EU Law
Lecture and Textbook Notes
What is the EU?
A rules-based international organisation – based upon written laws
Treaties
The two main treaties –
Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) – latest version of the founding treaty
of the EEC (Treaty of Rome)
Treaty on European Union (TEU) – this is the Treaty of Maastricht and this is the
aspect of the EU which is to do with the forming of the EU itself (before it was the
European Community)
Secondary legislation
Directives
Regulations
Recommendations
Decisions
Enforcement Mechanisms
Very closely policing its rules to ensure that all its member states are adhering to the rules
appropriately
Against private companies/corporations e.g. Google, Microsoft
Against Member States e.g. against Hungary (a couple of years ago the EU had
been attempting to enforce the rule of law in regards to some infringements by
Hungary)
Upholds Rights – a lot of the rights are to do with individuals
E.g. free movement (ability to move around and work within Member States),
employment rights, human rights
Headquarters in Brussels, there are also aspects of the EU in other EU countries
and this is to ensure that there is something of the EU in each of the member
states, however the majority of the central institutions are located in Brussels
27 member states – began with 6 member states (France, Germany, Italy,
Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium)
Where did the EU come from?
Grew out of a series of communities that were formed in the 1950s (EEC, EurAtom
& ECSC) and the idea of being to get various countries to cooperate together to
prevent conflict between those states.
EEC, Euratom and ECSC are separate entities with a shared institution
European Coal and Steel Community
Getting member states to cooperate in terms of use of coal and steel.
Focused on preventing war because at the time the 2 main commodities you
needed in order to try and fight wars against other countries were energy in the
form of coal and steel because guns, bombs, tanks, boats are made out of steel
ECSC was only concerned in making a single market for coal and steel, whereas the
EEC was designed to make an economic community
,Fundamental Principles of the EU
Supremacy of EU law – EU law is supreme but it is within areas of limited
competence.
Competence to make law
Subsidiarity
Proportionality
Conditions for EU Membership
Art.49 TEU State must be European
Art. 6 TEU Requires respect for democracy
Copenhagen Criteria Political criterion
Economic criterion
Ability to adopt the union acquis (body of law)
Madrid Council Madrid council added that the candidate country must adjust
addition administrative structures and practices for implementation of EU
acquis
Supranationalism Intergovernmentalism
A number of individual states come Cooperation or agreement at the
together to work together towards level of, or between, nation states
common goals
Requires only a qualified majority An advantage is that no decisions
for decisions to be made and laws would be made unless all of the
passed, and so not every Member Member States were in agreement
State has to agree
Examples – Focuses on the importance of
European Union Member States in the process of
NATO making EU-wide regulations
NAFTA
The African Union
Goals –
Strengthen member’s economies
though the reduction or removal of
tariffs
To promote peace through
interdependence
To allow for the movement of
people throughout member nations
To protect each other
‘Empty chair policy’
In the 1960s, the French used the empty chair policy, effectively refusing to attend
Council of Ministers meetings. They did this because they did not agree with the move
away from intergovernmentalism towards supranationalism in decision-making.
The effect of France operating the empty chair policy meant that no decisions could be
, made in the Council of Ministers meetings because all Member States had to be
represented.
In 1966, the Luxembourg Compromise/Luxembourg Accord was introduced. This was an
agreement to resolve the empty chair crisis which had caused a stalemate within
European Economic Community. This was an agreement to abandon the use of national
vetoes.
Supremacy of EU Law
Supremacy of EU law – EU law is supreme, but it is within areas of limited
competence.
Background
Member States are sovereign legal systems. They have governments, judiciary,
legislatures and the idea is that those member states have absolute sovereignty to
make laws in their jurisdiction.
In joining the EU, the member states, have signed up to the concept that the EU also has
the ability to make law and also has a legal system. Law-making powers given to the
Council, Parliament and Commission (those institutions between them make law) and also
there is a court system (CJEU and General Court)
Principle of Supremacy
Not mentioned in the Treaties – this may be because it is considered to be so
obvious that it isn’t needed to be said
Developed through CJEU case law
Normally conflict between domestic and international law, this is dealt with by the
State concerned
Relates to issues of Constitutional law – the EU, as a source of law in a member
state, is quite an important aspect of the constitutional system
Principle of Supremacy – key cases
Van Gend en Loos Case 26/62 – concerned a conflict between earlier Dutch Law and EU
Law and the idea was that the court had to sort out which was considered to be supreme.
The court had to decide could EU law be directly enforceable in a Dutch court and
therefore override a previously existing Dutch Law? Established the principle of direct
effects. There was a rule about the imposition of customs duties on goods moving
between member states and there was a Dutch law which imposed a customs duty on
goods coming into the Netherlands (EU law clearly states if the goods are coming from
another member state then you cannot charge customs duties on them).
