European Union Law Course Summary and Exam Notes UU

European Union Law exam notes
IRAC structure:
Description of Issue
Rule applicable (e.g. Article 45(4) TFEU, case relating, court ruling, etc.)
Assessment and Argumentation
Conclusion

Week 1:
Notes:
- Intergovernmentalism is when member states make decisions together whereas
supranationalism has one entity making the decisions. Functional integration or
neofunctionalism relate to the concept of spill over
- Treatries: ECSC Treaty (paris), EEC treaty (rome), EC treaty, TEU treaty (Lisbon)
and TFEU treaty (Lisbon
- Maastricht treaty introduced the monetary policy where the euro came into play as
well as transformed the european community into the european union. Rome was the
founding of the European community.
- A regulation is general in its application; it is binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all member states national legislation overruled by regulation
- A directive is binding upon each member state to which it is addressed, but leaves
national authorities the choice of form and method
- A decision is binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed
- Ad Valorem tax: a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of
property
- Rule of law: Everyone has to stick to law
Dynamics of widening:
- Cost-benefit
o Trade between countries that join and existing countries
- Optimal Decision making
o Optimum currency area (criteria for joining)
- Institutional economics
o Optimal Club size
- Business economics
o Mergers and acquisitions between firms
o Weak firms can’t compete with two merged firms so will be forced to be
dependent on other firms (possibly take-over)
- The process of enlargement:




(Copenhagen criteria)
Dynamics of deepening:
- Cost-benefit

, o Customs union theory (based on trade theory)
o Common market theory
- Optimal decision making
o Optimal level of regulation (subsidiarity)
- Institutional economics
o Clubs
o Public choice
- Business economics
o Mergers
o Theory of multinationalisation
- Timeframe of policy developments:




Market Integration:
- Free trade area
- Customs union
- Common market
Economic policy integration:
- Economic union
- Monetary union
- Economic and Monetary union
Core integration theories:




- Federalism: One entity for all topics
- Supranationalism: for dedicated topics has one entity
- Intergovernmentalism: Member states cooperate together
- Multilevel governance: different levels of government interacting for certain activities
HISTORY:

,- European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) – Treaty of Paris




- The European Economic Community (EEC)




- Single European Act, 1987
o Change of legislative process
o Setting a deadline for completion of the internal market
o Introduction of Court of First Instance
o New policy areas & competences:
 Internal market
 Economic and social cohesion
 Social policy
 R&D
 Environment (subsidiarity principle)
 Common foreign policy (presidency)
o Negative integration : Telling Member States what they cannot do.
 -Before 86 they tried to assist functioning by doing this
 - i.e. can’t obstruct free movement of services, goods, person etc.
 - Focuses on elimination of barriers between the member states.
 - Freedom of goods - MS have to refrain from putting measures on
some rights i.e. taxes.
 - i.e Article 12 EEC: prohibition to make new legal rules on customs
duties, monopolies.
 (Van Gend en Loos)
 - i.e. Art. 4-3 TEU “refrain from”
 Through TFEU:
 Two sets of articles relevant to achieve free movement of
goods:
o Article 30 and 110 TFEU -> Financial restrictions
o Article 34 to 36 TFEU -> Non-tariff barriers (QRs)
o Positive integration : Telling MS what they shall/can do.

,  Making more equal laws between the MS by actively doing
something.
 From 86 they adopted a more positive approach towards improving
the functioning of the internal market. Adopted its own standards for
the internal market.
 Harmonization – creating one EU standard for a particular good or
particular service so that basic standards are similar and there can be
much more trade between MS.
 Told MS what sort of standards they had to introduce. I.e.,
standards for chairs.
 i.e Art. 4 (3) TEU: “shall assist each other”
- Maastricht Treaty
o From European community to a European union
o European Citizenship
o New policy areas & competences:
 Health protection
 Education & culture
 Consumer protection
o Three pillars




- Treaty of Amsterdam – 1997




- Treaty of Nice – 2001
o Further preparation for EU's biggest single enlargement, with 10 new member
countries (2004: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia)
o Introduction of a preventive mechanism of sanctions against an EU country
for violation of fundamental rights by an EU country - Art. 7 TEU
o Early preparations for the Constitutional Treaty