Transcript EU Institutions

EU Institutions
Aims of the European Union
 Initially
was to control production of steel
after WWII to limit states building up
weapons etc
 These
days the aim is to provide
economic prosperity for Europe
 Help to compete against economically
powerful countries like China, USA, India
Single European Act 1986
 Set
a goal of 1992 to abolish trade barriers
between member states

Means that trade and people can move
freely between countries without the need
for customs forms, work permits etc
Modernisation of Europe
 EU
institutions initially designed over 50
years ago for just 6 countries
 Currently 27 countries and so initial system
was outdated
 Proposed idea for a new European
Constitution
 Supposed
to abolish all former treaties and
just have a singular constitution
 Idea
was dismissed and the Lisbon Treaty
2007 was adopted (came into force 2009)

Left all major treaties in place, but made
key amendments
Key Institutions
 There
are 4 main institutions (excluding the European
Council and the Central European Bank):
1.
2.
3.
4.

The Commission
The Council of Ministers
The European Parliament
The European Court of Justice (ECJ)
Let’s look at each one in turn...
The Commission
 The
Commission is made up of 27
members called Commissioners

What is the relevance of this number?
 Commissioners
member state
are appointed by the
 Appointments
are subject to approval by the
European Parliament
 They
are appointed for a period of 5 years
 The
Commission represents the interests of
the EU as a whole
 The Commissioners are therefore
independent and do not represent the
interests of their member states
 Helps
to balance against the Council of
Ministers who do represent the interests of the
member states
 The
Commission has several key tasks:
 Takes
part in making EU legislation (laws)
 Ensures member states uphold EU law –
investigates and dobs them in to the ECJ
 Negotiates trade agreements between the
EU and non-EU countries
 Negotiates with new members who wish to
join
 Draws up the annual budget for the EU (for
approval by the EU Parliament)
The Council of Ministers


Made up of 27/28 variable members and
represents the interests of the individual member
states
In each meeting, relevant members from each
member state attend


Has an important role in that it implements all the
new legislation suggested by The Commission


Relevance depends on the subject being discussed
The Commission proposes, The Council imposes
The Council, like the Commission is answerable to
the European Parliament
The European Parliament

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
Composed of 736 Members of the European
Parliament (MEPs)
Elected by the citizens of the member states
and they sit for 5 years
The number of MEPs per member state is
representative of the size of the population

Approx 1 MEP for every 670,000 citizens)


UK = 72 Austria = 17 Cyprus = 6
Form broad political groups rather than
staying with other MEPs from the same
member state


Has little direct legislative control but
considers ad discusses proposals put forward
by The Commission and then makes further
suggestions
Exercises power over The Commission

Can veto appointments to The Commission and
The Commission as a whole

In 1999 the entire Commission resigned as a result of
fraud allegations made by Parliament
The Commission must make a written report to
Parliament annually
 Parliament can ask questions of the
Commissioners off the back of the report
 It is necessary for The Commission to request
approval of the budget for the EU, from
Parliament

 The
Council of Ministers is not so subject to
the powers of Parliament but...
3
times a year Parliament produces a report
on The Council about its administration
 The President of the Council is obliged to
address the Parliament once a year and is
then subject to questions
 Parliament has the power to bring actions
against other EU institutions for failure to
implement EU law
 Main
criticism is that it has no real power
 However, the confirmation of Parliament is
required on any international agreements
EU wishes to enter into...
 Therefore plays a large role in deciding on
whether new members should be
admitted
The European Court of Justice
(ECJ)

Supervises the uniform application of EU law
throughout the member states


Through its decisions it creates case law which
must be followed
Art 19 Treaty of the European Union (TEU)
states that the Court:
“...must ensure that in the interpretation and
application of the Treaty the law is observed”

ECJ sits in Luxembourg and has 27 judges who
sit for periods of 6 years (can be reappointed for a further
term of 6 years)

The judges are made up of those who are
eligible to sit in the highest courts of each
member state


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
Supreme Court
Judges are assisted by 9.Advocates General
The AGs research the relevant legal points
and write opinions and present these to the
judges after the judges have heard
submissions from the parties
Both the submissions and the opinions are
paper based rather than advocacy

This is a major difference to the UK system
The roles of the ECJ...
 Has
1.
2.
two separate functions:
Judicial Role – hears cases to decide
whether member states have fulfilled their
obligations
Supervisory Role – hearing references
under Art 267 Treaty of the Functioning of
the European Union (TFEU) from national
courts for preliminary hearings on a point
of EU law
The Judicial Role:
 Usually exercised when The Commission
(Guardians of the Treaties) bring a case against a
member state for breaching EU law
Re: Tachographs: EC Commission v UK (1979)
 The
Court held that the UK had to implement a
regulation made by the Council of Ministers
which said that every lorry carrying dangerous
cargo had to be fitted with mechanical
recording equipment
 UK had deemed it unnecessary but was then
forced to comply because of the ruling
 However,
member states can also take EU
institutions to the ECJ to challenge the
legality of EU legislation

E.g. Proper procedure not used to make it or
powers have been misused etc
UK v Council of the European Union (1996)
 UK
sought to have the Directive on the 48
working week annulled (cancelled) on the
basis that it was unlawful
 Application was unsuccessful
The Supervisory Role:
 Hears references from national courts for
preliminary rulings on points of European law
under Art 267 TFEU
 Very important as rulings made by ECJ are
then binding on all courts in all member
states
 This ensures that law is uniform

National courts may make Art 267 referrals
for clarification if it considers that “...a
decision on that question is necessary to
enable it to give a judgement.”
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If there is no further appeal within the national
court system then the court must refer that
question to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling
If there is a further route of appeal then the
lower court has a discretionary referral option
to ask for a preliminary ruling
Proceedings in national court are suspended
until ECJ gives its verdict
The verdict does not tell national court how to
decide the case but explains what the EU law
on the matter is
National court is then left to apply that to the
facts of the specific case
When to make a discretionary referral?

Lord Denning laid down guidelines in the Court of
Appeal case of Bulmer v Bollinger (1974):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Guidance on the point of law must be necessary
to come to a decision in the case
There is no need to refer a question which has
already been decided by the ECJ in a previous
case
There is no need to refer a point which is
reasonably clear and free from doubt (acte clairI
doctrine)
Court must consider all the circumstances of the
case
English court retains the discretion whether to
refer or not
Differences from UK courts
 Several
Emphasis is on paper based presentation
of cases rather than advocacy as in
England and Wales
1.

Hint
major differences
Why do you think this is the case?
 French
is the traditional language of the
court
 Most European countries use paper
submissions in their national courts
2.
Use of the Advocates General

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Independent lawyers not used in English
system
In ECJ, parties make written submissions
then AG will present his findings on the law
Court has the advantages of hearing all
aspects of the law, not just those which
benefit the parties
3.
Deliberations of the judges are secret and
may be made by majority vote
Only a single written judgement is provided at
the end
 Benefits and/or problems?
 In English system the dissenting judge(s) provide
their own full reason as to why they disagree

4.
ECJ is not bound by its own previous
decision
5.
Has a very wide interpretation on the
meanings and purposes of words within the
legislation

Has a knock-on effect to the English system of
statutory interpretation