EUROPEAN PUBLIC LAW
Law is a set of legal norms, which are a particular kind of norms which aim is to give an
organization to the society there are applied to.
Public law is the set of legal norms which regulate public relationships, it includes both the
functioning of the public institutions and the relationships between institutions and society.
Private law is the set of legal norms which regulate private’s relationships such as companies and
individuals.
Both private and public law are produced by the state but with different actors and factors.
Laws nowadays are produced not only by states but also from other actors like international
organizations. The European law refers to a set of legal norms produced by the European union
institutions.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The 2WW brought new principles that affected the creation of constitutions through Europe. The
years after the wars were years of great changes and revolutions, that brought to a new idea of the
state. Those factors brought to the creation of contemporary or constitutional states and the
European union.
A contemporary state is characterized by the presence of a constitution, it’s also a pluralistic,
social, democratic, decentralized, and open state. An open state is based on cooperation with other
countries and openness to international law. This type of state is guaranteed in Italy by the articles
10 and 11 of the constitutions which state the internationalist and pacifist principles.
The sovereignty is one of the fundamental elements of the state, together with people and territory,
it’s the full right or power of a governing entity to govern itself (internal pov) without any
interference from external sources (external pov).
This classic definition of sovereignty changed after the 2WW, in particular were born interstate
institutions (such as regions), and there was an attempt to pursue peace and cooperation between
states.
Alongside this moral concern about the sovereignty, there is a more concrete form of this changes:
globalization. Globalization implies stronger relationships between states, individuals,
organizations. Was born as economic globalization, increasing connections between the factors of
production, but as a consequence also public institutions became more global institutions.
In fact, the open state implies a change in sovereignty and two major factors for this change are
need for peace and cooperation and need for global economy.
,INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Those are entities established by formal agreements between states called international treaties.
There are two types of international organizations:
- Organizations that pursue peace and cooperation
- Organizations that govern economic globalization
We can also distinguish between global and regional organizations, in particular, every state can
participate to a global organization, and regional organizations include states belonging to a
common geographical area.
In the European context there are two major organizations: the Council of Europe and the European
Union.
The CoE is a more geographically extended organizations (47 states), which aim was to ensure
peace and cooperation, was born in the 1949 with the Treaty of London, signed by 10 states, which
in 1950 signed also the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). This organization main
bodies are the Parliamentary Assembly, Committee of Ministers, Secretary general, European court
of human rights. It was established in London because the UK promoted a different institution from
European Union. The ECHR established fundamental rights and freedom, and had the task of
protecting them.
The European Union is the result of a very long process made of treaties.
- 1951 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established by the Treaty of Paris
signed by France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. The trade and
production of these two raw materials was one of the causes of the 2WW, and this treaty had
the main goal of maintaining cooperation ad peace.
- 1957 European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy
Community (EURATOM), both established by the Treaty of Rome and signed by the same
state of the ECSC. Those two organizations tried to create common economics’ rules and
market, and common rules about the atomic energy.
- 1965 Merger Treaty created a new common institution that reunited ECSC, EEC and
EURATOM, called Commission of the European Communities.
- 1985 Schengen Agreement introduced the free movement of people through Europe.
- 1987 Single European Act was the first major revision of the content of the European
community. It scheduled as main objective the creation of a single market (effectively
established in 1992) as a space without internal borders and within which ensure the
movement of goods, services and capital.
- 1992 Treaty of Maastricht was a turning point for the European integration process.
Brought institutional and political reforms and introduced the concept of European Union,
with the Treaty of European Union (TEU), that was not an international organization, in
fact had no regulation or institutions. It also introduced the three-pillar structure.
1. The European Communities pillar handled economic, social and environmental policies.
It comprised the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC, until its expiry in 2002), and the European Atomic Energy Community
(EURATOM).
2. The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar took care of foreign policy and
military matters.
3. Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM) brought together co-
operation in the fight against crime. This pillar was originally named Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA)
, The second and the third pillars were introduced by the Treaty of European Community
(TEC), while the first was the sum of the old treaties.
- 1999 European Charter of Fundamental Rights represented the end of a transition
concerning the european integration process.
