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Pacific Union

The Pacific Union (officially known as the Pacific Union of States) is a loose trade, economic and military confederation of seventeen states in oceania and south-east asia. The current union was established in 2034 by Treaty of Nadi to replace the previous treaty agreements between the nations of the region that were allied with the European Union.

The Union's activities cover all areas of public policy, from health and economic policy to foreign affairs and defence. However, the extent of its powers differs greatly between areas. Depending on the area in question, the PU may therefore resemble a federation or an international organisation.

• Status
• Institutions
  • Council of the Pacific
  • Pacific Commission
  • Pacific Assembly
  • High Court of the Pacific
• Legal Framework
  • Pacific Trade and Economics Policy
  • Pacific Foreign and Security Policy
  • Pacific Community Policy
• Demographics
• Member States
• History

Status

The members of the Pacific Union have transferred to it considerable sovereignty, in tune with the like Unions around the world that are based on the EU. In certain areas the Union begins to take on the character of a federation or confederation.

However, in legal terms, member states remain the masters of the Treaties, which means that the Union does not have the power to transfer additional powers from states onto itself without their agreement. Further, in many areas member states have given up relatively little national sovereignty, particularly in areas of language, culture and traditional customs.

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Institutions

The functioning of the Pacific Union is supported by several institutions.

Council of the Pacific - The council is the highest executive body in the Union. The Council contains the ministers of the governments of each of the seventeen Union member states, usually a Minister for Pacific Affairs or similar. The Council has a President and a Foreign Minister. The President of the Council is a Minister of the state currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the Union which is rotated every six months amongst the member states. The Foreign Minister is the head of the Union Foreign and Security Policy office and is chosen from and by the council.

Pacific Commission - The Commission is the other executive body of the Union. Alongside the Pacific Assembly and the Council of the Pacific, it is one of the three main institutions governing the Union. Its primary roles are to propose and implement legislation, and to act as 'guardian of the treaties' which provide the legal basis for the PU. Consisting of seventeen High Commissioners, one from each member state of the Union, the commission and its members are supported by an administrative body of several hundred civil servants divided into departments called Agencies-General.

Pacific Assembly - The parliamentary body of the Union, the Assembly is directly elected by Union citizens once every five years. The Assembly cannot initiate legislation (which is done by the Commission), but it can amend or veto any policy it sees fit. The Assembly also supervises the administration of the Commission by approval of all appointments to it and can dismiss it with a vote of censure. It also has the right to control the Union's budget. The Assembly's origins go back to 2034 and the founding treaties, and since 2039 its members have been directly elected by the people they represent.

High Court of the Pacific - Formally known as the 'High Court of Justice of the Pacific Union', the High Court the court of the Union. It is based in Auckland, unlike the rest of the Union institutions, which are based in Nadi. The court only has competency over matters relating to the Union and treaties that govern it. The supreme courts of the member states are the highest courts in their respective jurisdictions in all other matters, as each nation state has its own sovereign and different legal and jurisprudence system.

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Legal Framework

In many ways, the Pacific Union is a carbon copy of the older European Union. The very reason the Union was established was to provide a regional ally for the EU. The Union has a three pillar policy system, with common policies in the areas of economics, defence and law.

Pacific Trade and Economics Policy or PTEP - The PTEP aims for the free movement of goods, service, labour and capital, the abolition of trusts and cartels, and the development of joint and reciprocal policies on labour, social welfare, agriculture, transport, and foreign trade. This has been achieved through a raft of directives including a customs union, a common agricultural directive, a common trade directive and a common fisheries directive. Directives also exist for work conditions and pay as well standards for transport, weights and measures, welfare payments and safety.

Pacific Foreign and Security Policy or PFSP - A common foreign and defence policy was also established as the second of the three pillars of the Union, with a single defence co-ordination command and appointed ministers for defence and foreign affairs. Defence of the Union is the responsibility of the three largest nations, New Zealand, New England and Fiji. These powers are the only states that maintain an active defence force. Defence is also managed through the deployment of European forces, which are stationed in New England (EUFNE) and Tahiti (EUFEP).

