LESSON 3: EUROPEANISATION OF LAW.
3.0. THE EUROPEAN UNION.
European Union (EU):
•Political and economic union of 28 member states.
•Internal single market.
•Free movement of people, goods, services and capital.
•Common legislation and justice (in some affairs).Common policies trade: agriculture,
fisheries, regional development.
•Monetary union: 19 EU member states.
•Origins:
–European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC): Treaty of Paris 1951.
–European Economic Community (EEC): Treaty of Rome 1957.
Legal system in EU:
•Treaties (*) (origins: Treaty of Paris 1951 and Treaty of Rome 1957).
•Acts:
–Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force,
without the requirement for any implementing measures and automatically override
conflicting domestic provisions.
–Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them
discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be
implemented are left to member states. When the time limit for implementing
directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national
law against member states.
–Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal
acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member
state.
•Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any
formal hierarchy.
•The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the
EU member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis.
•They establish the various institutions together with their remit, procedures and
objectives.
•The EU can only act within the competences granted to it through these treaties and