“the [Union] constitutes a new legal order in international law, for whose benefit
the States have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields” – in
joining the EU Member States have done so on the knowledge and understanding
that they are limiting certain sovereign rights because they are going to be dealt
with within the EU itself
EU law was the one which should be applied
Membership of the EU involves a voluntary delegation of legislative power to the
EU
Costa v ENEL Case 6/64 – concerned conflict between a later Italian law and EU law.
, Normally, when it comes to the hierarchy of legislation, later laws will take precedent
over previous laws (lex posterior – if law is made which conflicts with earlier law, you are
by implication attempting to overriding the previous law). This creates an issue because
different Member States make different laws so then you don’t have a single unified law
within that area.
“The transfer, by Member Sates, from their national orders in favour of the
[Union[ order of the rights and obligations arising from the Treaty, carries with it a
clear limitation of their sovereign rights upon which a subsequent unilateral law,
incompatible with the aims of the [Union], cannot prevail”
In these situations, EU law is still considered to be supreme. Unlike the theory of
lex posterior, if a later domestic law is made which conflicts with EU law, it cannot
prevail
Interntionale Handesgesellschaft Case 11/70 – concerned conflict between the German
Constitution and EU law. Normally, constitutional law is superior in the hierarchy to
ordinary national laws. The issue here is whether EU law is supreme over the
constitutional laws of Member States
“The law born from the Treaty [cannot] have the courts opposing to it rules of
national law of any nature whatsoever” – by saying ‘any nature whatsoever’, the
court is referring to even the more significant constitutional laws of member
states
Doesn’t matter whether it’s an ordinary statute or a more important constitutional
law of a member state, EU law is supreme
Limited competence
The EU has limited competence to make law. The competence is specified by the treaties.
If a Treaty does not specify that the EU has competence to make law on a particular area,
then the EU does not have the competence to make law on a particular area. This is
‘pooling’ of sovereignty as Member States use this to collectively make law.
EU cannot go beyond the powers conferred by the Member States – Art. 1 TEU
Those competences not conferred remain with the Member Stats – Art. 4(1) TEU
and Art. 5(2) TEU
Legislative Competence of the EU
General objectives of the EU are to be found in Art. 3 TEU
1. Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples
2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without
internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in
conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls,
asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime
3. The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable
development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a
highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social
progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the
environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance.
It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice
and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between
generations and protection of the rights of the child.
Lecture and Textbook Notes
What is the EU?
A rules-based international organisation – based upon written laws
Treaties
The two main treaties –
Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) – latest version of the founding treaty
of the EEC (Treaty of Rome)
Treaty on European Union (TEU) – this is the Treaty of Maastricht and this is the
aspect of the EU which is to do with the forming of the EU itself (before it was the
European Community)
Secondary legislation
Directives
Regulations
Recommendations
Decisions
Enforcement Mechanisms
Very closely policing its rules to ensure that all its member states are adhering to the rules
appropriately
Against private companies/corporations e.g. Google, Microsoft
Against Member States e.g. against Hungary (a couple of years ago the EU had
been attempting to enforce the rule of law in regards to some infringements by
Hungary)
Upholds Rights – a lot of the rights are to do with individuals
E.g. free movement (ability to move around and work within Member States),
employment rights, human rights
Headquarters in Brussels, there are also aspects of the EU in other EU countries
and this is to ensure that there is something of the EU in each of the member
states, however the majority of the central institutions are located in Brussels
27 member states – began with 6 member states (France, Germany, Italy,
Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium)
Where did the EU come from?
Grew out of a series of communities that were formed in the 1950s (EEC, EurAtom
& ECSC) and the idea of being to get various countries to cooperate together to
prevent conflict between those states.
EEC, Euratom and ECSC are separate entities with a shared institution
European Coal and Steel Community
Getting member states to cooperate in terms of use of coal and steel.
Focused on preventing war because at the time the 2 main commodities you
needed in order to try and fight wars against other countries were energy in the
form of coal and steel because guns, bombs, tanks, boats are made out of steel
ECSC was only concerned in making a single market for coal and steel, whereas the
EEC was designed to make an economic community
,Fundamental Principles of the EU
Supremacy of EU law – EU law is supreme but it is within areas of limited
competence.
