chapter 4 Flashcards
Legal instruments in the EU
- Regulations –> shall have general application, shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the member states.
- Directives –> shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each member state to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods
- Decisions –> shall be binding in its entirety. A decision which specifies those to whom it is addressed shall be binding only on them.
- Recommendations and opinions have no binding force
What is a Directive’s key characteristic?
It sets goals that member states must achieve but allows them to decide how to implement them.
What is qualified majority voting in the Council?
- A proposal is supported by at least 55% of the member states.
- This majority represents at least 65% of the EU population
- In order to block a decision at least four member states must vote against and represent 35% of EU
The community method
is a way of making decisions in which the EU’s supranational institutions (Commission, EP) play an important role
The intergovernmental method
is a way of making decisions in which member state governments play a central role.
The Open Method of Coordination (OMC)
is a mechanism which aims at convergence of member state policies through a process of benchmarking and policy learning
The OMC works in four steps:
- The Council determines the objective to be achieved in an area
- Indicators are established for measuring the attainment of those objectives
- Each member state formulates an action plan for reaching the objectives
- Based on those indicators, the performance of each member state is benchmarked (that is, it is
assessed and compared to the performance of other member states).
Enhanced cooperation
is a procedure through which a group of EU member states can adopt legislation (or a decision under the CFSP) that only applies to them and not to the other member states
