Examination of the balance and control mechanizm of the European Union system and its legitimacy in the context of its historical and contemporary relationship between Germany and Polland

The main research topic of this study is the analysis of European Union's (EU) balance and supervision system's ability to establish legitimacy. The European Union has been the subject of many studies in the past; however, the system's "uniqueness" and its "ability to establish legitimacy with the balance-supervision mechanism" is evaluated in the context of historical and contemporary relations of two EU member countries like Germany and Poland for the first time. This study consists of three sections excluding the Introduction and Conclusion. The Introduction section provides information on the methods used to solve the issue in question under the framework of the study's aim and limitations and specifies the starting point which prompted this study. The threee sections are built seperately but are unified for analysis purposes. The first section attempts to answer the question of "Why this European Union?" under two main titles, "The European Union's Uniqueness" and "The European Union System". For this reason, it focuses on the uniqueness of the European Union. The Union being the only supranational institution, member countries' national interests being redifined under the Union's structure and the transfer of national sovereignty to a higher authority via the mutual interest "enactment" constitute the main definiton of the European Union in this study. The second section analyses the term "hegemony" mentioned by Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs. The aforemantioned analysis is led by the consideration that analysing the historical, epistemological and ontological background, including different definitions and theories of the term hegemony will provide deeper comprehension of the theoretical foundation and methodology of this study. The third section evaluates the EU's balance and supervision system and its ability to establish legitimacy in the context of historical and contemporary relations of two EU member countries like Germany and Poland. This evaluation enables us to identify the reflections of the exhibited integration of the EU's political system as a result of its balance and supervision mechanism on two nations which had severe hostility towards each other throughout history. As a resut of the information and findings gathered in this study, the conclusion is that The European Union has predominantly achieved legitimacy via its balance and supervision system established by its existing institutions and organizations and its acquis fostered by developmental process experiences. Key Words: European Union, Germany, Poland, Hegemony, Balance and Control.