EU LAW LECTURE 1-5.docx

Lecture 1 – History of EU and its Institutions EU Law : -  important tool for the organization, functioning and development of EU -  includes substantive law (e.g. EU consumer law) but also constitutional law (the EU’s legal foundations, the institutions, the relation between EU law and national law...

Lecture 1 – History of EU and its Institutions EU Law : -  important tool for the organization, functioning and development of EU -  includes substantive law (e.g. EU consumer law) but also constitutional law (the EU’s legal foundations, the institutions, the relation between EU law and national law etc.) Evolution of the EU since 1945: -  Europe in ruins after WW II -  Divided continent and a divided Germany -  Start of the cold war -  Marshall Plan The 1950’s: -  18 April 1951 signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) -  6 founding member states: o France o West-Germany o Italy o TheNetherlands o Belgium o Luxembourg -  Several attempts to create further political integration (European Defense Community, European Political Community) failed -  The ‘low road of economic integration’ proved more feasible -  25 March 1957 signing of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) (+ Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)) -  Same 6 founding member states The EEC Treaty: -  Signed 25 March 1957 in Rome -  Entered into force 1 January 1958 -  Focus on economic integration -  Common market -  Most of the current institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, Council, Court of Justice) already present (albeit under slightly different names) -  EEC Treaty would remain unchanged for 30 years (until the Single European Act) The 1960’s and 1970’s: -  No formal treaty amendment -  But several legally relevant developments took place: o case-law(VanGend&Loos+CostaENEL)(1963,1964) o MergerTreaty(1965)¬ 1 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) o Luxembourgcompromise(1966) o CreationoftheEuropeanCouncil(1974) o AgreementondirectelectionsfortheEuropeanParliament(1979) o Enlargement(newmemberstates;firstroundofaccessionsin1973 The Single European Act: -  Entered into force 1 July 1987 -  Treaty amending the EEC treaty (for the first time) -  Single market (abolishment of internal borders) -  Role of the EP strengthened -  Formal inclusion of the EC in the Treaties The Maastricht Treaty: -  Entered into force 1 November 1993 -  absorb geopolitical shock of 1989 for EEC -  EEC became the EC (European Community) -  Amendment of the EEC Treaty (which became the EC Treaty) -  Creation of the EU by way of the TEU -  ‘Pillar structure’ -  Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) -  Union Citizenship ‘Pillar structure’: -  European Communities (EC Treaty) -  Common Foreign and Security Policy (EU Treaty) -  Justice and Home Affairs / Police and judicial cooperation (EU Treaty) -  ‘Communitarization’, i.e., the moving of parts of the 3rd pillar to the 1st (Amsterdam Treaty) -  Abolishment of the pillar structure (current Lisbon Treaty) Recurring issues treaty amendments ‘Amsterdam’ and ‘Nice’: -  Entered into force: 1999 (Amsterdam) and 2003 (Nice) -  Division of competences between the EU and the member states -  Decision-making -  Institutional arrangements (e.g. number of seats in EP, votes per member state in the CEU) The Constitutional Treaty: -  Convention method (instead of Intergovernmental Conference / IGC) -  Ambition to produce one single document -  Rejected in two referenda (2005) -  Much of the content would be maintained 2 lOMoARcPSD|2444199 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) EU’s institutional framework: -  The European Parliament (EP) -  The European Council (EC) -  The Council (CEU) -  The European Commission (COMM) -  The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) 3 lOMoARcPSD|2444199 The Lisbon Treaty: -  Signed 13 December 2007 -  Entered into force 1 December 2009 -  Amendment of the TEU -  Amendment and renaming of the EC Treaty, now it is called the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) -  Single legal entity (EU) (EC has ceased to exist) -  EU Charter legally binding -  Enhanced role for the EP -  Permanent President for the EC The EU as a regulatory entity: -  ECSC and EEC deeply political endeavors but primarily of a regulatory nature -  With a huge increase of competences over time, the EU has become a magnificent regulatory machinery -  EU is a political community in the making -  exists to serve the interests of its member states and its citizens EU and MS: -  EU is not becoming a ‘superstate’ that will replace the member states -  The EU does not have Kompetenz-Kompetenz (the power to determine what its competences are) -  MS jointly are the primary legislature of EU -  no such thing as free membership -  MS are obliged to act in good faith (principle of sincere cooperation, principle of solidarity) -  includes the acceptance of binding decisions even when outvoted -  voluntary decision to become or remain MS of the EU -  National governments have always played an important role in EU decision-making -  MS are represented in EC by their head of state or government and in