Samenvatting European & international law
1. Introduction to European law
1.1. Structure of the EU Treaties
The rule of Law regarding EU Treaties
= Every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties that have been agreed by all EU countries and
ratified by their parliaments or by referendum.
(We saw this also a bit further in the summary)
In this situation it means as well that if you taken action beats a legislative action or executive action,
you always have to make reference to a treaty provision. In other words an institution of the EU can
not take an action without a legal basis.
All institutions are subject to the rule of law, they have to respect the law (in fact it means the
same)
more precisely they have to found their action on the treaty in general and on a specific provision
of that treaty
Those founding treaties are the real basis of the European Union. The EU exist because member
states have made treaties. International treaties, international multilateral agreements where they
founded the EU, where they enlarged the EU, where they would given the European Union more
power and more competences.
The fact that the EU is not just an international concept, but also a supernational concept is based on
that.
Function of EU Treaties?
The treaties lay down:
the objectives of the European Union
o they say in general what the EU stands for, what the competences of the EU will be
o EU is not competent for everything, only in given, specific areas the EU is competent
the rules for EU institutions
o how do they work, what are they competent for, what should they do, how should
they interact, what does the council do, what does the court do, what does the
European Council do…
how decisions are made
o by the commission, by the parliament
relationship between the EU and its Member States
, 2 most important treaties about the functioning of the European Union
CORE TREATIES 1. Treaty on European Union (TEU)
2. Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
Can the EU treaties be amended?
Yes, they have been amended :
each time new Member States have joined
to reform the European Union’s institutions and to give it new areas of responsibility
o (to give it new competences)
Last amending treaty: Lisbon Treaty
1.2. Powers of the European Union / sources of EU law
Who takes decisions?
4 really important institutions as far as decision making is concerned:
• Consists of the Heads of state or
Government
• Defines the general political
direction and priorities (it has no
legislative functions)
• Represents the EU’s citizens • Sets out the goals for the future
• Directly elected
European European
Parliament Council
Represents the interests of the
European EU as a whole & takes care of
Council
Commission daily business at European
level
• Called Council of Ministers because
ministers of the member states
government come to these council
meetings (10 different configurations)
• Represents the governments of the EU
Member States
When you have important decisions to make concerning new legislation or the budget European
Parliament (European people) & the Council have to agree (European governments)
,Which types of legislation are there (in the EU)?
Regulation
Directive
Decision
Recommendation and
opinions
Regulation
Applicable and binding in all Member States directly
Does not need to be passed into national law by the Member States (as should be done with
directives)
National laws may need to be changed to avoid conflicting with the regulation
Regulation in other words = when it is made by the Council and the Parliament on the
proposal of the European Commission that’s foreseen for by the treaties is of direct
application at the same time in all member states
It is the same text for all member states, applicable at the same moment
The publication happens in the publication bulletin of the European Union not in national
deserts
Once it is made it inters into force and it’s of direct applicability
Ex. GDPR
Directive
Binds the Member States to achieve a particular objective
o It’s the EU, council and parliament that set out specific objectives in specific area.
o Ex. Consumer rights they set the goal, they set an objective to be reached by the
member states
o However, it is not a text that is immediately binding that is of direct applicability (like
a regulation is)
Must be transposed into national law to become effective
o The member states decide how they will meet this objective, how they will try to
achieve the particular objectives by transposing it into national law
o Ex. Will they do this by making a new bill or will it be a competence for the lender,
will it be something for the federal states,… what form will it have, will it be a royal
degree, a presidential degree
Specifies the result to be achieved: it is up to the Member States individually to decide how
this is done
, They have normally a time frame to achieve these goals and they have to transpose the
legislation into national law within the timeframe
This law will finally be published in the national gazettes as provided in the constitutional
systems
o In Belgian it means that it will be published as a Belgian law or a Belgian, Flemish
degree that it will be published in the Moniteur Belge (= Belgisch Staatsblad)
Once it become a law, you will not immediately see that this was the result of a European
directive, because finally it ends up with being a national law (whatever the form might be)
Decision
can be addressed to Member States, groups of people, or even individuals (or individual
companies)
binding in its entirety
used, for example, to rule on proposed mergers between companies
o for instance, if 2 companies like the Delhaize and Albert Heijn want to join forces and
want to become one company, they had to make a declaration to the European
Commission and say that they want a merger to take place. It is then to the European
Commission to decide shall we agree with that or not
if you don’t agree with them, you can go to the European Court of Justice
Recommendation and opinions
Have no binding force
How is legislation passed?
Treaty = Every European law is based on a specific
treaty article referred to as the ‘legal basis’ of
the legislation
That article determines the legislative
procedure to be followed
which procedure has to be followed? Normally
it would be the ordinary legislative procedure
(the one that includes the Parliament and the
Council), but sometimes you have exceptions
what type of legislative act it will be?
Will it be a directive or a regulation
Sets out the decision-making process, including
Commission proposals
Successive readings by Council and
Parliament
Opinions of advisory bodies
Lays down
Whether unanimity is required
When a majority is sufficient for the
