Institutions and Law making

To what extent do institutional set-ups enable each institution to act independently of its member states?

states voluntarily set up an institutional set-up which binds member states

free riding

when one state benefits from the other states complying with the rules but does not comply itself

How does the EU prevent free riding

by binding all member states to EU law rules — if they do not comply, they can be sued/fined

Council of minister

- most powerful institution

- must agree to all legislation before it is passed, and agree to international relations with third parties

- make decisions by unanimity or qualified majority vote

define qualified majority vote

55% of the states representing 65% of the population

who assists the council and what do they do?

The committee of permanent representatives

- made up of civil servants & diplomatic ranks

- prepare the agenda for Council meetings and take most decisions other than the highest-level ones

Why do MS act for good will for matters which require unanimity

if they do not vote with the majority for unanimous votes, other states will retaliate by voting against matters they are concerned about in qualified majority votes

Comission

- made up of 27 commissioners (one per MS) one of them is the Commission president

- nominated by their MS but take an oath not to be influenced by state govt

- has monopoly over initiating/proposing legislation

- main executive body responsible for day-to-day running of EU's business

What is the role of the commission president

allocates each commissioner a sector to be in charge of.

- If the member state has upset other countries, its commissioner would not be responsible for any major sector

What does it mean to say the commission is the guardian of treaties

Brings Article 258 into action

Article 258 TFEU

allows the European Commission to bring a Member State before the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to comply with EU law.

European Parliament

- directly elected by the people of the MS

- acts independently from national govt

- approves the EU budget

- if 2/3rd of the parliament votes no confidence, the commission has to resign

- 720 members

What rights do the European Parliament have?

- in 50% of areas it has an ordinary legislative right and a veto on legislation

- in the other 50% it has the right it be consulted

Court of Justice

Supreme Court of Eu

made up of the general court and court of justice

General court

- lower court

- 2 judges per MS

- deals with actions for annulment of EU acts, competition law and IP property appeals

- rulings can be appealed to the higher court

The court of justice

- 1 judge per MS subject to approval by retired judges

- 11 advocate generals

- only one judgment and no dissenting judgments

- oath to not disclose the deliberation/dissenting opinions

Advocate general

members of the court that sits with judges who hear submissions and write an opinion. (not binding but advises judges on what course of action they should take)

European Central Bank

- issues Euro and sets interests rates

- regulator

- gives last resort loans

European Council

- meeting of all Heads of Governments in the EU

- very few legal powers but is the most politically influential

- builds a habit of cooperations

the legal base

The Union only has the power which is given to it by the member states in treaties

what is the system of attributed competence

If the EU cannot point to a sufficient legal base for legislation, the legislation is void

Exclusive competence

only the EU can act in a particular domain. e.g, the EU has exclusive competence in external trade, member states cannot create their own laws in this area as they do not have competence

Shared competence

the EU can legislate in an area, and member states can also legislate in this area. However, once the EU has legislated in one area, the member states can no longer do so, to ensure harmony in laws in that area

Article 2(5) TFEU

The EU can support coordinate or supplement MS action in other areas

Waht are the 2 forms of EU legislation

1. directives

2. regulations

directives

sets out the objective to be achieved but leaves it to Member States to pass legislation to achieve this goal (called transposition).

- Form and method are left to the Member States

why are directives used

each member state has a different legal system, so it is hard to use the same legal texts; the EU leaves member states to come up with their own methods

regulations

passed through councils.

- This legislation is binding on Member States immediately and in its entirety

what are the 2 legislative procedures for enacting legislation

1. ordinary legislative procedure

2. special legislative procedure

Ordinary legislative procedure

- main way of passing a law

- commission intiates legislation and court and parliament are co-legislators

- parliament rarely exercises its veto

What does it mean to say legislation is carried out in the shadow of veto

The Council and relevant Parliamentary committee will negotiate in advance, and the Council will often offer concessions in advance to ward off any attempt to veto.

Special Legislative Procedure

- number of different procedures

- Parliament must be consulted; there is no obligation to listen to their opinion, but if they are not consulted, the law will be annulled

Sources of law

- treaties

- general principles, unwritten adn judicially created

Treaties

- the supreme source of law in the EU and establish the competence of the Union and how it should be exercised.

- Legislation that violates the treaties is void.

democratic deficit in law making

- parliament elected by people but only consulted 50% of the time, cuts off the people

- some argue that to solve this, the parliament should have a veto on everything

The German Constitutional Court

argue that the EU is not democratic enough for the German constitution — therefore, there is a limit to the level of integration that can occur for Germany