the CEU by their government EU’s Constitution: - For the EU these rules follow from primary law (Treaties + Charter), case-law, practice and convention→ the EU’s constitutional settlement Lecture 2 – EU’s political Institutions Political institutions Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) -  The European Central Bank -  The Court of Auditors The Executive Branch – attributions: -  Taking responsibility, action, initiative (active) -  Determining the (longer term) direction of the body politic (taking political decisions, setting the legislative agenda) -  Dealing with crises and unforeseen events -  Other (e.g. appointments) -  Generally consists of (elected) politicians The Executive Branch – members: -  EC -  The President of EC -  The Euro Summit -  COMM -  The President of COMM -  CEU (Foreign Affairs Council + Eurogroup and their Chairs) -  The ECB -  DUAL EXECUTIVE: EC + COMM EC – membership: -  Heads of state or government are members of the EC -  Dual role for heads of state or government -  National elections determine EC membership -  Political and constitutional consequences at national level EC – role: -  EC factual role is still more significant than described in the Treaties -  national constitutions (political executive institutions generally the least defined legally) The permanent President of EC: -  Since Lisbon Treaty -  Elected by the members -  Term in office 2,5 years, renewable once -  Sets the agenda and chairs meetings -  External representation -  Internal cohesion, facilitating consensus -  Presents a report to EP after each meeting Decision-making in EC: -  Frequency of meetings - twice every six months, in practice more often -  Conclusions adopted after each meeting -  Adopted by consensus 4 lOMoARcPSD|2444199 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|2444199 -  Conclusions not legally binding but factually they are considered as such -  No legislative functions -  But: power to take several legally binding decisions on the basis of specific Treaty provisions, e.g. appointment of the High Representative -  For such decisions, the President of EC and the President of COMM shall not take part in a vote -  Informal meetings of the heads of state or government (to have exchanges of views) -  Informal contacts between individual members or with the cabinet of EC’s president COMM: -  Original institution (High Authority ECSC) -  Represents the general interest of the Union -  Independent body -  Consisting of commissioners and a president -  Each commissioner has a portfolio (e.g. competition, energy) with a Directorate-general (civil servants) -  One member of the Commission per member state (27 in total) -  Originally 2 commissioners for the large member states -  Initiatives to limit the size of the Commission so far to no avail (effectively set aside) -  Difficult to create for each Commissioner a relevant portfolio COMM – membership: -  Term in office 5 years (aligned with electoral calendar of the European Parliament) -  MS decide who they want to suggest as ‘their’ Commission member -  Hearings with candidate members before EP -  Vote of consent from EP for COMM as a body (on that basis appointed by EC) -  COMM as a body responsible to EP; the EP can send home the whole COMM but not individual commissioners -  ‘Special’ members: o MostCommissionersarejustcommissioners o Vice-PresidentalsoknownasTheHighRepresentative o Executive Vice-President (appointed as such by the COMM President) o ThePresident COMM President – role: -  Internal role -  External role: representing COMM (before the EP) and representing EU -  Member of the EC -  After EP elections, EC proposes a candidate for COMM President to the EP; the EP has to elect this candidate COMM – tasks and responsibilities: -  Promote the general interest of EU -  Ensure and oversee the application of EU law (by MS) 5 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) o o o CEU consists of 1 minister from each MS ButministersareactingasmuchasrepresentativesoftheirMemberStatesas officers of the executive! Importantdifferencewithnationalsystemsistheexclusiverightofinitiativeofthe COMM to propose new legislation. EP: -  only directly elected EU institution -  705 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) -  Represents 447 million inhabitants 6 lOMoARcPSD|2444199 -  External representation -  Budgetary and management functions -  Other (coordinating) functions laid down in the Treaties -  Right of initiative in practice -  The content and timing of an initiative from COMM can often be traced back to conclusions of EC -  EC in its conclusions often makes specific requests to COMM to make use of its right of initiative EU’s dual executive: -  EC leads EU -  EC has the political authority, COMM has the right of initiative and a lot of expertise Lecture 3 - EU institutions II Institutional Balance : -  Complex institutional design: o needtoensurechecksandbalances o strikeabalancebetweenelectedandnon-electedinstitutions o balancebetweenEU-wideinterestsandnationalinterests -  EU institutions have to act within the limits of their respective powers in the context of a division of powers defined by the Treaties -  the