Overview European Law
WEEK 1
Freedom of Establishment and to Provide Services
Overview coming 7 weeks
The EU is, however, an organisation that ensures not only economic, but also social progress. This was con rmed by
introducing provisions on EU citizenship, equal treatment and the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) into
the Treaties as from the 1990s. This course will show both sides of the Union, starting with the economic integration
and then dealing with the social rights and obligations.
As regards free movement of workers, there may be several reasons why persons make use of this right. From an
economic perspective, people may move to another Member State to accept work or to look for work. They may also
decide to move permanently to another EU Member State and to work there for an employer (worker). As a result,
economically inactive persons now have the right to move to another Member State even if they have never worked
before or are nor economically active, such as students. This right of free movement of EU citizens was laid down in the
Treaties as from the 1990s.
Also self-employed persons have the right to free movement, i.e., the right to provide services (and can also bene t
from the right to establishment if they want to establish a rm there). The free movement principles apply also in the
situation of reception of services (e.g., medical treatment) in another Member State.
The internal market rules are geared primarily towards states/public authorities, so as to make sure that their laws,
regulations and other actions will not obstruct the free movement of persons, as well as of goods, services and capital,
unless there is an objective justi cation for this based on the protection of some public interest. The competition law
rules as contained in articles 101 and 102 TFEU are to be seen as a complement to the internal market rules, by
stipulating speci c obligations for companies to refrain from any behavior that may obstruct the internal market. While
within this framework economic interests are balanced very often with consumer protection interests, an important
question remains what scope there is for the balancing of other public interests such as environmental protection and
sustainability.
Persons making use of the freedom of free movement also have the right of equal treatment on ground of nationality,
though there are differences between economically active and inactive persons. These rights are con rmed in the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. The realization of the free movement of persons (not being economically
active) within the EU is to some extent restricted where the solidarity of the citizens of the guest State may become
overstretched. Free movement of workers is dealt with in the rst part of the course (economic integration. It is
interesting to see how a right granted to economically active persons is now also available for those not economically
active and where the differences lie and how and whether these are justi ed.
A comparable interaction can be seen in relation to equal treatment on personal characteristics. Initially, equal pay of
men and women had a purely economic reason i.e., to avoid competition between Member States that were bound by
the equal pay rules and countries who were not by not allowing the latter to have an economic advantage by paying
women lower wage than men. Gradually this provision was, in the case law of the Court of Justice, given also a social
policy dimension and it was given substantial legal force to play a role in national situations. Subsequently other areas
of equal treatment of men and women were added to the corpus of EU law. In the 1990s also equal treatment on other
grounds (race, disability, age, sexual orientation) were added to the Treaty, and the EU has developed signi cant
in uence in realizing equal treatment in employment on these grounds.
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, Opening up the borders for EU-citizens to move around the territory of 27 Member States in this way has also required
action on the part of the EU to secure protection of its external borders and measures regarding the entry and treatment
of third country nationals into EU-territory. The internal market rules have thus been complemented with EU measures
on migration and asylum, as part of the so-called ‘Area of Freedom, Security and Justice’ (AFSJ). As criminals also
make use of open borders, judicial cooperation and harmonisation of criminal law forms an important part of the AFSJ
as well.
As one of the biggest societal challenges is a fast-growing digitalization, at the end of the course, there will be a
re ection on developments of EU law and policies in respect to a European approach to digital transformation.
European Law
European Law, the European Union
The entire system of legal rules concerning the purpose, structure and functioning of the European Union. The Union is
the organization as one as a special international. The Union is developing as a political community. European law can
be described as:
"The body of legal rules, secrets, facts and structures, arising in European integration, aimed at the maintenance,
functioning, objectives and value of the European Union. This Union represents the peace, prosperity and development
of Europe as a real community of people with an ultimate destiny.”
The history of the European Union
After the rst World War, The Treaty of Versailles imposed such severe and punishing terms on the defeated Germany
that its economy collapsed and many of its people had to live in extreme poverty. It was these conditions that helped
create the environment for fascism to rise and was a direct cause of the next war. After the end of the Second World
War, in 1945, the allies were determined not to repeat these mistakes. Germanys economy was rebuilt with the help of a
great deal of American money, and it was decided that the best way to ensure peace, was through treaties that would
bind European countries together in mutually bene cial trade, to the extent that war between them would be
unthinkable. The most important raw materials in the industrial world of the time were coal and steel, so the treaty of
Paris in 1951 the European Coal and Steal Community was formed by six countries: Belgium, France, West-Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. The UK played an important role in setting up the community, but declined to
join, because at the time, and wrongly as it turned, it thought it was its still large empire it did not need to belong.
