European Knowledge 1.2
Cooperation in the EU
WEEK1
Fundamental principles of the EU
CORE PRINCIPLES:
- Policy of Conferral of competencies
- Policy of Subsidiarity
- Policy of Proportionality
- Policy of Supremacy (primacy)
- Policy of Direct effect
The Eu cannot act in whatever they want but they have principles and rules.
Treaties are the baseline for everything the EU institutions can or cannot do.
The competences of the Union are defined in the EU Treaties and they are: common commercial
policy, monetary policy, custom union, competition, internal market, consumer protection, area of
freedom, security and justice etc…
The competences of the EU are divided into three categories:
- the EU has exclusive competence (only the EU can act)(ex. Monetary
policy or trade agreement)
- competences are shared between the EU and the Member States (The
Member States can act only if the EU has chosen not to) (ex.environmental)
- the EU has competence to support, coordinate or supplement the actions
of the Member States but the EU cannot adopt legislations.
(EU legal acts are legislative or non-legislative acts adopted by the EU institutions.)
In the EU legislative process, the Commission makes the proposal for a legal act of
the Union. To become law, it must be adopted by the legislator. In most cases, the
legislator is both the European Parliament and the Council. In some cases, it is only
one of them.
The Commission can NOT propose a legal act in every area where the EU has
competence
The ordinary legislative procedure is the standard decision-making procedure for
most EU policy areas. also known as co-decision because it involves joint adoption
by the European Parliament and the Council of regulations, directives or decisions
Neither institution (European Parliament or Council) may adopt the legislative act
alone.
, DEFINITIONS OF THE EU PRINCIPLES:
Summary: Principles (Article 5 TEU )
- Principle of conferral, the EU can only act/legislate where it was given the competence by the MS. -
Principle of subsidiarity, EU performs only what cannot be achieved at national level. -
Principle of proportionality, The EU cannot exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the
treaties. Not directly to the EU citizen.
-Supremacy, EU law is above any national law. National law must be set aside if in conflict with EU
law.
- Direct effect; Individuals may invoke EU law in front of a national court.
Cases:
-Van Gend en Loos, against the dutch tax authority, they got import fines.
A company can directly invoke article 12, the treaty of Rome. The EU law says that countries can’t
implement any import terrors.
-Costa v. E.N.E.L., Costa, a lawyer, had shares in an Italian electricity company. -Simmenthal SvpA v
Amministrazione, Italian firm imported beef from France, and due to the Italian law, they had to pay
costs for inspection at the border.
-Factor Frame, Companies registered in the UK but owned by Spanish nationals. The UK had a law
that there was a nationality requirement so the UK owned a percentage of the company. This was
discrimination on nationality.
-Francovich and Bonifaci v Republic of Italy, Italy didn’t have a scheme to provide minimum
compensation for workers on the insolvency of their employers, as a result, unemployed could not
recover the wages due to them. The ECJ determined that the state had to compensate for the loss. By
this, the court introduced the principle that citizens can sue their state for non-implementation of a
directive.
Direct effect and primary legislation
As far as primary legislation is concerned, the Court established the principle of direct
effect in the Van Gend en Loos judgment. However, it laid down the condition that the
obligations must be precise, clear and unconditional and that they must not call for
additional measures, either national or European.
In the Becker judgment, the Court rejected direct effect where the countries have a margin of
discretion, however minimal, regarding the implementation of the provision in question.
In Kaefer and Procacci v French State, the Court affirmed that the provision in question was
unconditional because it left no discretion to the Member States and therefore had direct
effect.
What is the principle of conferral? When EU should act (EU can only act/legislate
where it was given the competencies by the MS)
Under the principle of conferral, the Union shall act only within the limits of the
competences conferred upon it by the Member States in the Treaties to attain the
objectives set out therein. Competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties
remain with the Member States.
, Conferral (of competencies=power): {Under the principle of conferral, the Union
shall act only within the limits of the competences conferred upon it by the Member
States in the Treaties to attain the objectives set out therein. Competences not
conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the Member States.}
While the principle of conferral governs the limits to EU competences, the use of those
competences is governed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
What is the principle of subsidiarity? Whether EU should act (Eu performs only what
cannot be achieved at national level + MS performs only what cannot be achieved at
local level)
The subsidiarity principle aims to ensure that decisions are taken as closely as
possible to the citizen. Except in cases where the EU has exclusive competence,
action at European level should not be taken unless it is more effective than action
taken at national, regional or local level. The EU should act only if there is a problem
of all member states.
o (Cross border area Benelux- drug problems-EU cannot legislate because it
can’t make a law on the whole member states because for instance it does not
apply for the north of the Netherlands)
o (Human trafficking is an EU problem because is a problem on multiple
member states and affects multiple member states) money laundry too
(The general aim of the principle of subsidiarity is to guarantee a degree of
independence for a lower authority in relation to a higher body or for a local
authority in relation to central government.)
Specifically, the EU does not take action, unless it is more effective than action taken
at the national, regional or local level.
What is the principle of proportionality? (EU acts only when necessary and as a
facilitator + Eu acts only as much as necessary) { Under the principle of
proportionality, the content and form of Union action shall not exceed what is
necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties.}
Proportionality is a general principle of EU law. It restricts authorities in the
exercise of their powers by requiring them to strike a balance between the means
used and the intended aim.
The content and form of Union action shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve
the objectives of the Treaties.
What is the principle of primacy/supremacy? (EU law is above any national law+
national law must be set aside if in conflict with EU law) -> EU laws comes first