institutional balance is maintained as long as every institution does not exceed its respective powers to the detriment of the others -  Maintaining the institutional balance is particularly important in the framework of the legislative procedure -  Strengthening role of EP throughout the history of the European integration – now on equal footing with CEU The Legislative Branch: -  EP: most resembling a national parliament – directly elected -  CEU: Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) -  Powers: o Legislative o Budgetary o Supervisory -  Seats – Strasbourg, Brussels, Luxembourg membership: EP – -  According to their political affinities → MEPs form political groups with a transnational character -  Each political group must: o CompriseMEPselectedfromatleast25%oftheMemberStates o Consistofatleast23MEPs o Holdregularmeetings&seminarstodeterminethemainprinciplesoftheir Transnational political groups: activity lOMoARcPSD|2444199 EP – -  elected for a term of 5 years by direct universal suffrage (right to all adult citizens to vote) in a free and secret ballot -  EU citizens e right to vote and to stand as candidates in elections to EP -  EC decides about the composition of EP -  Before Brexit - 751 MEPs, after Brexit - 705 MEPs -  Principle of ‘degressive proportionality’: The basic concept consists of assigning fewer seats to larger states than their corresponding proportion, in order to assign more seats to smaller states EP President: -  EP elects its President from among its members -  President is elected for a term of 2.5 years – renewable -  Functions (mainly organization and representation): o RepresentsEPtowardstheoutsideworld&theotherEUinstitutions o OverseestheworkofEPinitsconstituentbodiesaswellastheplenarydebates o SetsouttheEP’spointofviewineveryECmeetingconcerningthetopicsonthe agenda o SignstheEU’sbudgetadoptedbyEPtorenderitoperational o Signsthelegislativeactsadoptedundertheordinarylegislativeprocedure EP – -  The high point of the EP’s political activity -  plenary sittings represent the culmination of the legislative work done in committee and in the political groups -  forum where representatives of the citizens of the EU – the MEPs - take part in the EU’s decision-making and express their standpoint vis-à-a vis the COMM and CEU -  Meets in Strasbourg every month + additional part-sessions in Brussels The Plenary: 7 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) Delegations: EP – -  Formed by MEPs from any political group & any committee -  Intergroups are not formal bodies of the EP and therefore, they may not express EP’s opinion! -  Role of MEPs in intergroups: o toholdinformalexchangesofviewsonspecifictopics&promoteexchangeof views between MEPs & civil society Intergroups: EP – - Two main categories: o Legislative and budgetary functions o Politicalcontrol,supervisoryandconsultationpowers Legislative and budgetary power of EP: -  legislative functions jointly with the CEU -  ordinary legislative procedure 8 powers: lOMoARcPSD|2444199 o MEPsmaynotbelongtomorethanonepoliticalgroup o MEPscanchoosenottobelongtoanypoliticalgroupandbecomenonattached EP – -  MEPs are divided up among 26 specialized standing committees (to organise their work internally) -  Role of MEPs in committees: o Amend&adoptlegislativeproposals o DrawupreportspreparedonMEPs’owninitiative,tobepresentedintheplenary assembly o Organizehearingswithexperts o ScrutinizeotherEUinstitutions&bodies -  For each legislative proposal, the EP allocates a ‘rapporteur’ (MEP) in the relevant committee -  EP can set up: o Sub-committees & special temporary committees dealing with specific issues Committees: EP – -  Delegations: Official groups of MEPs who develop & maintain relations with the parliaments of non-EU countries, regions or organizations -  EP currently has 45 permanent delegations -  Every MEP is a member of a delegation & some belong to more than one -  Role of MEPs in delegations: o HelptorepresenttheUnionexternally o Promote in 3rd countries the EU’s fundamental values o Organize"inter-parliamentarymeetings"todiscussissuesdirectlywithelected representatives from the countries they focus on Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) - - CEU: - - - - - - - - - can bring an action to the CJEU against other Union institutions, bodies, agencies Acts or omissions of EP can also be challenged! “The Council of Ministers” Consists of ministers from Member States Convenes in 10 different council groups (council of interior ministers, justice ministers, etc.) Legislative power, together with the EP Budgetary power, together with the EP EC and CEU are the institutions of the European Union, but they have TOTALLY different functions consists of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, who may commit his/her government & cast its vote Ministers in CEU act on instruction from their government & represent their government’s interest BUT They also act as an institution of EU & should represent the EU’s interest → Frictions between the interests of EU & the national interests of the individual MS o o o Right to petition EP – on issues falling within Union competence and which affect the complainant directly