Primary law: The founding treaties - correct answers •ECSC Treaty (Treaty of Paris 1951): aimed at creating a
common market for coal and steel (two fundamental raw materials for warfare equipment)
•EURATOM Treaty (Treaty of Rome 1957): specialist market for atomic energy.
•EC Treaty (Treaty of Rome): sets up the European Community. (Aim was to achieve economic integration by
creating a common market)
Amendments to treaties - correct answers •Merger Treaty (1965)
•Single European Act (1986)
•Treaty on European Union (Treaty of Maastricht) 1992
•Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
•Treaty of Nice (2000)
•Treaty of Lisbon (2007, but only came into force after ratification on 1, December 2009)
The Treaty of Lisbon - correct answers It replaces the previous framework:
,•It amends the old Treaty on the European Union (TEU). The European Community disappears and the three-
pillar system is replaced by one European Union;
•The old EC Treaty is renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
•The EU becomes a legal person;
•More power for the European Parliament, with respect to budgetary supervision and legislative power (co-
decision with the Council of the European Union becomes the norm);
•Each institution has a president.
Secondary law: Legislation
Persuasive vs. legally binding types - correct answers *Persuasive only* (not considered as legislation & thus
are not binding):
•Recommendations
•Opinions
There are 3 types *Legally binding* acts:
•*Regulations*: general rules applicable throughout the EU. Regulations are *directly applicable* meaning
there is no need for further national legislation to implement them.
•Directives*: are binding as to the objective to be achieved. Therefore, it is up to the Member States (MS) to
find the best way to reach such objective. They allow for flexibility. However, MS must implement national
legislation to reach the objective within a certain time frame. These create a harmonization between member
states.
, •*Decisions*: fully binding on those to whom addressed (be it individual MS, corporations or private
individuals). These are commonly used when an undertaking is considered as an acting contrary to EU
competition policy.
Secondary law: principles and case law - correct answers •General Principles: legal principles from treaties or
individual Member States become legal principles for the whole EU.
•Case law: European Court of Justice gives preliminary rulings and hears actions brought against other
Member States and EU institutions.
*Individual member stats cannot question legality of EU measures; only the ECJ has the power to declare EU
measures invalid.
EU law and national law (4 principles) - correct answers *Principle of Supremacy*:
- reflects the primacy of EU law. EU law overrides national legal provisions. MS cannot plead *force majeure*
(they tried to implement EU law, but their national legislature prevents from them doing so)
*Principle of Conferral*
•But the EU can only act, and is only sovereign, within the areas of competence designated to it by the
Treaties. Member States have the power to deal with all matters that fall outside the exclusive competence of
the EU.
*Principle of Subsidiarity:*
•Member States have the power to deal with all matters that fall outside the exclusive competence of the EU,
unless communal action is a better approach because it is more effective than action taken at national,
regional or local level.
*Principle of Proportionality:*
EU action should not exceed what is necessary to achieve the aims of the Treaties. Implies that a public
authority may not impose obligations on a citizen except to the extent to which they are strictly necessary or
proportionate to the aim that is to be achieved.
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