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LA3024
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- LA3024
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- Birkbeck, University Of London (BBK)
EU Examiners report 2016 Zone B
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Examiners’ reports 2016Examiners’ reports 2016
LA3024 EU law – Zone B
Introduction
The examination paper
The examination paper for Zones A and B adopted the standard format consisting
of a mixture of essays questions and problems questions. The content reflected the
syllabus based on the subject guide, the study pack and on the recommended
readings. It is to be noted that this is the first exam taken by students after the fully
revised EU law guide has been in use for some time. I was happy that although at
the time of writing this Examiners’ report the final statistics are not available, results
have been generally better with a good number of very high distinctions. It seems to
me that the choice to focus more on the substantive aspects of the syllabus was
favoured by students. In particular, I was pleased that this year there were virtually
no papers with answers completely unrelated to the questions, papers with no
bearings on the issues raised by the exam paper. True, we still had some very bad
fails where the candidate basically did not even attempt an answer but, on the
whole, I felt that the marks were higher and the quality superior. There was an
improvement in how students dealt with essays questions with some excellent
answers especially on questions dealing with some topical issues. For instance,
most students displayed a considerable command of the very recent case law on
data protection (Facebook case/the right to be forgotten) that was used very
effectively to deal with the question on the relevance of human rights protection in
the EU. These answers also showed that students were able to apply a wider
reading to the issues raised by the questions.
I would also like to raise a usual problem: time management. Many candidates have
struggled to answer the four questions evenly. Quite clearly, some students spent
too much time answering two or three questions and had to resort to either
excessively short answers or, in some cases, just a skeleton answer. It should be
reiterated that the assessment of the exam is on four answers and students should
always be encouraged to learn how to manage time effectively, devoting equal time
and attention to each of the questions.
Note that errors in the extracts below were present in the originals.
Comments on specific questions
Question 1
‘The Charter may never achieve in Europe the level of popular awareness
enjoyed by the Bill of Rights in the United States. But the collection in a
single place of so comprehensive a range of rights will prompt European
1
, lawyers, judges and students to read them, to become familiar with them and
to apply them.’
Discuss this assessment of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
General remarks
The question required an assessment of the impact of the Charter on EU law.
Students needed to discuss the status of the Charter after the Lisbon Treaty and
the use made by the European Court of Justice. In particular, they should have
discussed the use of fundamental rights before and after the Charter.
Law cases, reports and other references the examiners would expect you to use
Case C-260/89 ERT [1991] ECR I-2925.
C-36/02 Omega [2004] ECR I-9609.
Case C-13/94 P v S and Cornwall County Council [1996] ECR I-2143.
C-236/09 Association belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats ASBL and Others v
Conseil des ministres, judgment of the 1 of March 2011.
C-617/10 Fransson, 26 Feb 2013.
Case C-131/12 Google Spain SL. 13 May 2014.
Case Safe Harbour 2015.
Opinion 1/1/3 on ECHR accession.
Common errors
A failure to provide some specific examples. Some answers were excessively
vague discussing the importance of human rights protection in the contemporary
world. Others failed to address why the Charter is now so important.
A good answer to this question would…
discuss the Charter of Fundamental rights legal status and in particular whether the
fact that the Charter is now legally binding has had any impact. In particular,
differentiate from the ‘old’ case law that relied on human rights just as a general
principle of interpretation, now the ECJ uses the rights protected in the Charter as a
benchmark of legality for EU law. Cases such as Google Spain (right to be
forgotten) or the so-called Safe Harbour (privacy) that attracted considerable media
attention are perfect examples to be discussed. The ambiguous case law on the
application of the Charter to national law (Fransson) and Article 51 of the Charter
can be discussed as well. Finally, a mention of Opinion 1/13 on accession to the
ECHR could also be included as to show some of the ambiguities in the Court’s
approach.
Poor answers to this question…
discussed the doctrine of direct effect in this context. Although a mention could be
actually relevant as it shows the attention devoted to individual rights, a full
discussion is not relevant. Others failed to understand the difference between
human rights as a general principle of EU law and the Charter’s legally binding
status.
Question 2
Zenfit has been lawfully producing herbal teas in the UK for some time. The
success of its sales in the UK has encouraged Zenfit to try to export its
products to other EU Member States. However, it has encountered some
difficulties. In France, legislation requires that any information on the
packaging of herbal teas must be in French. In Spain, the national agency for
2
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