Confederation

The confederation ( international law association, partly - in the case of "organized federation of states" - also called the Confederacy ) is an association of sovereign states (Member States, sometimes referred to as member states, members of the League ) with its own, but only a loose organization at the federal level. It is an international legal association of states; the confederation is not a real state and does not have its own domain yet have their own nationals.

The difference between a confederation and a federal state ( a state legal association of states ) is that in the state, the federal government is the owner of sovereignty, while the individual states are legally and financially autonomous in the confederation, but a common Union form. Of these, a confederation is furthermore to distinguish, which is a common occurrence in the form of an umbrella organization and has no competence - competence. The differences, however, are fluent, often the terms are used interchangeably. It follows that breakaway territories of individual countries are not legally recognized. Sovereignty in this context means primarily the right to distribute the responsibilities between individual state and federal government, the so-called Competence Competence.

The institutions of the State Union are usually a representative assembly, common design elements for common tasks and an arbitration for the settlement of disputes among the allied states. In a confederation laws of the legislative body of the Federation may not have a direct impact on citizens, they will be delegated only to the adoption of the national parliaments. Moreover, there is usually an exit right for the Member States.

The European Union ( EU) as a derivative subject of international law not a confederation of states, but is a class of its own Represents the German Federal Constitutional Court described it in a judgment of 1993 as an association of states, which has also found on the borders of Germany appeal. The EU has in its member countries internal political powers, which point to a state, but so far the opposite is no single common foreign policy, what the Union can look like a pure confederation. This shines through the EU Directives respectively the EU harmonization directives, which must be implemented within a given period into national law to gradually emerge.

Examples

Examples of confederations are:

  • African Union ( AU)
  • Old Confederation
  • Andean Community
  • Benelux ( confederation of Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg )
  • German Confederation (1815-1866)
  • Russian - Belarusian Union
  • Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006)
  • Switzerland ( until 1848, then State)
  • Union Française (1946-1958) or Communauté française (1958-1960)
  • United Arab States (1958-1961)
  • United States of America ( until 1787, then State)
  • Central American Confederation (1823-1838)
  • Norwegian - Swedish Union States (1814-1905; Norway declared in 1905 in the Treaty of Karlstad for independent)

Comments

  • International Organization
  • International law
sui generis Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905
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