ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book argues that the founding members of a federation are, as a general rule, sovereign states or territories with outspoken self-determination. It presents an analysis the European Union (EU), to find out whether the now often used description of the EU as a federation or an emerging federation was solid and not only intuitive. The book demonstrates that the lack of means to enforce or implement legislation fits the European-style federations. The legislative of the Union consists of two unequal chambers: the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers/European Council. In federations, the Member States are always represented in an upper house. The book argues that for a federation to work well, both the federal and the state level must have their own independent financial resources of a size large enough for them to perform their executive functions.
