Chapter 1 – the origin of the EU and EU law
GOOD WEBSITE: http://europa.eu/
What is the EU?
- A supranational (denotes a body that is above national laws but below international
laws) legal body composing of an alliance of member states in an apparently specified
geographical region with common political, economic and social aims.
- Can be argued that the EU is sui generis (in a class by itself)
The historical rationale for the European Union:
- Across Europe, the two wars, successive severe winters led to a fuel crisis, there was
a series of bad harvests, and foreign reserves were drained by the lack of exports. It
seemed that political cooperation might be the way to a better future.
o The military threat from the then USSR was perceived as particularly acute
and, in order to promote post-war stability in Europe the USA offered
support to Western European countries in the form of the Marshall Plan
(which gave aid to those countries for post-war reconstruction) and the
Truman Doctrine (which pledged military support to countries resisting
aggression).
- The founding members of the EEC felt that the likelihood of a third world war
centred on Europe would be further decreased by constructing close economic and
political ties between European countries.
o The cooperative effort, including the pooling of resources, was needed for
Europe to recover from the war and cope with the economic problems of the
post-war years.
In addition, while as individual countries they were too small to
compete economically or militarily with either the USA or the then
USSR, working together they might have more global influence.
- Despite these cogent reasons for a European Union, its formation as delayed for over
a decade after the war; the EEC Treaty which ultimately led to the formation of the
EU was not signed until 1957.
- The problems of the immediate post-war era (depleted national reserves, decimated
industries, and large numbers of unemployed ex-servicemen, and bad harvests)
meant that national reconstruction took priority over more grandiose European
plans.
o In addition, some of the most ardent supporters of the ideal of an EU were
not in a position to influence events.
The former West Germany, which saw an EU as a way to gain re-
acceptance by its neighbours had, in the immediate post-war era,
little political influence and Winston Churchill, the British Prime
, Minister who had argued for a United States of Europe, was no longer
in power.
o However, during the late 1940s a number of organizations were set up which
involved to close cooperation of European and other states.
These included the Organisation for European Co-operation (now the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)),
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and the Council of
Europe.
A European Defence Community was also proposed, but failed
to materialize.
The EEC, ECSC, and EURATOM Treaties:
- A number of countries recognised that if West Germany’s coal and steel industries
were tied to those other countries, that country would be seriously hampered in any
future war effort.
- In addition, it was recognised that cooperation in this area could be economically
advantageous.
o As a result, in 1951 Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, together
with France, Italy and Germany, signed the Treaty of Paris establishing the
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
The ECSC Treaty expired in July 2002 but by then the ECSC had been
successful in removing trade restrictions on coal and steel between
the 15 Member States of the ECSC and creating a supranational
authority to oversee the expansion of production.
- The EEC Treaty has been subject to renaming and to considerable revision and
supplementation over the years and now exists in the form of two Treaties: the
Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (TFEU).
- Also in 1957, the six members of the ECSC and the EEC signed the Treaty establishing
the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), formally agreeing to
cooperate in the development of the peaceful use of atomic energy. EURATOM now
has the same Member States as the EU and shares its major institutions.
- EU law is regarded as a type of international law, in that it governs the relations
between sovereign States and regulates cross-border activities.
o However, it has a number of features not normally seen in international law,
including the possibility of direct enforcement of its laws by individuals and
business before national courts and the sovereignty of EU law over national
law.
- The term ‘supranational’ is sometimes used to refer to EU law because rather than
governing relations between States, it puts in place institutions which are above the
States.
, o It has been suggested that there are occasions when the approach of the
EU’s Court of Justice is that of an international court.
The aims of the EU:
- The original aims have been updated over the years, but the current formulation of
the aims is to be found in Article 3 TEU:
o 1. the Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its
peoples.
o 2. the Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice
without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured
in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border
controls, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime.
o 3. the Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the
sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and
price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full
employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and
improvement of the quality of the environment.
It shall promote scientific and technological advance. It shall combat
social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice
and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between
generations and protection of the rights of the child.
It shall promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and
solidarity among Member States.
It shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure
that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.
o 4. the Union shall establish an economic and monetary union currency is the
euro.
o 5. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote
its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall
contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth,
solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication
of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the
child, as well as to the strict observance and the development of international
law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.
o 6. the Union shall pursue its objectives by appropriate means commensurate
with the competences which are conferred upon it in the Treaties.
- Many of these aims have already been fulfilled. For example, the international
market has largely been achieved and substantial moves towards equality between
men and women have been made.
- However, what the Member States actually agreed upon is set out in Article 2 TEU:
