Legal Order Flashcards
structure of EU law
treaties
legislation
delegated / implementing acts
there are different types of treaties
TEU (Treaty on European Union)
TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)
CHARTER on Fundamental Rights
treaty on european union
how to join / leave EU
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
organizing of the EU, policies etc.
charter on fundamental rights
human rights charter
treaties
everything starts with treaties
legislation is based on treaties
implementing acts are based on legislation
Three fundamental principles of EU law which delimit the powers and competences of the EU
principle of conferred powers
principle of subsidiarity
principle of proportionality
principle of conferred powers
the member states give power to the EU which does things in favour of the member states
the EU can only act if the article directly says so
the EU have exclusive competence in multiple areas, in some there are shared competences
in that case member states may adopt their own policies as long as the EU has not done so
complementary competence
the EU can do actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the member states, like on tourism, education, culture etc.
shared competence
in most areas the dividing line is not clear and the EU and MS are both competent to regulate the relevant sector.
Member states may adopt their own policies as long as the EU has not
done so.
exclusive competence
EU alone is competent to regulate the relevant sector, member states may exercise legislative powers only if empowered to do so
customs union, monetary policy, marine biological resources, commercial policy
principle of subsidiarity
Under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level
= Specifically, it is the principle whereby the EU does not take action (except in the areas that fall within its exclusive jurisdiction), unless it is more effective than action taken at the national, regional or local level.
principle of proportionality
under the principle of proportionality, the content and form of the Union action shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve tje objectives of the Treaties
the treaty articles must have a legal basis: provisions which give the uion the competence to legislate
= seeks to set actions taken by European Union (EU) institutions within specified bounds
legal basis
provisions which give the Union the competence to legislate
they also specify the decisoin-making procedure
legal instruments
regulation
decision
directive
Regulations most common, followed by Decisions and Directives
Communications, white papers, recommendations, etc: these are not legally binding
regulation
= verordening
direct effect, general application, most common
decision
= besluiten
direct effect, applies only to its adressees
directive
= richtlijnen
needs to be transposed into national law
3 types of procedures before the Court of Justice
infringement procedure
action to annul
preliminary reference procedure
infringement procedure
when failure to fulfil an obligation as a result of action or inaction
the EC beings member states to court, most of them are because of missing the directive
procedure has two phases:
administrative & juducial
administrative phase infringement procedure
letter of formal notice, the reasoned opinion
action to annul
declaring a piece of legislation invalid
this is only if you are directly targeted by an EU decision
mostly institutions / member states can bring an action to annul, exceptionally also citizens / companies
preliminary reference procedure
issues that can be referred:
the interpretation of the Treaties
the validty / interpretation of legal acts of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union
when no answer in preliminary reference procedure
the question is irrelevant
the answer has been given already in another case (“acte éclairé”)
the answer is obvious (“acte clair”)