EPelectstheEuropeanOmbudsmanwhoreceivescomplaintsaboutinstances of maladministration. Individuals may complain either directly or through an MEP. RighttoaddressEPinanyoftheofficiallanguagesofEUwithaquestion&to receive an answer in the same language Power to litigate of EP: CEU – membership: -  no fixed members in the Council -  10 different configurations depending on the policy area 9 lOMoARcPSD|2444199 -  special legislative procedure -  CEU and EP adopt EU budget Consultation power of EP: -  Special legislative procedure - Consultation and consent procedures -  EP does not legislate as in the ordinary legislative procedure Supervisory and Control power of EP: - Control over the executive: o Appointment&removalofCOMM o QuestionCOMM&receiveareply,orallyorinwriting o DiscussinopensessiontheannualgeneralreportsubmittedtoitbyCOMM o SetupaTemporaryCommitteeofInquiry–toinvestigateallegedcontraventions or maladministration in the implementation of EU law - Protecting interests of citizens, residents and legal persons registered in the EU: Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) o o o ElaboratesEU’sexternalactiononthebasisofstrategicguidelineslaiddownby EC Ensures that EU’s action is consistent IschairedbytheHighRepresentative lOMoARcPSD|2444199 -  The list of the configurations is determined by EC (except the General Affairs Council & the Foreign Affairs Council) -  Each country sends its minister or state secretary responsible for the relevant policy area -  The General Affairs Council: o EnsuresconsistencyintheworkofthedifferentCEUconfigurations o Prepares&ensuresfollow-uptomeetingsoftheEC,withthePresidentofEC and COMM o Responsibleforinstitutional,administrative&horizontalmatters - The Foreign Affairs Council: -  In addition to the General Affairs Council & the Foreign Affairs Council: o Economic&FinancialAffairs o Justice&HomeAffairs o Employment,SocialPolicy,Health&ConsumerAffairs o Agriculture&Fisheries o Environment o Competitiveness–includingInternalMarket,Industry,Research,Space o Education,Youth,Culture&Sport o Transport,Telecommunications&Energy -  NO hierarchy among the Council configurations! CEU President : -  CEU is chaired by a Presidency held by each Member State in turn for 6 months -  The order of the rotating presidency is decided by the EC -  Member States holding the presidency work together in 'trios‘ -  Roles: o Actingasanhonest&neutralbroker o PlanningandchairingmeetingsintheCEUanditspreparatorybodiessuchas COREPER –> safeguarding the rules of procedure o RepresentingtheCEUinrelationswiththeotherUnioninstitutions–facilitating agreement on legislative initiatives o WorkinginclosecoordinationwiththePresidentofEC&theHighRepresentative CEU – powers: -  Legislative and budgetary powers -  Coordination of MS policies -  Concluding international agreements -  Foreign & security policy 10 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|2444199 Coordination of MS policies: - Economic & fiscal policies: o DraftsbroadguidelinesontheEconomicPoliciesofMSandofEUbasedona COMM recommendation o MScoordinatetheireconomicpolicieswithinCEU o CEUmonitorsMSbudgetarypolicies -  Tasks of CEU under economic policy coordination are vaguely defined → informal decisions raise concerns with regard to their democratic character -  Employment: o CEUadoptsannualGuidelinesontheEmploymentPolicyforMSbasedonthe EC conclusions on the employment situation in EU -  Education, vocational training, youth and sport: o CEUadoptsrecommendationsbasedonCOMMproposals Concluding International Agreements: - Provides the mandate to the Commission to negotiate on behalf of the Union, agreements between: o The EU & non-EU states o TheEU&internationalorganizations - Adopts the final decision to conclude the agreement, once EP has given its consent (required in areas set forth in the Treaties) and it has been ratified by all MS Foreign and Security Policy: -  Together with the High Representative, CEU ensures the unity, consistency and effectiveness of the EU's external action -  Defines and implements EU’s foreign and security policy following the guidelines provided by the EC -  Can launch EU crisis management actions, both civil and military, to pursue EU's objectives of peace & security -  Can adopt measures to implement the EU's foreign & security policy, including sanctions CEU – decision-making: -  Once a COMM proposal is received → text examined simultaneously by COU and EP (“reading”) -  At each reading, the proposal passes through 3 stages in COU: o WorkingParty(→technicalscrutiny) o PermanentRepresentatives(COREPER)(→technicalexpertise+political consideration) o CEUconfiguration(→politicalresponsibilityatministers’level) COREPER: - CEU’s main preparatory body - Purpose: o toensurepermanentpresenceofMSinBrussels 11 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|2444199 o ensure link between the national governments & EU institutions - Composition: o COREPER II (Permanent Representative of a MS to the EU) o COREPER I (Deputy Permanent Representative of a MS to the EU) -  COREPER II: ‘high politics’ – Foreign Affairs, Economic and Financial Affairs, Justice and Home Affairs, General Affairs -  COREPER I: ‘low politics’ – Agriculture