PLACE OF EU IN UK CONSTITUTION Flashcards
Institutions of EU
*European Council
*Council of the European Union—
*European Commission—
*European Parliament
*Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’)
European Council
—formed of the heads of government
of each member state.
*Council of the European Union
sometimes called the
Council of Ministers, it meets in 10 diferent subject con-
fgurations, such as foreign afairs, agriculture, transport,
and environment, to consider issues in that subject area.
Each member state nominates a minister to attend each
confguration, so all transport ministers meet, all foreign
ministers meet, and so on. Ministers attending have pow-
er to make decisions on behalf of their government.
European Commission
formed by a representative from
each member state who acts as a commissioner. Togeth-
er the commissioners efectively create the ‘executive’
of the EU. The Commission develops policy initiatives as
mandated by the treaties, making proposals for legisla-
tion where necessary.
European Parliament
—formed by elected representa-
tives from each member state and, in conjunction with
the Council of the European Union, plays a key part in
approving and amending proposed regulations and
directives.
Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’)
—provides the authoritative interpretation of EU law. It mainly
achieves this by answering questions on points of EU law
it receives from the courts of member states through a
process known as the preliminary reference procedure.
EU Law
- treaties
- secondary legislation
- supremacy of EU Law
treaties
the EU was founded by the TEU (Treaty on European Union) and TFEU(the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). These provide for the core rules of the EU, establishing and setting out the powers of the institutions and the EU’s key objectives
Secondary Legislation
created by EU insitutions
The two main categories of secondary legislation are regula-
tions and directives.These allow for more detailed legislation that seeks to achieve the objectives laid out generally in the
treaties.
Regulations
Regulations are automatically binding on member states and are directly applicable, which means that they become the
law of the member states without making any further enact-
ment in their legal systems.
Directives
Directives are binding on member states only with respect
to the result that needs to be achieved. This means that
member states implement the objectives of the directive by
making the necessary changes to their own domestic law.
Supremacy of EU Law
if a provision of the domestic law of a member
state conficts with EU law, then the member state courts are
required to give efect to EU law over domestic law.
Direct Effect
Related to the concept of supremacy is the principle of direct efect. Under the principle of direct efect, certain provisions
of EU law (including EU treaty provisions) can directly be
relied upon by EU citizens in the courts of member states
without the need to rely on domestic law
There are two require-ments for a provision of EU law to have direct efect:
- It must be** clear and precis**e, meaning that the provision must not leave the member state with any fexibility in
how to apply or implement the law; and
2.It must be unconditional, in the sense that the provision
must not depend on the discretion or judgment of a pub-
lic authority.
the European Communities Act 1972
- The UK joined the EU in 1973. To give efect to this, the UK
enacted the European Communities Act 1972 (‘ECA 1972’), which made EU law a source of law in the UK legal system. - Under the ECA 1972, laws that were automatically binding
under EU law, such as regulations and provisions of the trea-
ties that have direct efect, automatically became part of UK
law via the ECA 1972. - In addition, the ECA 1972 gave the government powers to implement EU directives into UK law by passing secondary legislation. Sometimes, the UK has even implemented directives through passing primary legislation.
