Gedetailleerde samenvatting hoorcolleges + boek Europees Recht deel 1
37 views 1 purchase
Course
European Law
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
In dit bestand vind je een gedetailleerde samenvatting van de hoorcolleges van het vak Europees recht deel 1 en toevoegingen daaraan, waar nodig, uit het boek 'Europees recht: Engelstalige literatuur'. Bovendien staan hier de benodigde arresten in verwerkt. Voor het open-boek tentamen in 2020 heb i...
LECTURE OUTLINE
Evolution of the EU:
- Origins and objectives
- Sources of the eu law
EU institutions:
- What are the main institutions and what is their composition? (4)
- What is their function/tasks?
- To whom are they accountable
- Intergovernmentalism (internal governments do the decision making) vs
supranationalism (governments of states have delegated powers to
supranational states to make decisions)
Evolution of the EU
3 lines:
1) Substantive developments:
- Increasing competences (bevoegdheden) on education, transport,
energy etc
- From mostly economical to political
2) Geographical developments:
- 6 MS (1957) to 28 (2013) or 27 (2020?)
- with more MS EU is becoming conglomerate institution
3) Institutional developments:
- Role of the institutions
- Questions about the power of smaller and bigger MS
- Legitimacy: democracy?, human rights and rule of law (implies that
everybody, also law-makers, are subject to law)
,> These 3 lines are closely intertwined
INTERGOVERNMENTALISM VERSUS SUPRANATIONALISM
The EU has elements of both
1) Intergovernmentalism (states/national governments are the primary
actors in the integration process (of Europe becoming a union):
- Member states are above the EU
- Decision-taking by unanimity (veto’s of the MS)
- Power rests with the Council (= national ministers) or the European
Council (=heads of State and Government)
- Initiative with the Member States
- Limited (consultative) role for the EP, just legislative
- No (or limited) review by CJEU
2) Supranationalism (negotiated power is delegated to an authority placed
higher than the states)
- the EU institutions are above the member states
- Decision taking by majority (no veto’s)
- Power divided between Commission, Council and EP
- Parliament ‘co-decides’ with the Council ‘ordinary legislative
procedure’
- initiative rests with Commission
- Full review by CJEU
EU’s
Supranational elements:
- Decision-Making by qualified majority
- Ordinary legislative procedure
- Commission, EP and CJEU
Intergovernmental elements:
- EU council
- unanimity
- opt-outs (when a given country does not wish to join the others in a
particular field of EU policy; ie england with schengen)
- Common Foreign and Security policy
- Treaty Amendments
Evolution towards Supranationalism
European Parliament gained power with every treaty amendment (cooperation,
co-decision, ordinary legislative procedure)
- Direct universal suffrage for EP
- European Parliament also got increased control over the Commission
(dismissal, approval and even proposing Spitzenkandidaten)
- > the Spitzenkandidaten- Process (since 2014, didn’t need an Treaty
Amendment because the Lisbon treaty left interpretation-space) is the
process where the Political Parties of the EP elect the candidates for the
, role of the Commission President (this can improve the participation of
citizens to vote for the EP, since the commission is the executive of the
EU; this proposedly also gives the EC more democratic legitimacy)
instead of the candidates being proposed by the European council to
the EP.
EU HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED THROUGH TREATIES (= Primary law)
- Original founding treaties (ECSC, EEC)
- Accession Treaties: art 49 TEU; A European state does application >
Council must consult the Commission > and EP (majority) must give its
consent > Council must then take an unanimous decision based on the
‘Copenhagen criteria’ (= is the state qualified enough to join?) >>>
Accession treaty, which must be ratified by all MS and future MS
- Amending treaties
- ‘Ordinary’ revision procedure: art 48 (2) - (4) TEU > takes a LONG
time to enforce because of the long and difficult process; initiative,
proposal is considered in convention of the institutions, MS have to
agree
- ‘Simplified’ Treaty revision procedure: art 48 (6) TEU > used for
functioning of the EU, NOT to obtain new power; only needs
approval of the MS
- And Charter of Fundamental rights
>> all of these need 28 (now 27) ratifications with its difficulties! (role of national
parliaments)
ORIGINS OF THE EU
- FYI: The rise of nationalism caused two world wars
Treaty of versaille: punished germany economically and politically > resulted in
WW2
- After this WW, EU-now countries wanted lasting peace on this continent.
- They realised they can't do the same after WW1, but they did NOT want to
let germany occupy the Ruhr (area rich of coal and steel) > so they decided
to make a supranational authority (ECSC) > Schuman declaration 9 may
1950 (read for yourself! Important!)
1952 Treaty of Paris: creation of a supranational organisation with supranational
institutions (like council etc)
- Established European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) > breaks
economic power of individuals, so made fair competition possible.
Affected individuals.
- But expired in 2002 > evolved into European Union
, 1958 Treaty of rome
- European economic community (EEC)
- the main objectives of this organization was economic integration
(by having free movement of people, goods, services and capital =
Four Freedoms,
- free trade with no duties but a common external tariff
- 6 founding member states: BeNeLux, west-Germany, France, Italy
1986 Stuttgart Single European Act (SEA)
- Institutional changes:
- Gave a legal basis to European Political Cooperation
- Before SEA: ‘Commission proposes, and the council disposes’
- Transformation in the role of the European Parliament (still today);
the ‘cooperation procedure’ in Treaty articles > The view of the EP
had to be taken seriously wherever this procedure applied > EP
could now block some legislative proposals
- Most important article/provision with this: art 114 TFEU, which confers
power upon the EU to adopt legislation concerning the internal market (on
negative integration; prohibition of trade barriers and Positive integration;
harmonization of rules to establish common market) > the EP was added
to the legislative procedure on this, instead of only unanimity of the council
- Unanimity of the Council is hard to realise when more and more MS
join EU
- The EP was also given the right of veto over the accession of new MS
1992 Treaty of maastricht (Treaty on the European Union)
- Two aims:
1. Establishing the European union
2. They did not only want to sustain the economic integration
(created by the SEA) > they adapted rules on social policy or
environment
- Resulted in common foreign policy > but it is sensitive to have a
supranational organisation suddenly
- So it resulted in a 3 pillar-construction:
1. The communities (ecsc, EURATOM)
2. Foreign and security Policy (CFSP)
3. Justice and Home affairs
> Last two are more intergovernmental, the power laid with the MS,
Council and European Council (other institutions had no role)
- > But we don't have 3 pillar-construction anymore > Significant expansion
of power (This does cause critic because of its democratic deficiency)
- Introduction of the co-decision procedure (allowed EP to block legislation)
- Establishment of principle of subsidiarity (= distinguishing when action is
best taken at Community or national level?)
- Introduction of european citizenship
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller sarauleman. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $8.64. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
