EU law Flashcards

1
Q

European commission - institution of the EU

A

Made up of one commissioner from each member state

Each commissioner appointed for a 5 year term

Each commissioner head department with special responsibility of Union policy

Put forward proposals for new law to be adopted by parliament and council

EU commission is the guardian of treaties and ensures treaty provisions are properly implemented

Responsible for administration and supervise budgets

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2
Q

European parliament - institution of the EU

A

Parliament member are elected by member states every 5 years with the number of MEPs reflecting member states population size

Meet about once a month for sessions that last up to a week

Has a standing committee which discusses proposals made by the commission

Decides on international agreements whether to admit new member states and reviews the commission work programme

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3
Q

Council of the EU - institution of the EU

A

The principal law making and decision making body

Amends, negotiates and adopts laws with the parliaments based on suggestions from the commission

The government of each member state sends a representative to sit on the council, usually their foreign minister

Member states take turns to provide a president for the council for a 6 month period

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4
Q

The court of justice of the EU - institution of the EU

A

Judges are appointed from the highest judicial posts in member states or who are leading academic lawyers

Each judge is appointed for a 6 year term and can be re-appointed for another 6 years

The court sits in Luxembourg and has 1 judge from each member state

Court’s function is to ensure that interpretation and application of treaties observe the law =

Courts function done by hearing cases about whether a member state has failed to fulfil its obligations/ hearing cases from national courts for preliminary rulings on points of EU law

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5
Q

Sources of EU law - treaties, regulations and directives

A

Treaties - Primary source of legislation that affects all member states
- Example = Treaty of Rome 1957, established the common market

Regulations - form of secondary legislation that applies to all member states in same way as treaties
- Example = unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations 1994

Directives - form of secondary legislation that sets out a goal that all EU countries must achieve in a time frame
- member states must write their own laws to achieve the goal
- Example = the consumer rights directive

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6
Q

Supremacy of EU law

A

EU law takes precedence over the national law of every member state - first established in Van Gend en Loos 1963 (no member states can rely on its own law if it’s in conflict with EU law)

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7
Q

Direct affect - impacts of EU law

A

A EU law that an individual can rely on as authority for their case

Applies for law in treaties and regulations - established in Van Gend en Loos 1963

Under EU law member states have to implement EU directives into their own legislation - if they fail within time limit, have breached obligation

A claimant can sue their member state for damages for failing to implement the directive (Frankovich v Italian Republic)

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8
Q

Types of Direct affect - impacts of EU law

A

Vertical direct effect - is when the individual can claim against an emanation of a state when a directive hasn’t been implemented (Marshall v Southampton health authority)

Horizontal direct effect - an individual can rely on the law to claim against another individual or business
- Duke v GEC reliance, claimant can’t rely on directive as other party was a private business

Indirect effect - where a member state has failed to implement a directive either correctly or not at all

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