the EU and is a truly supranational body |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 18 | The European Parliament.
The Parliament has two main tasks: sharing legislative powers with the Council of Ministers and the Commission; and overseeing all EU institutions, but especially the Commission. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |
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| 19 | The European Commission
The European Commission is the main decision-making body of the EU and it consists of one representative from each EU member that represents the interests of this member. |
| A) | True |
| B) | False |