Pacific Community Policy or PCP - The third pillar allows for the synchronisation of laws and customs of the member states. Member states must adhere to a standard of basic human rights (known as the Human Rights Directive) and are liable for prosecution through the High Court if these are violated. The policy also provides directives for the provision of free universal health and education in all member states for PU citizens. Freedom of movement is guaranteed by the Treaty of Grafton, which in 2038 abolished passport control and customs checks for the internal borders of the union, creating a single space of mobility for Union citizens to live, travel, work and invest.

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Demographics

The Union is a broad mix of european, melanesian, micronesian and polynesian peoples, which smaller numbers of aboriginal and asian peoples living throughout the union. There are 16,166,911 (as of 2050) people living in the Union, most of whom also qualify as Union citizens. Immigration into the Union is mostly made up of chinese and european migrants.

The majority of Union citizens are either european or asian, due to the high populations of New England, New Zealand and Singapore which between them have over twelve million inhabitants. There is full freedom of movement between the member states, which was feared would led to a depopulation of the islands when it was brought in. Within ten years, that trend has been reversed, which the Union providing a increased standard of living for most people, and allowing for a movement away from subsistence farming toward move sustainable practices.

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Member States

The Union's seventeen member states covers an area of 397,689 km² and has approximately sixteen million inhabitants as of June 2050. The Pacific Union's member states combined represent the smallest economy of the European alliances by GDP, the fifty-ninth largest territory in the world by area and the seventy-fifth largest by population. The PU describes itself as a "a family of democratic nations in alliance with Europe". The Union has just two land borders, which are between New England/Australia and Brunei/Indonesia.

* The Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn and Tokelau are states in Free Association with New Zealand. New Zealand manages most external affairs powers and the residents of those islands are New Zealand citizens, but have full control over their domestic administration.

** New Caledonia, Tahiti and Eastern Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna are states in Free Association with France (in French pays d'outre-mer). France manages most external affairs powers and the residents of those islands have full control over their domestic administration, including citizenship.

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History

The Pacific Union was created in 2034 by those states in the region that were allied to Europe. The events of the Five Day War made many states fearful of invasion or interference from Australia and the United States. Many of the island states were very small and felt they would be unable to resist a military or economic attack upon them if it were launched. New England and New Zealand, who had both signed the Treaty of Aachen in 2033, were capable of defending these states to some extent, and felt that a single economic and military union might be of some assistance to the economic welfare of the region and also offer some protection to the smaller states.

The Treaty of Nadi was signed in 2033 and provided the basic framework for the Union. The union was a carbon copy of the old EU of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. The foundation members were Fiji, New England, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the French territories of French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. Coming into force on 1 July 2034, the Union is the newest and smallest of the European Union's Allied and Client Communities. In 2038, the Union was joined by Singapore and Brunei, who joined after the expiration of their bilateral agreements with Britain.

In 2040, the free association territories of New Zealand were added to the Union. This brought in the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. At the same time, the French territories of French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna were granted the status of pays d'outre-mer, making them free association territories, although they enjoy greater freedom than their New Zealand counterparts.

In 2042, Kiribati and Tuvalu joined the Union as full members, bringing the number members to fourteen. Both had been threatened by the United States and had clashed repeatedly with the American vassals of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands over sovereignty of the Howland, Jarvis and Baker island chain. Their decision to join was motivated by a clear need to protect themselves from the US and benefit from the economic well being that Union membership afforded.

The Union has undergone a significant number of changes since it was first formed. The original treaty was a defence and trade alliance that allowed for the economy of the union to grow. In 2038, the Treaty of Grafton allowed for open borders and removed the need for passport and border control between the member states. This allowed for the open movement of trade, workers and investment between the member states. The final change to the Union was the Treaty of Apia in 2050 which added a social charter to the Union, and provided a basic human rights directive that all members were bound to. The treaty was ratified by all members and came into force on 1 January 2051.

Pitcairn became the newest member of the Union on 1 October 2050, nine months after it was transferred from the United Kingdom to become a free association territory of New Zealand.

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