- 2004 failure of the approval of the Constitution for Europe, not approved with a
referendum by France and Netherlands.
- 2007 Treaty of Lisbon was an attempt to apply changes similar to the principles contained
in the Constitution of Europe. In particular this treaty established the Treaty of European
Union (TEU), that detailed general principles, and the Treaty of Functioning of European
Union (TFEU), which replaced the TEC and establish a new structure and nature of the
European Union, that became finally an institution with legal power like the European
Community used to be.
The TEU and TFEU are considered as the Funding Treaties, and are the primary source of
law in Europe, together with the ECHR.
Another way to look at the evolution of the European Union is based on the evolution of the nature
of EU according to decision made by the European Court of Justice. In fact, EU is the only
international organization which law is characterized by legal supremacy and direct effects, and
for this is known also as Supranational Organization which is a hybrid between a Federal state
and an international organization.
The last way to analyze EU’s historical evolutions is based on the geographically revolution of the
states that joined it.
ACCESSION AND WITHDRAWAL
How to enter and exit the EU:
The accession process is based on the article 49 of the TEU that states three conditions:
1. Be a state within the geographical Europe. Geographical Europe is different from the
political one, which includes also states like Russia and Turkey, which are part of the
Council of Europe.
2. To respect and commit to the european values stated in article 2, like the respect for human
rights and democracy.
3. To respect the Copenhagen criteria, which are (1) a functioning market economy, (2) the
ability to take and implement the obligation of membership, and (3) stable institutions that
guarantee european values.
The actually procedure can be stated with a formal application to the Council of Europe, which
following a favorable opinion can grant the candidate status to the state, that is officially
considered as a candidate to became part of the EU.
Then starts the negotiations between the state and the EU itself, where they negotiate the measure
that the state needs to take to join the EU. In particular the candidate dossier, made of 35 chapters,
implies certain levels of coherence with the european regulation.
At the same time takes place the screening process, during which the EU verify the level of
coherence between state’s and EU’s regulation.
Then the accession itself is approved by the Council of Europe and signed by Parliament and every
member state.
The accession process interested recently the Balkan’s states and Turkey.
Law is a set of legal norms, which are a particular kind of norms which aim is to give an
organization to the society there are applied to.
Public law is the set of legal norms which regulate public relationships, it includes both the
functioning of the public institutions and the relationships between institutions and society.
Private law is the set of legal norms which regulate private’s relationships such as companies and
individuals.
Both private and public law are produced by the state but with different actors and factors.
Laws nowadays are produced not only by states but also from other actors like international
organizations. The European law refers to a set of legal norms produced by the European union
institutions.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The 2WW brought new principles that affected the creation of constitutions through Europe. The
years after the wars were years of great changes and revolutions, that brought to a new idea of the
state. Those factors brought to the creation of contemporary or constitutional states and the
European union.
A contemporary state is characterized by the presence of a constitution, it’s also a pluralistic,
social, democratic, decentralized, and open state. An open state is based on cooperation with other
countries and openness to international law. This type of state is guaranteed in Italy by the articles
10 and 11 of the constitutions which state the internationalist and pacifist principles.
The sovereignty is one of the fundamental elements of the state, together with people and territory,
it’s the full right or power of a governing entity to govern itself (internal pov) without any
interference from external sources (external pov).
This classic definition of sovereignty changed after the 2WW, in particular were born interstate
institutions (such as regions), and there was an attempt to pursue peace and cooperation between
states.
Alongside this moral concern about the sovereignty, there is a more concrete form of this changes:
globalization. Globalization implies stronger relationships between states, individuals,
organizations. Was born as economic globalization, increasing connections between the factors of
production, but as a consequence also public institutions became more global institutions.
In fact, the open state implies a change in sovereignty and two major factors for this change are
need for peace and cooperation and need for global economy.
,INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Those are entities established by formal agreements between states called international treaties.
There are two types of international organizations:
- Organizations that pursue peace and cooperation
- Organizations that govern economic globalization
We can also distinguish between global and regional organizations, in particular, every state can
participate to a global organization, and regional organizations include states belonging to a
common geographical area.
In the European context there are two major organizations: the Council of Europe and the European
Union.
