Summary Institutional and Substantive Law of the EU: Part 1

Exam prep – ISLEU

Week 1: Introduction to Institutional and Substantive Law of the EU

- Other European Organisations:




- EU Policies:
o Agriculture, fisheries and foods
CAP, rural development, Aquaculture, CFP, food safety
o Business
Industry sectors, enterprise policies, SME's, Single Market, free movement,
competitiveness, competition
o Climate action
Climate change, Energy for a changing world
o Cross-cutting policies
Financial and economic crisis, Europe 2020 – a new economic strategy, better
regulation, sustainable development, multilingualism
o Culture, education and youth
Audiovisual and media, culture, education and training, sport, youth
o Economy, finance and tax
Financial Services, Budget, Competition, Customs, Economy, Fight against
fraud, Taxation
o Employment and social rights
o Energy and natural resources
Consumers, Environment, Food safety, Health, Maritime policy, Sustainable
development
o External relations and foreign affairs
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, Common Foreign Security Policy, Development, Enlargement, Cooperation,
Foreign policies, Humanitarian aid, Human rights, External trade
o Justice, home affairs and citizens' rights
o Freedom, Security and Justice
o Regions and local development
o Science and technology
Ethics, Information Society, Audiovisual and Media, Media, Research
o Civil Society, NGOs, EU Institutions, EU Treaties, Future of Europe, Treaty of
Lisbon
o Transport and travel

- EU Treaties




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, T h e tr e a tie s – b a s is fo r d e m o c r a tic c o o p e r a tio n
b u ilt o n la w


1952 1958
T h e E u r o p e a n S t e e l a n d C o a l C o m m u n it y T h e t r e a t ie s o f R o m e :
T h e E u r o p e a n E c o n o m ic C o m m u n it y
T h e E u r o p e a n A t o m ic E n e r g y
C o m m u n it y
(EU R ATO M )




2009 1987
T r e a t y o f L is b o n T h e E u r o p e a n S in g le
A c t : t h e S in g le M a r k e t




1993
2003 1999 T r e a t y o f E u r o p e a n U n io n
T r e a t y o f N ic e T re a ty o f A m ste rd a m – M a a s t r ic h t




- Sources of EU Law:
o Primary law: EU Treaties
 TEU
 TFEU
 CFREU
o International agreements  when concluded by the Union, they are
incorporated into its legal order by a Council decision; binding on the
institutions and the MS
o General principles of Union Law  Apply to EU institutions and MS
 Derived from common legal principles in the MS and general principles
found in international law and EU law
 Distinguished from rules of law  principles are more general and
open-ended: need to be ‘sharpened’ in order to be applied to specific
cases
o Secondary legislation  based on primary law; different types can be found in
Art. 288 TFEU
 Regulations  directly applicable (direct effect) in all MS; binding in all
elements; doesn’t need additional national law in order to have effect
in national legal order
 Directives  binding as to the results to be achieved; leaves it to the
MS to decide on the form and method; needs to be translated through
national legislation to be applicable (time limit)
 Decisions  either binding on a group or and individual; binding in its
entirety and directly applicable
 Recommendations, opinions (Opinion of CJEU is binding!)


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, - Recap: Institutional functioning
o The Council (of Ministers)  Functioning: Art. 16 TEU; general articles: 237 –
243 TFEU
 EU’s main decision-making organ
 Most ‘intergovernmental’ institution
 Has executive, as well as legislative function
 Composition: consists of national ministers who represent their MS’s
government  government of each MS decides who will appear in the
Council to represent the government
 Configurations: Council is made up of different ministers, depending
on the subject matter being discussed
 Art. 16(6) TEU  refers to 2 specific configurations (General
Affairs Council and Foreign Affairs Council)
 Currently 8 other configurations (e.g. Agriculture and Fisheries,
Economic and Financial Affairs, etc.)
 Rotating presidency (six months)
 Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) for most of the issues  all five
major Treaty amendments have expanded the use of QMV
 Unanimous voting still remains for sensitive issues (e.g.
taxation)
o European Parliament (EP)  Functioning: Art. 14 TEU; general articles: 223-
234 TEU; EP elections: Art. 22(2) TFEU
 Direct elections  elected by popular vote at regular intervals
 Like national parliaments, EP’s main task: participate in the legislative
& budgetary process, hold the executive to account
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