and Fisheries, Employment, Social Policy; Competitiveness, Education and other CEU configurations -  They are assisted by several working groups composed by civil servants from the MSs chaired by a representative of the MS holding the Presidency of CEU -  Tasks: o CloselyfollowEU’sactivitiesonadailybasis o PreparetheworkofCEU&carryouttasksgivenbyit -  No formal decision-making power - but strong influence on CEU -  A COMM proposal for a legislative act arrives first to the COREPER & usually ends up in one of its working groups, where the real negotiations take place CEU – voting: -  Unanimity – all Member States in favor, usually used under special legislative procedures -  Simple majority – 14 Member States in favor, usually used for procedural issues -  Qualified majority – the general voting rule under the ordinary legislative procedure: o At least 55% of MS (15) & representing at least 65% of the EU population, vote in favor o Toblockadecision-atleast4CEUmembersareneeded,35%ofthepopulation -  A member of CEU may only act on the behalf of one other member CEU can vote only if a majority of its members are present Lecture 4 – Competences of the EU The European Legal Order: -  often associated with: o territorialstate o hierarchyofnormsthatgoverntheexerciseofpublicpower o therelationsbetweenthecitizensandvis-à-vistheexecutive -  Constitutions are constituting the state, creating a legal order withing which the state can operate -  No EU constitution per -  Instead→ MSs who have decided to transfer some of their powers to an international legal body through Treaties -  the EU’s legal actions are – even if only theoretically – only as effective as the MSs’ legal orders allow them to be 12 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) - CJEU has stated and reiterated that there is a European legal order that sets aside whatever national rules exist EU Constitutional Structure: -  Founding values and aims - Articles 2+3 TEU -  Democratic principles - Articles 9-12 TEU -  Basic Principles of Law - Articles 4-6 TEU -  Economic Freedoms - Article 18 TFEU -  Horizontal Requirements - Articles 8-17 TFEU Basic Principles of EU Law: -  Principle of conferral of competence -  Requires respect for EU’s actions: o o o Subsidiarity and proportionality Fundamentalrights Nationalidentity Advertising I lOMoARcPSD|2444199 - Effectiveness: o Principle of sincere cooperation o PrincipleofprimacyofEULaw Principle of Conferral: -  EU can only act if the Treaties explicitly authorize it to do so -  there must always be a legal basis for EU action→ no Treaty base = no grounds to act Principle of Conferral – legal basis: - Requirement that all EU measures must have a legal basis is important for two reasons: o Materialsafeguard:ensuresEUdoesnotoverstepitscompetencesbytaking action in areas where it is not authorized to do so o Proceduralsafeguard:TFEUprescribesdifferentdecision-makingprocedures and varying degrees of institutional involvement for EU action depending on the area in question Issues determined by legal basis: -  The field in which EU action is possible -  The type of act that is made -  The procedure to be followed -  Rarely: degree or type of harmonization Principle of Conferral – Breach – Action for annulment: -  a lack of competence to act→ the CJEU can annul EU secondary legislation -  Action for annulment must be instituted within two months of the publication of the measure -  If the CJEU annuls an EU law this law is declared to be void→ see case Tobacco 13 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) in particular - Lisbon Treaty: lOMoARcPSD|2444199 Principle of Conferral – classification of competences Principle of Conferral – Exercise of EU Competences: -  Important principles governing use of EU competences: o Principleofsubsidiarity(onlynon-exclusivecompetences) o Principleofproportionality -  Guidelines concerning their practical application: o ProtocolNo1ontheroleofthenationalParliamentsintheEU o ProtocolNo2ontheprinciplesofsubsidiarityandproportionality Principle of Conferral – Subsidiarity: -  The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality govern the exercise of the EU’s competences -  In areas of non-exclusive competences → safeguards the ability of the MSs to take decisions and action and authorizes intervention by the EU when the objectives of an action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the MS, but can be better achieved at Union level -  The purpose of including a reference to the principle in the EU Treaties is also to ensure that powers are exercised as close to the citizen as possible -  there are 3 preconditions for intervention by EU institutions: o theareaconcernedEU’snon-exclusivecompetence o objectivesofproposedactioncan’tbesufficientlyachievedbyMSs o tactioncanthusbeimplementedmoresuccessfullybytheEU -  applies only to areas of shared competences -  applies to all the EU institutions and has practical significance for legislative procedures 14 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|2444199 o introducedanexplicitreferencetothesubnationaldimensionoftheprinciple o strengthenedroleoftheEuropeanCommitteeoftheRegions o