Inhoudsopgave
1. Week 1 Nature, Background and Structure of the EU..............................................................................1
2. Week 2 Insttutons, Member States and the Rule of Law.....................................................................19
3. Week 3 Hierarchy of Norms: EU Acts and EU Decision-Making..............................................................29
1. WEEK 1 NATURE, BACKGROUND AND STRUCTURE OF THE EU
Structure
• Development of the EU
• The EU’s Political Institutions
• The Effect of EU law within the national legal order
Development of the EU: 3 Lines
• Substantive Developments
- Increasing Competences
Education, transport, energy, etc
- From the economic to the political
Maastricht treaty (political) + (justice and home affairs)
• Geographical Developments
- From 6 Member States (1957) to 28 (2013) – 27 (2019?)
With more member states the EU is becoming a conglomerate institution
• Institutional Developments
- Role of the institutions / Institutional Design
Questions about the power of smaller and bigger member states
- Legitimacy: democracy, human rights and rule of law
• These lines of development are closely intertwined!
,Intergovernmentalism versus Supranationalism
The EU has both elements
• Intergovernmentalism:
- Member states are above the EU
- Decision taking by unanimity (veto’s)
- Power rests with the Council (= Ministers) or the European Council (= Heads of State
and Government)
- Initiative with the Member States
- Limited (consultative) role for European Parliament
- No, or only limited, review by the CJEU
• Supranationalism
- The EU institutions are above the member states
- Decision taking by Majority (no veto’s)
- Power divided between Commission; Council and European Parliament
- Parliament ‘co-decides’ with the Council (‘ordinary legislative procedure’)
- Initiative rests with the Commission (most used form)
- Full review by the CJEU
EU
• Supranational elements
- Decision-making by qualified majority
- Ordinary legislative procedure
- Commission; EP and CJEU
• Intergovernmental elements
- EU Council
- Unanimity
- Opts-outs
(2)
, - Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Treaty amendments
Evolution Towards Supranationalism
European Parliament gained powers with every Treaty Amendment
• Direct universal suffrage (1979)
• Cooperation, co-decision, ordinary legislative procedure
• External relations
• Increasing control over the Commission
• (dismissal, approval and even proposing Spitzenkandidaten)
Constructing the EU through Treaties
Types of Treaties (‘Primary Law’):
(1) The original Founding Treaties of 1951 (ECSC) and 1957 (EEC and Euratom)
(1) Accession Treaties
(2) Amending Treaties of 1965 (Merger Treaty), 1986 (Single European Act), 1992 (‘Maastricht’;
Establishment of the EU), 1997 (‘Amsterdam’), 2001 (‘Nice’), 2004 (the ‘Constitutional
Treaty’), 2007/2009 ( ‘Lisbon’)
• ‘Ordinary’ Treaty revision procedure: Art. 48 (2) – (4) TEU
• ‘Simplified’ Treaty revision procedure: Art. 48 (6) TEU
28 ratifications and the difficulties…
Nationalism and the origins of the EU
• Dark side of nationalism WW1 & 2
• This led to the United Nations and the ECSC (+ EEC).
(1) European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, 1951)
(3)
, • Founding of the ECSC to prevent war
• The new Community had a supranational, rather than intergovernmental flavour
(3) European Economic Community (Rome, EEC, 1957)
• Common market in Netherlands, Belgium Luxembourg, Italy, Germany and France.
• Removal of tariffs, quotas and free movement of the economic factors of production;
the Four Freedoms. It was created with the tasks of working towards integration of all
aspects of the economies.
(4) Single European Act (SEA, 1986)
• The most significant change was in the role of the European Parliament. The co-
operation procedure was created.
- Prior to SEA: Commission proposes, Council disposes. Now the views of the
EP had to be taken seriously where this procedure applied. EP could now
block some legislation.
- Before the SEA art. 114 TFEU required unanimity of the Council, now the
EP was added to the procedure.
- The EP was also given the right of veto over the accession of new MS.
• Negative integration: Prohibition of trade barriers
• Positive integration: Harmonization of rules to establish common market
(5) Treaty on the European Union (Maastricht, TEU, 1992)
• It had two broad aims
- Sustain the momentum created by the SEA
- Creation of a new organisation, founded on the original Communities, the
EU.
• Had a three pillar system
(1) The Communities, ECSC, EUROATOM
(2) Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
(3) Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
The second and third pillar were therefore more intergovernmental, the power laid
with the MS (whom are above the EU), the Council and the European Council. The
other institutions had no role.
