The UK and EU Flashcards
Origins
Treaty of Rome 1957 established the European Economic Community
It began in economics but planned to have an ‘ever growing involvement’, so EU intervention is not that suprising
Institutions
The European Council = a meeting of all heads of countries
The Council of Ministers = main legislative body
The Commission = main executove body
The Court of Justice = Supreme Court
The Parliament = elected by European voters
The European Central Bank = sets interest rates, issues the euro, and regulates the banks
Enforcement of EU law
Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Berlastingen = national judges enforce the law
Costa v ENEL = EU law has primacy over national law
= The UK joined knowing these cases had already occured, so knew whta they were signing up to
Simmenthal = any national court can set aside legisaltion, so even the employment tribunal
Cases = primarcy of EU law
- Factortame: Merchant and Shipping Act 1988 prevented Spanish fishers from fishing in UK waters, which was economic discrimination under EU law, HoL held that teh M&S Act would be set aside as it did not comply with EU law
- Thoburn: Weights and Measurements Act 1985 held that the imperial system could be used, whilst EU held that the metric system must be used and any other system secondarily, this case concerned whether the 1985 Act implied repealed the European Communities Act 1972 [as the UK’s system is a flat constitutional landscape where all statutes are equal], the court held that it did not as tehre are certain ‘constitutional statues’ that cannot be implied repealed, they require express clear words = the court presume that parliament will not repeal the ECA unless using express words
- Marleasing case = national law must be interpreted in light of the objectives of EU law
Cases = Margain of appreciation
Wiggle room to defy
German constitutional court = isf there was a clash between core constitutional norms and EU law, than they would not give primacy to EU law
R v Horncastle = hearsay evidence case - the SC declined to follow EU law
A legal revolution vs. Brexit
Wade = a revoluntionary change in the system
Miller 1 = Article 50 must be enacted by Parliament, not PM, as they enacted the European Communities Act 1972
The Law after Brexit
- The Retained EU Act 2023 = kept much EU law in force
- Ministers can issue ministerial orders to amend EU legislation = immense power to the executive as much of our law is derived from the EU
Lipton v BA City Flyer = Where the facts arose pre-Brexit day they could be dealt with under CJEU ruling, if after then the CJEU rulings would be merely persausive
The Northern Ireland Issue
Dillion v SoS for Northern Ireland = amnesty agreement to drop investigations on both sides who were killed in the Troubles vs. EU directives on protection of victims meant that this had primacy over the Act
