Part 1Evolution of European integration and legal character of the European Union

Integration:a process by which a certain whole is created from parts, or certain elements are linked together into single whole

Concepts of integration:•confederative•federative – creation of supernational organization of states – new level of governance

▫constitutional – assuming that the process gives rise to state organism of a federal character (United States of Europe);

▫functionalist – assuming that the cooperation between states will be first economic in character with a view to any arising problems being resolvable in practice

Evolution of the EC/EU

•9th of May 1950 – Schuman Plan•18th of April 1951 Treaty establishing the

European Coal and Steel Community (Paris Treaty)

•1954 – European Defense Community ; European Political Community

Schuman Declaration9 May 1950• "World peace cannot be safeguarded without

the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it."

• "Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity."

• "The pooling of coal and steel production... will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims."

Institutional Structure of the ESCC

▫High Authority▫Council of Ministers▫Parliamentary Assembly▫Court of Justice

•25th of March 1957 – Treaty establishing European Economic Community (EEC); Treaty establishing European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)

European Economic CommunityArt. 2 EEC Treaty"The Community shall have as its task, by

establishing a common market and progressively approximating the economic policies of member states, to promote throughout the community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an increase in stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between the states belonging to it".

European Economic CommunityCommon market1. customs unionCustom Union since 1 July 1968 = tariffs and quantitive restrictions between MS

abolished + common external customs tariff 2. „four freedoms” + approximation of laws Free movement of goods, persons, services and

capital  3. rules on competition4. state aid5. tax provisions

European Economic CommunityCommon policies•common commercial policy •common policy in the sphere of

agriculture and fisheries •common policy in the sphere of transport •social policy•association of the overseas countries and

territories

Institutional Structure of the Communities•ESCC

▫High Authority▫Council of Ministers▫Parliamentary Assembly▫Court of Justice

•EEC/Euratom▫Commission▫Council of Ministers▫Parliamentary Assembly▫Court of Justice

Institutional Structure of the Communities•  1957 Convention on certain institutions

common to the European Communities  1965 Merger Treaty Treaty Establishing a

Single Council and Single Commission   repealed by the EU Treaty Parliamentary Assembly /European ParliamentCouncilCommission Court of Justice /ECJ

Community acts•regulations•directives•decisions

Single European Act of 1986

1/ internal market art. 8a: an area without internal frontiers

in which the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital is ensured (till 31.12.1992)

 With a population of 457 million, the European Union

is the largest internal market in the world today.

Single European Act of 1986

objectives :• "to improve the economic and social

situation by extending common policies and pursuing new objectives"

•"to ensure a smoother functioning of the Communities".

Single European Act of 1986institutional reform:• extension of QMV – internal market• cooperation procedure (interinstitutional

dialog)• extension of executive powers of the

Commission (in creation of internal market)

new Community fields of action• Economic and Social Cohesion (European

Regional Development Found), • Research and Technological Development• Environmentreference to a Treaty on Economic and Monetary

Union and cooperation in the sphere of Foreign Policy (European Political Cooperation, European Council)

Treaty on the European Union of 1992Objectives:•strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the institutions; •improve the effectiveness of the institutions; •establish economic and monetary union; •develop the Community social dimension; •establish a common foreign and security policy.

European Union as a ‘pillar structure’

Objectives of the EU i.a. • establishment of an economic and monetary

union including a single currency • a common foreign and security policy

including the eventual framing of a common defense policy

• the introduction of a citizenship of the Union • cooperation on justice and home affairs• the maintenance of the acquis

communautaire • the respect of the principle of subsidiarity

Community method • legislative initiative of the

Commission •QMV•co-decision - EP involved in decision-

making process•direct effect•ECJ review

II & III pillar - intergovernmental method

• legislative initiative - MSs &Commission

•unanimity, exceptionally QMV•EP - consultation•no direct effect for framework

decisions and decisions•ECJ review only in III pillar – Art. 35

EU

Changes to EC Treaty:new Community fields of action  visas, education, culture, public health,

consumer protection, Trans-European Networks in transport, energy, telecommunication, industrial policy, cooperation for development ;

institutional changes:• co-decision procedure• expansion of QMV• Economic and Monetary Union• principle of subsidiarityEuropean citizenship„Every national of a Member State shall be

a citizen of the Union”

4/ ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION - the Member States must

• ensure coordination of their economic policies, • provide for multilateral surveillance of this

coordination• are subject to financial and budgetary

discipline. The objective of monetary policy is to create a

single currency and to ensure this currency's stability thanks to price stability and respect for the market economy.

establishment of a single currency - stages:•Liberalization of the movement of capital

(since 1 January 1990); •convergence of the Member States'

economic policies (since 1 January 1994); •the creation of a single currency and the

establishment of a European Central Bank (ECB) (since 1 January 1999)

Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997

Objectives:to create the political and institutional conditions to enable the European Union to meet the challenges of the future such as the rapid evolution of the international situation, the globalization of the economy and its impact on jobs, the fight against terrorism, international crime and drug trafficking, ecological problems and threats to public health.

Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997 Institutional changes •extension of QMV; •Changes in the structure and operation of the European Commission; •extension of power of the ECJ; •involvement of national Parliaments in the activities of the European Union; •the subsidiarity principle - containing legally binding guidelines; •closer cooperation.

Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997 Institutional changes •extension of QMV; •Changes in the structure and operation of the European Commission; •extension of power of the ECJ; •involvement of national Parliaments in the activities of the European Union; •the subsidiarity principle - containing legally binding guidelines; •closer cooperation.

Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997

•new fields of EC activity▫employment policy▫acquis Schengen

Treaty of Nice of 2000

OBJECTIVES OF THE TREATY OF NICE- preparing the European Union for

enlargement by revising the Treaties in four key areas:▫size and composition of the Commission; ▫weighting of votes in the Council; ▫extension of QMV; ▫enhanced cooperation.

Treaty of Nice of 1992Institutional changes:• Council -new weighting of votes in the Council: adjustment in

the weighting of votes in favour of the more populated Member States and redistribution of votes among the 25 then 27 Member States.

• Commission - future change in the composition, increase in the powers of the President , change in the way he or she is nominated.

• Reform of judicial system- new division of tasks between the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance and the possible creation of specialist judicial Chambers.

• Other Institutions:Parliament: extension of the codecision procedure and adjustment of the number of seats allocated to each current and future Member State. The Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: composition and nomination of members.

Constitutional Treaty

Declaration on the future of the EU•a more precise demarcation of

responsibilities between the European Union and the Member States;

•the status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;

•a simplification of the Treaties; •the role of national parliaments in the

European architecture.

Treaty establishing the Constitution for Europe• abolition of Pillar’s structure• no EC – only EU• state-like symbols• EU – legal personality • ordinary legislative procedure Co-decision

and QMV• Institutional changes• principle of primacy of EU law in the main text• Charter of Fundamental Rights included into

Treaty• European Laws/European Framework Laws• Minister for Foreign Affairs

Treaty of Lisbon of 2007• abolition of Pillar’s structure• No state-like symbols• EU – legal personality • Ordinary legislative procedure Co-decision and

QMV• Institutional changes• No principle of primacy of EU law in the main text• Charter of Fundamental Rights is not a part,

however binding • No European Laws/European Framework Laws• No Minister for Foreign Affairs/ High

Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

• European External Action Service

Founder Countries of EEC

1958

enlargement of 1972 (in force in 1973)

• Great Britain • 1960 – EFTA – GB, Austria, Denmark,

Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal• Denmark• Ireland• acquis communautaire• French veto of 1963 • new application of 1967 – + Norway – De

Gaulle veto

1st enlargement: 1973

1958

1973

1981: The first Mediterranean enlargement

•Greece – 1979/1981/ after dictatorship (negative opinion of the Commission) - to help democracy

2nd Enlargement: 1981

1958

1973

19811981

Portugal and Spain – 1985/1986secession of Greenland of 1985

3rd Enlargement: 1986

1958

1973

198619811981

1995 : The EU expands to 15 membersAccession of Sweden, Finland, Austria

4th Enlargement: 1995

1958

1973

1995

198619811981

2004 - the biggest round of enlargement : Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia

5th Enlargement: 2004

1958

1973

1995

2004

198619811981

2007 – Bulgaria and Romania

6th Enlargement: 2007

1958

1973

1995

2004

198619811981

2007

Legal character of the EUArticle 1 TEU 

By this Treaty, the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES establish among themselves a EUROPEAN UNION, hereinafter called

"the Union", on which the Member States confer competences to attain objectives

they have in common.Article I-1 (TCE)1. Reflecting the will of the citizens and States of Europe to build acommon future, this Constitution establishes the European Union, on whichthe Member States confer competences to attain objectives they have incommon. The Union shall coordinate the policies by which the MemberStates aim to achieve these objectives, and shall exercise in the Communityway the competences they confer on it.

EU is the (single) international organization

▫created under the Treaty by Members States;▫ legal personality;▫principle of conferred powers ▫Member States are still ‘Masters of the Treaties”

Article 48 - an amendment of the Treaties ‘may, inter alia, serve either to increase or to reduce the competences conferred on the Union in the Treaties’; subject to ratification by all Member States Simplified revision procedure (may not increase the

competences conferred on the Union in the Treaties ): subject to approval by the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements

Article 50 withdrawal from the EU;

Constitutional character of the UEArticle 1 TEU

This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen.

 The Union shall be founded on the present

Treaty and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaties"). Those two Treaties shall have the same legal value. (…)

Constitutional character of the EUThe EU is something more than „classic” international organization: •aim of the Treaties – integration,•not only cooperation between Member States but also integration of peoples,•„transfer” of powers from Member States to the EU,•Treaties as „constitutional charter”,•ECJ as constitutional Court

Constitutional character of the UE6/64 Flamino Costa v ENEL

‘By contrast with ordinary international treaties, the EEC Treaty has created its own legal system which ... became an integral part of the legal systems of the Member States and which their courts are bound to apply. By creating a Community of unlimited duration, having its own institutions, its own personality, its own legal capacity and capacity of representation on the international plane and, more particularly, real powers stemming from a limitation of sovereignty or a transfer of powers from the States to the Community, the Member States have limited their sovereign rights ... and have thus created a body of law which binds both their nationals and themselves.’

•institutions are not free to choose their objectives in the same way as a sovereign state;

•the EU has not the comprehensive jurisdiction enjoyed by sovereign states;

•the EU has not powers to establish new areas of responsibility (‘jurisdiction over jurisdiction’).

Article 1 TEU

 The Union shall be founded on the present

Treaty and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaties"). Those two Treaties shall have the same legal value. (…)

Treaty on European Union

•Common provisions (I)• Provisions on democratic principles (II), •Provisions on institutions (III), •Provisions on enhanced cooperation (IV),•General provisions on the Union’s external

action and specific provisions on the common foreign and security policy (V)

•Final provisions (VI).

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) - developed from the Treaty establishing the European Community.

The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC Treaty — ‘Euratom Treaty’)

The TEU and the TFEU have the same legal standing.