(4)
1. Week 1 Nature, Background and Structure of the EU..............................................................................1
2. Week 2 Insttutons, Member States and the Rule of Law.....................................................................19
3. Week 3 Hierarchy of Norms: EU Acts and EU Decision-Making..............................................................29
1. WEEK 1 NATURE, BACKGROUND AND STRUCTURE OF THE EU
Structure
• Development of the EU
• The EU’s Political Institutions
• The Effect of EU law within the national legal order
Development of the EU: 3 Lines
• Substantive Developments
- Increasing Competences
Education, transport, energy, etc
- From the economic to the political
Maastricht treaty (political) + (justice and home affairs)
• Geographical Developments
- From 6 Member States (1957) to 28 (2013) – 27 (2019?)
With more member states the EU is becoming a conglomerate institution
• Institutional Developments
- Role of the institutions / Institutional Design
Questions about the power of smaller and bigger member states
- Legitimacy: democracy, human rights and rule of law
• These lines of development are closely intertwined!
,Intergovernmentalism versus Supranationalism
The EU has both elements
• Intergovernmentalism:
- Member states are above the EU
- Decision taking by unanimity (veto’s)
- Power rests with the Council (= Ministers) or the European Council (= Heads of State
and Government)
- Initiative with the Member States
- Limited (consultative) role for European Parliament
- No, or only limited, review by the CJEU
• Supranationalism
- The EU institutions are above the member states
- Decision taking by Majority (no veto’s)
- Power divided between Commission; Council and European Parliament
- Parliament ‘co-decides’ with the Council (‘ordinary legislative procedure’)
- Initiative rests with the Commission (most used form)
- Full review by the CJEU
EU
• Supranational elements
- Decision-making by qualified majority
- Ordinary legislative procedure
- Commission; EP and CJEU
• Intergovernmental elements
- EU Council
- Unanimity
- Opts-outs
(2)
, - Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Treaty amendments
Evolution Towards Supranationalism
European Parliament gained powers with every Treaty Amendment
• Direct universal suffrage (1979)
• Cooperation, co-decision, ordinary legislative procedure
• External relations
• Increasing control over the Commission
• (dismissal, approval and even proposing Spitzenkandidaten)
Constructing the EU through Treaties
Types of Treaties (‘Primary Law’):
(1) The original Founding Treaties of 1951 (ECSC) and 1957 (EEC and Euratom)
(1) Accession Treaties
(2) Amending Treaties of 1965 (Merger Treaty), 1986 (Single European Act), 1992 (‘Maastricht’;
Establishment of the EU), 1997 (‘Amsterdam’), 2001 (‘Nice’), 2004 (the ‘Constitutional
Treaty’), 2007/2009 ( ‘Lisbon’)
• ‘Ordinary’ Treaty revision procedure: Art. 48 (2) – (4) TEU
• ‘Simplified’ Treaty revision procedure: Art. 48 (6) TEU
28 ratifications and the difficulties…
Nationalism and the origins of the EU
• Dark side of nationalism WW1 & 2
• This led to the United Nations and the ECSC (+ EEC).
(1) European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, 1951)
(3)
, • Founding of the ECSC to prevent war
• The new Community had a supranational, rather than intergovernmental flavour
(3) European Economic Community (Rome, EEC, 1957)
• Common market in Netherlands, Belgium Luxembourg, Italy, Germany and France.
• Removal of tariffs, quotas and free movement of the economic factors of production;
the Four Freedoms. It was created with the tasks of working towards integration of all
aspects of the economies.
(4) Single European Act (SEA, 1986)
• The most significant change was in the role of the European Parliament. The co-
operation procedure was created.
- Prior to SEA: Commission proposes, Council disposes. Now the views of the
EP had to be taken seriously where this procedure applied. EP could now
block some legislation.
- Before the SEA art. 114 TFEU required unanimity of the Council, now the
EP was added to the procedure.
- The EP was also given the right of veto over the accession of new MS.
• Negative integration: Prohibition of trade barriers
• Positive integration: Harmonization of rules to establish common market
(5) Treaty on the European Union (Maastricht, TEU, 1992)
• It had two broad aims
- Sustain the momentum created by the SEA
- Creation of a new organisation, founded on the original Communities, the
EU.
• Had a three pillar system
(1) The Communities, ECSC, EUROATOM
(2) Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
(3) Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
The second and third pillar were therefore more intergovernmental, the power laid
with the MS (whom are above the EU), the Council and the European Council. The
other institutions had no role.
(4)