madeitpossible,atthediscretionofnationalparliaments,forregional parliaments with legislative powers to be involved in the ex ante ‘early warning’ mechanism (=any national parliament or any chamber of a national parliament has 8 weeks from the date of forwarding of a draft legislative act to send to the Presidents of the EP, the CEU and the COMM a reasoned opinion stating why it considers that the draft in question does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity) -  Compliance with the principle of subsidiarity may be reviewed retrospectively -  MSs and European Committee of the Regions may bring actions for annulment against a legislative act on grounds of infringement of the principle of subsidiarity on behalf of their national parliament or a chamber thereof Principle of Conferral – Proportionality: -  the content and form of EU action must not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties -  Applies in all cases (exclusive + non-exclusive competences) -  restricts authorities in the exercise of their powers by requiring them to strike a balance between the means used and the intended aim -  requires that advantages due to limiting the right are not outweighed by the disadvantages to exercise the right → the limitation on the right must be justified -  A pre-condition is that the measure is adequate to achieve the envisaged objective Lecture 5 – Legal Instruments Hierarchy of norms: -  Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights -  General Principles of EU law -  Legislative Acts – (Regulations and Directives) -  Non-legislative Acts (Delegated Acts and Implementing Acts) Treaties: -  New Treaties represent a significant change in the EU -  Constitutional building blocks of the EU -  Every power that the EU has ultimately is given to it by the Treaties -  MSs as ‘Masters of the Treaties’ – using them to set up institutional structures they are participating in EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: -  ‘The same legal value as the Treaties.’ -  Many different fundamental rights -  Many conventional 1st generation rights -  A number of 2nd and 3rd generation rights 15 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|2444199 - A number of rights from elsewhere in the EU as Fundamental Rights General Principles of EU Law: -  Creation of the EU Judicial System -  All developed legal systems involve some principles of judicial review -  ‘Lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of the Treaties or any rule of law relating to their application, or misuse of powers -  Many examples throughout EU law including some significant principles: o Proportionality o FundamentalRights o LegalCertainty o LegitimateExpectations o Equality o ThePrecautionaryPrinciple o ProceduralJustice -  Treaty provisions are interpreted in the light of General Principles -  Can’t strike down Treaty provisions -  Used as a ground to assess, review and interpret legislation and EU acts -  Create a more functional legal system, especially initially -  Build up a system of judicial review Regulations: -  ‘Directly Applicable’ -  Binding in their entirety -  Just becomes part of national legal systems -  Does not require any measures incorporating it into national law -  Approximate to legislation made by MS -  When legislators want to do something that doesn’t require particular different implementation or flexibility from Member States -  Regulation (EU) 2015/478 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2015 on common rules for imports -  GDPR Directives: -  Binding as to the effect to be achieved while leaving some choice as to form and method to the Member States -  Ends to be met laid out in considerable detail -  MS have different legal systems that function differently -  Goals require specific legal responses -  Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights Decisions: - Binding on those they are addressed to EUMS, individuals 16 Gedownload door emmanuella gulijeva ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|2444199 -  Directly Applicable -  Something targeting one specific group/state Soft Law: -  Recommendations – non-binding, allows institutions to make their suggestions known without imposing legal obligations -  Opinions - non-binding, allows institutions to make their opinions known without imposing legal obligations -  Policy guidelines – how they will implement something -  Open Method of Coordination -  Wide variety of creatively-named instruments -  Generally considered to be a useful part of the toolbox -  Generally something relatively common in most legal systems Legislative Acts: -  Legal acts adopted by the legislative procedure -  Very formalistic -  Regulations, Directives, sometimes Decisions -  Default is that it’s the Ordinary Legislative Procedure, could be Special Legislative Procedure Non-legislative Acts: -  ‘Non-legislative acts of general application’ -  Non-legislative in the formal sense that they do not go through the legislative procedure -  Similar to ‘secondary legislation’ in a national legal system -  Delegated Acts -  Implementing Acts -  Implementing powers conferred to the European Commission -  Made pursuant to any legally-binding Union act