EU Constitutional Law - Lecture 2 - Constitutional Evolution of the EU II

Question 1

What was the structure of the EU after Maastricht ( in force 1993)?

Answer 1

Three pillars:
1. Customs union, internal market, joint agricultural policy, environmental policy, EMU etc.
2. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
3. Co-operation in the areas of justice and home affairs

Question 2

What impact did the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) have on the organisation and the three pillars?

Answer 2

EEC renamed the European Community (dealing with more stuff than economic matters e.g. labour law)
Supranationalised JHA
New three pillars:
1. European Communities (ECSC, EEC, Euroatom)
2. CFSP
3. Political and judicial co-operation

Question 3

What was the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009)?

Answer 3

Key point = The main treaties remain but the main organisations are replaced
- Existing EU disappears and is replaced by a new EU
- European Communities disappears and the new EU takes over its roles

Question 4

What pillar system do we have now?

Answer 4

Two pillar system:
1. EU
2. CFSP

Question 5

What happened in November 2009?

Answer 5

• At a meeting of European Council, first permanent President of the European Council chosen (now Charles Michel since 2019) instead of alternating six month presidency by MS
• first High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Basically a Minister for Foreign Affairs; crisis e.g. Iraq or Syrian crises – MS do their own thing e.g. Hungary and Slovakia with Ukraine
  (now Josep Borrell since 2019)

Question 6

What countries have candidate status?

Answer 6

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia

Question 7

What are the 5 main latest crises?

Answer 7

1. 2008-2013 Economic Crisis
2. Brexit
3. Rule of Law Crisis
4. Covid 19
5. The War in Ukraine

Question 8

How did the EU respond to the 2008-2013 economic crisis?

Answer 8

Main response = Bailouts
Other elements of reaction:
* March 2011 - Euro Plus Pact agreed by 23 of 27 EU states.
* 11 July 2011 - European Stability Mechanism Treaty signed (in force Sept 2012, commenced operations Oct 2012)  created bailout fund with lending capacity of €500 billion.
* November 2011  ‘six pack’ of legislation on economic governance adopted. (involves very close budgetary coordination)
* May 2013 - ‘two pack’ of legislation on economic governance adopted. (involves very close budgetary coordination)
* March 2012 - Fiscal Stability Treaty signed by all states except UK and Czech Republic
* European Banking Union (EBU) (initiated 2012) - Banking policy at EU level to avoid a crises cycle

Question 9

What are the two main elements of the EBU and the main proposed element?

Answer 9

• Single Supervisory Mechanism (since 2014) - Gives the European Central Bank supervisory power over EU banks
• Single Resolution Mechanism (since 2016) - Gives Single Resolution Board power to restructure banks failing or likely to fail
• European Deposit Insurance Scheme (proposed 2015) -Draft scheme to protect retail deposits in the banking union – Up to €100,00 in Ireland and then EU guarantees – Missing piece
  (May in future complete the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union)

Question 10

What is the legal basis for being allowed to leave the EU?

Answer 10

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (Inserted in Lisbon in 2009)

Question 11

What is the procedure once Article 50 has been triggered?

Answer 11

• Tell European Council
• Agreement negotiated - Concluded by Council with qualified majority with EP permission
• Treaties no longer apply to MS after agreed date or 2 years after notification
• Article 49

Question 12

What’s the relationship between the rule of law and the TEU?

Answer 12

Preamble and Article 2 - EU value
Article 7(1) - Risk of serious breach by MS of Article 2 values (4/5 of the Council with EP consent if 1/3 MS, EC or EP proposal)
Article 7(2) - Unanimous European Council if EC or 1/3 MS proposal with EP consent - Questions and existence of breach
Article 7(3) - Qualified majority Council - Suspend certain treaty rights, including voting rights
- Problems with those provisions

Question 13

How did the EU respond to the Covid 19 crisis?

Answer 13

• Health Measures European Health Policy e.g. vaccines being acquired by the EU
• Next Generation EU initiative (involves Commission borrowing up to €750 billion in the financial markets) including
• Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) worth €672.5 billion (€360 billion loans and €312.5 billion grants) – Necessary to keep EU together
• March 2020 launch of ECB’s (EU institution in 2009) €750 billion (essentially printing money by buying bonds) Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme

Changes - MS borrowing joint bonds, federal deficit - Emergency fiscal transfers

Question 15

Explain 3 other implications of Covid 19

Answer 15

1. Financial conditionality - ROL
2. EU ‘own resources’ increase needed
3. Reform of fiscal (tax and spending rules) after relaxation

Question 16

Name 5 general implications of the War in Ukraine for the EU?

Answer 16

1. More candidate countries
2. Military assistance provided by the EU for the first time
3. Large scale refugee crisis
4. Issues with unanimity voting and the CFSP
5. ROL implications - Hungary blocking Ukraine aid

Question 17

How did the War in Ukraine impact defence and security policy?

Answer 17

• March 2022  ‘Strategic Compass for Security and Defence’ adopted.
• ‘European Peace Facility’ deployed for the first time in February 2022
   by April €1.5 billion provided for equipment for Ukrainian army.
• Individual MS reactions

Question 18

How did the war in Ukraine impact asylum and migration?

Answer 18

• Open-door policy – Ukrainian refugees
• Council deploys Temporary Protection Directive (Directive 2001/55) for the first time

Question 19

How did the war in Ukraine impact energy?

Answer 19

• More US co-operation
• March 2022 - Member States commit to phasing out dependency on Russian gas
• May 2022 - European Commission proposes REP? PowerEU:

Question 20

Explain 3 problems related to these crises.

Answer 20

• Immigration and asylum –> long delay in adopting EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, contrasts with reaction re Ukrainian refugees
• Energy supply and security  failure to centralise negotiation of supply contracts; Contrasts with vaccines during COVID-19; failure to negotiate price caps, limited progress on sanctions
• Hungarians and Poles continue to be problematic regarding rule of law

Question 21

Explain 3 long term problems for the EU

Answer 21

1. Limited competencies e.g. energy policy Art 194(2) TFEU
2. Unanimity rule
3. Limited financial resources