Types of EU law



Types of EU law.

There are three different types of EU Law:

• Treaties

• Regulations

• Directives

For each, you need to be able to describe the different types of EU law and give a case as an example of each.

Remember the four freedoms? Well, the Freedom of movement of people means that the EU regulates a lot of our workers’ rights and health and safety law. The idea being, that no matter which country you move to, you should be entitled to the same level of cover and covered by the same law.

E.g. Article 39 Free Movement of Workers

Can you name two other areas which are governed by the EU?

Treaties

These are known as Primary Legislation This means that they apply in all member states and automatically become law without the member state having to do anything [under s.2(1) ECA 1972].

This means that they are ………………………………..

Van Gend en Loos (1963)

The treaties are the highest form of EU law and set out a range of aims as well as rights and obligations.

The treaties are:

Treaty of R ……. 1957 ( Founded the EU

Treaty of M………………. 1992( set out the social chapter and the single market

Treaty of A……………….. 1997( reforming

Treaty of N……. 2000( expansion to 25, and then 27 states.

These treaties must be agreed to …………………………………………… Why?

The Consititution of the EU would replace all of these treaties, but two countries have voted against it. Do these surprise you?

1.

2.

Treaties have both horizontal and vertical direct effect. This means that citizens can rely on the treaty against both other individuals and their government.

Macarthys v Smith (1979)

The following, with ECJ decisions are Secondary Legislation

Regulations

They, like the treaties, are directly applicable. They must be applied even if the Member State has already passed legislation which conflicts with it. They build on provisions in the treaty and come into force in the member country as soon as they are passed by the Council of Ministers [They must be passed by more than 75.1% of the vote. Why do you think that the majority is raised?] .

There is no need for the member state to do anything to incorporate them into the law.

Leonesio v Italian Ministry of Agriculture (1973)

They have both …………………………………………. and ……………………………………….. effect.

Another example of this is Re Tachographs (1979)

Directives

Unlike the previous areas, they are not directly applicable. This means that the Member State has to pass some legislation to incoporate them into law. They are broadly phrased so that the Member States can create their own detailed legislation to put the objectives of the directive into practice, within a specified time limit.

This means that everyone had assumed that citizens of a Member State could not rely them until the Member State had brought the directive into law. However, the ECJ has consistently refused to follow this, and has made it clear that an individual can rely on the directive, even if it is not properly implemented in the Member State’s law.

A citizen or a MS can rely on a directive in their national courts if the state has failed to meet the time limit or implement the directive properly. This means that the directives have vertical direct effect only. This means that citizens can only rely on them against MS.

Van Duyn v Home Office (1974)

R (Westminster City Council) v Mayor of London (2002)

‘The State’ includes a huge number of things including all public bodies e.g. local authorities, nationalized industries, government departments etc.

Marshall v Southampton AHA (1986) ETD 76/207

If the MS fails to implement the directive, then it amy be possible for the individual to sue the government for losses [Francovich v Italy (1991)]

Indirect Effect

National courts interpret laws in accordance with relevant directives, as confirmed as Marleasing (1990) following Von Colson v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (1984)

“national courts are bound to interpret national law in light of the wording and purpose of the directive”

Decisions

Addressed to a state, person or company and is binding on the recipient only e.g. competition law.

Based on the information in today’s lesson, complete the table below and produce your own definitions:

|Impact |Meaning of the Term |

| | |

|Direct Applicability | |

| | |

|Direct effect | |

| | |

|Horizontal direct effect | |

| | |

|Vertical direct effect | |

| | |

|Indirect effect. | |

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