The CoE is a more geographically extended organizations (47 states), which aim was to ensure
peace and cooperation, was born in the 1949 with the Treaty of London, signed by 10 states, which
in 1950 signed also the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). This organization main
bodies are the Parliamentary Assembly, Committee of Ministers, Secretary general, European court
of human rights. It was established in London because the UK promoted a different institution from
European Union. The ECHR established fundamental rights and freedom, and had the task of
protecting them.
The European Union is the result of a very long process made of treaties.
- 1951 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established by the Treaty of Paris
signed by France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. The trade and
production of these two raw materials was one of the causes of the 2WW, and this treaty had
the main goal of maintaining cooperation ad peace.
- 1957 European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy
Community (EURATOM), both established by the Treaty of Rome and signed by the same
state of the ECSC. Those two organizations tried to create common economics’ rules and
market, and common rules about the atomic energy.
- 1965 Merger Treaty created a new common institution that reunited ECSC, EEC and
EURATOM, called Commission of the European Communities.
- 1985 Schengen Agreement introduced the free movement of people through Europe.
- 1987 Single European Act was the first major revision of the content of the European
community. It scheduled as main objective the creation of a single market (effectively
established in 1992) as a space without internal borders and within which ensure the
movement of goods, services and capital.
- 1992 Treaty of Maastricht was a turning point for the European integration process.
Brought institutional and political reforms and introduced the concept of European Union,
with the Treaty of European Union (TEU), that was not an international organization, in
fact had no regulation or institutions. It also introduced the three-pillar structure.
1. The European Communities pillar handled economic, social and environmental policies.
It comprised the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC, until its expiry in 2002), and the European Atomic Energy Community
(EURATOM).
2. The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar took care of foreign policy and
military matters.
3. Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM) brought together co-
operation in the fight against crime. This pillar was originally named Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA)
, The second and the third pillars were introduced by the Treaty of European Community
(TEC), while the first was the sum of the old treaties.
- 1999 European Charter of Fundamental Rights represented the end of a transition
concerning the european integration process.
- 2004 failure of the approval of the Constitution for Europe, not approved with a
referendum by France and Netherlands.
- 2007 Treaty of Lisbon was an attempt to apply changes similar to the principles contained
in the Constitution of Europe. In particular this treaty established the Treaty of European
Union (TEU), that detailed general principles, and the Treaty of Functioning of European
Union (TFEU), which replaced the TEC and establish a new structure and nature of the
European Union, that became finally an institution with legal power like the European
Community used to be.
The TEU and TFEU are considered as the Funding Treaties, and are the primary source of
law in Europe, together with the ECHR.
Another way to look at the evolution of the European Union is based on the evolution of the nature
of EU according to decision made by the European Court of Justice. In fact, EU is the only
international organization which law is characterized by legal supremacy and direct effects, and
for this is known also as Supranational Organization which is a hybrid between a Federal state
and an international organization.
The last way to analyze EU’s historical evolutions is based on the geographically revolution of the
states that joined it.
ACCESSION AND WITHDRAWAL
How to enter and exit the EU:
The accession process is based on the article 49 of the TEU that states three conditions:
1. Be a state within the geographical Europe. Geographical Europe is different from the
political one, which includes also states like Russia and Turkey, which are part of the
Council of Europe.
2. To respect and commit to the european values stated in article 2, like the respect for human
rights and democracy.
3. To respect the Copenhagen criteria, which are (1) a functioning market economy, (2) the
ability to take and implement the obligation of membership, and (3) stable institutions that
guarantee european values.
The actually procedure can be stated with a formal application to the Council of Europe, which
following a favorable opinion can grant the candidate status to the state, that is officially
considered as a candidate to became part of the EU.
Then starts the negotiations between the state and the EU itself, where they negotiate the measure
that the state needs to take to join the EU. In particular the candidate dossier, made of 35 chapters,
implies certain levels of coherence with the european regulation.
At the same time takes place the screening process, during which the EU verify the level of
coherence between state’s and EU’s regulation.
Then the accession itself is approved by the Council of Europe and signed by Parliament and every
member state.
The accession process interested recently the Balkan’s states and Turkey.