As time went on, the European Coal and Steal Community was superseded by the European Economic Community or
EEC. In 1973 the EEC expanded to include Denmark, Ireland and the UK. Although the uK had originally applied for
membership in 1961 and had been blocked by France. Greece joined in 1981 followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986.
Three countries who had not been able to join previously because at the time they were not democracies.
The emphasis at the time was still trade. In 1986 the Single European Market was created, which standardized trade
regulations across member states and created the largest single trading market in the world. Businesses could trade
freely through the market without import or export restrictions, and people were free to move anywhere in the
Community to look for work. As the European Economic Community grew, the old structures needed to change. In
1993 the European Union was created.
As time went on, the European Union was joined by Austria, Finland, Sweden, The Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary..… and go on. Bringing the total membership up to 28 (now 27, because of the Brexit) states of the 50 states in
the continent of Europe. The European Union is not the only International European Organization, although it is the
most important. On elf the most commonly confused European Institutions is the European Court of Human Rights or
ECHR, a body largely shaped by Britain, which oversees Human Rights legislation and is not, as many think, part of the
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, European Union. The European Union has been tested to near breaking point in recent years, between the crash of the
global economy and the crisis in the Middle East. Yet it does, for now, endure.
It is formed of seven main institutions, most of which it inherited from the Coal and Steel and Economic Community.
The three most important of which are the European Council, which is formed from the elected governments of each
member nation, and decided the priorities and direction of the EU and chooses the members if the European
Commission, which is the body that enforces EU treaties, manages the day-to-day operation of the Union, and proposes
new European laws. Finally there is the European Parliament, formed of direct elected members who vote on whether to
pass those laws, and themselves elect the president of the Commission. The European Parliament represents the largest
democratic electric in the world after India. Later on, the European Council and the European Parliament were added,
but they are now larger because of their legislative power. The spill-over effect means that member states started to
cooperate in more and more areas. The EU was not political at all, but mainly economic and technical.
The European Union has 27 member states with a population of about 450 million negotiations are underway for the
accession of new countries mostly in the Balkans negotiations for Turkey's accession, which started in 2005 are stalled
19 countries are members of the eurozone while 6 other countries have adopted the euro without being a member of the
eurozone or the EU nally the Schengen area now comprises 26 states including 4 non members of the European Union
with Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania expected to integrate soon you
Why is the history important?
It allows you to think about how you as a potential EU lawmaker, judge or policymaker would do things differently.
So, the problem that the European Economic Community, which later turned into the European Union, set out to solve.
Looking back at the violent past of two World Wars, it was not just the close, diplomatic cooperation of the European
countries that could ensure that such atrocities never happened again. Pragmatically, the pooling of economic resources
– such as coal and steel which were at the time the most important wartime commodities – made it very unlikely that
one of the Member States could secretly arm their forces to such an extent that a new World War could occur, and the
interdependencies created by an integrated market would make it even more unlikely for Member States to wage war on
one another.
This is important since the design of the European “project”, so to speak, can be best understood when you know what
kind of problem it set out to solve. Keep in mind throughout this course that all of the different areas of law that you
will learn about, form a more or less coherent structure that aims at solving particular problems. Knowing this, also
allows you to think about whether the solution chosen has been successful for solving these problems, or whether
alternative, more optimal solutions can be reached. It allows you to think about how you as a potential EU lawmaker,
judge or policymaker would do things differently.
Started with an economics cooperation ESCS, EEC
Innovative —> Origins & fundament of the EU in economic cooperation (ECSC, EEC): it all started with economic
cooperation. The EU is really innovative. Had its fundament which is quit different with other international
cooperations and organizations. They rst came with the idea of Germany and France. This idea was expanded by
Henry. He is the Belgium minister of form advance. He wrote about the proposal to the establish common market.
Persons, services and capital, and products. Rules that apply to companies and companies becoming to dominant. He
expanded the idea of the EU economic community. This whole idea of working together was not new, it existed in the
interbellum period.
The future of the EU
Moreover, looking toward the future, the pooling of resources in an integrated “Single” market would enhance the
overall level of prosperity among the peoples of Europe, creating more stable societies .The current problems that the
EU faces are increasingly varied and complex, and they have moved away from the direct threat of Member States
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