Retained EU law 1

Question 1

what are they key institutions that make EU law?

Answer 1

council of EU, European council, European Commission, European Parliament

Question 2

what is the council of EU?

Answer 2

consists of one governmental ministerial rep from each member states dependent on what topic is being discussed

responsible for coordinating general economic policies of the member states

big part in legislative process

qualified majority voting system- must be obtained for a law to be passed- usually 55% of member states (15 out of 27) which must represent at least 65% of population of the EU

Question 3

what is the European Council?

Answer 3

comprises the heads of state or government of member states- in the UK it is Prime Minister rather than king

makes political decisions and establishes policy guidelines and instructs either council of EU or European Commission to implement these decisions

Question 4

what is the European commission?

Answer 4

main function is to propose new EU law and to ensure that member states comply with their obligations

known as guardian of the treaties

Question 5

what is the European Parliament?

Answer 5

only directly elected EU institution

creation of EU law

votes by way of simply majority

Question 6

what are the two types of creating EU law?

Answer 6

ordinary legislative procedure and special legislative procedure

Question 7

what is OLP

Answer 7

most common, more democratic

gives significant role to European P which has power to propose amendments and to vito draft legislation

gives more power to more democratic institution

Question 8

what is the SLP?

Answer 8

consultation procedure and consent procedure

consultation- council must merely consult with EP and can ignore hat they want

consent- new law can be passed if both EP and the council agree

Question 9

what is the ECJ?

Answer 9

highest court in the EU legal system- supreme authority on EU law

ECJ judges and Advocate General - one judge appointed from each member state- usually ECJ has 5 judges on a case

advocate general is court officer who gives reasoned opinion about the case but judges do not have to follow this but they usually do

Question 10

does ECJ follow common law?

Answer 10

no- it is a civil law system which based on written code/texts- lays down principles the law is based on

TFEU- code for EU setting out law in general terms a framework treaty which is then filled in by secondary legislation

Question 11

what does the ECJ do?

Answer 11

5 key functions:

Interpret EU law
Enforce EU law
Declare EU law invalid
Ensure EU takes action
Sanction an EU institution

Question 12

what is direct effect?

Answer 12

individuals enforce their rights in the national court not the ECJ

treat articles/EU regulations are directly applicable (EU law automatically forms part of national law without the MS having to do anything)

direct effect= EU law gives rights to individuals which they can enforce in their national courts

Question 13

what are treaty articles?

Answer 13

Van Gend en Loos- treaty article can have direct effect and gives rights to individuals when it is clear, precise and unconditional

Question 14

what is vertical direct effect?

Answer 14

EU law can be enforced against the state- Van Gend en Loos

Question 15

what is horizontal direct effect?

Answer 15

EU law can be enforced against a private organisation- Defrenne v SABENA

Question 16

can regulations have vertical and horizontal direct effect?

Answer 16

yes

Question 17

do directives have direct effect?

Answer 17

they can- Van Duyn v Home Office- provided they meet the test in Van Gend en loos AND the deadline for implementation must have expired - cannot rely upon a directive otherwise

directives don’t have horizontal- Faccini Dori

Question 18

what is an emanation of the state?

Answer 18

any body which provides public service under control of the government

Foster v British Gas- emanation of state has 3 main features:

provides public service under a statutory duty (created by the gov)
under control of the state (industry has to be subject to state rules and regulations)
it has special powers (something gov would usually do)

not all 3 are necessary in UK cases but need to have number 1 AND either 2 or 3