Competence to make law
Subsidiarity
Proportionality
Conditions for EU Membership
Art.49 TEU State must be European
Art. 6 TEU Requires respect for democracy
Copenhagen Criteria Political criterion
Economic criterion
Ability to adopt the union acquis (body of law)
Madrid Council Madrid council added that the candidate country must adjust
addition administrative structures and practices for implementation of EU
acquis
Supranationalism Intergovernmentalism
A number of individual states come Cooperation or agreement at the
together to work together towards level of, or between, nation states
common goals
Requires only a qualified majority An advantage is that no decisions
for decisions to be made and laws would be made unless all of the
passed, and so not every Member Member States were in agreement
State has to agree
Examples – Focuses on the importance of
European Union Member States in the process of
NATO making EU-wide regulations
NAFTA
The African Union
Goals –
Strengthen member’s economies
though the reduction or removal of
tariffs
To promote peace through
interdependence
To allow for the movement of
people throughout member nations
To protect each other
‘Empty chair policy’
In the 1960s, the French used the empty chair policy, effectively refusing to attend
Council of Ministers meetings. They did this because they did not agree with the move
away from intergovernmentalism towards supranationalism in decision-making.
The effect of France operating the empty chair policy meant that no decisions could be
, made in the Council of Ministers meetings because all Member States had to be
represented.
In 1966, the Luxembourg Compromise/Luxembourg Accord was introduced. This was an
agreement to resolve the empty chair crisis which had caused a stalemate within
European Economic Community. This was an agreement to abandon the use of national
vetoes.
Supremacy of EU Law
Supremacy of EU law – EU law is supreme, but it is within areas of limited
competence.
Background
Member States are sovereign legal systems. They have governments, judiciary,
legislatures and the idea is that those member states have absolute sovereignty to
make laws in their jurisdiction.
In joining the EU, the member states, have signed up to the concept that the EU also has
the ability to make law and also has a legal system. Law-making powers given to the
Council, Parliament and Commission (those institutions between them make law) and also
there is a court system (CJEU and General Court)
Principle of Supremacy
Not mentioned in the Treaties – this may be because it is considered to be so
obvious that it isn’t needed to be said
Developed through CJEU case law
Normally conflict between domestic and international law, this is dealt with by the
State concerned
Relates to issues of Constitutional law – the EU, as a source of law in a member
state, is quite an important aspect of the constitutional system
Principle of Supremacy – key cases
Van Gend en Loos Case 26/62 – concerned a conflict between earlier Dutch Law and EU
Law and the idea was that the court had to sort out which was considered to be supreme.
The court had to decide could EU law be directly enforceable in a Dutch court and
therefore override a previously existing Dutch Law? Established the principle of direct
effects. There was a rule about the imposition of customs duties on goods moving
between member states and there was a Dutch law which imposed a customs duty on
goods coming into the Netherlands (EU law clearly states if the goods are coming from
another member state then you cannot charge customs duties on them).
“the [Union] constitutes a new legal order in international law, for whose benefit
the States have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields” – in
joining the EU Member States have done so on the knowledge and understanding
that they are limiting certain sovereign rights because they are going to be dealt
with within the EU itself
EU law was the one which should be applied
Membership of the EU involves a voluntary delegation of legislative power to the
EU
Costa v ENEL Case 6/64 – concerned conflict between a later Italian law and EU law.
, Normally, when it comes to the hierarchy of legislation, later laws will take precedent
over previous laws (lex posterior – if law is made which conflicts with earlier law, you are
by implication attempting to overriding the previous law). This creates an issue because
different Member States make different laws so then you don’t have a single unified law
within that area.
“The transfer, by Member Sates, from their national orders in favour of the
[Union[ order of the rights and obligations arising from the Treaty, carries with it a
clear limitation of their sovereign rights upon which a subsequent unilateral law,
incompatible with the aims of the [Union], cannot prevail”
In these situations, EU law is still considered to be supreme. Unlike the theory of
lex posterior, if a later domestic law is made which conflicts with EU law, it cannot
prevail
Interntionale Handesgesellschaft Case 11/70 – concerned conflict between the German
Constitution and EU law. Normally, constitutional law is superior in the hierarchy to
ordinary national laws. The issue here is whether EU law is supreme over the
constitutional laws of Member States
“The law born from the Treaty [cannot] have the courts opposing to it rules of
national law of any nature whatsoever” – by saying ‘any nature whatsoever’, the
court is referring to even the more significant constitutional laws of member
states
Doesn’t matter whether it’s an ordinary statute or a more important constitutional
law of a member state, EU law is supreme
Limited competence
The EU has limited competence to make law. The competence is specified by the treaties.
If a Treaty does not specify that the EU has competence to make law on a particular area,
then the EU does not have the competence to make law on a particular area. This is
‘pooling’ of sovereignty as Member States use this to collectively make law.
EU cannot go beyond the powers conferred by the Member States – Art. 1 TEU
Those competences not conferred remain with the Member Stats – Art. 4(1) TEU
and Art. 5(2) TEU
Legislative Competence of the EU
General objectives of the EU are to be found in Art. 3 TEU
1. Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples
2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without
internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in
conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls,
asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime
3. The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable
development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a
highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social
progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the
environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance.
It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice
and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between
generations and protection of the rights of the child.
