European Law

ECJ- It is the representative of the EU worldwide- the electoral system follows several steps:

1. every 5 years, exactly after the election of the Parliament

2. then the EU Council elects the President of the Commission- spitzenkandidaten: measure established in 2015, every party chooses a candidate for presidency

3. searching the support of the Parliament

4. the elected president talks with each of the governments and finds a list of potential commissioners

5. the potential commissioner goes to find support to his appointed committee

6. final consensus of the Parliament

7. final consensus of the European Council

It has been proposed a quicker electoral process, which will be implemented in 2024: a united electional law and the institutionalization of the spitzenkandidaten procedure.

The technical institutions:

1. The Court of Auditors: it is composed of 27 members, based in Strasburg and it monitors the correct spending of the European budget

2. The European Central Bank: it is based in Frankfurt and

Its main task is managing price stability and limiting inflation.

The European Court of Justice:

• Judiciary power: solving conflicts on the basis of law
• Interpretation of EU laws, which are supreme in the sense that they are above national constitutional laws
• It is based in Luxemburg and is composed 70% by EU members + national judges
• The members do not represent national interest, instead they pursue the common good
• It is composed by two bodies:
1. The European Court of Justice with 27 members
2. The Tribunate of the EU with 2 members for each of the 27 countries
• Elected every 6 years by the European Council + confirmation by a committee of former judges
• 3 functions:
• Solving disputes (The Tribunate):
• Between the EU and the member states: infringement procedure punished with economic functions; example: the limit to the production of milk which was in surplus, due to the potential price drop
• Related to breach of laws of EU institutions: anointment procedure; example: to states which

do not respect democracy or the rule of law, it may be decided to stop fundings and this happened to Poland and Hungary.

2. prejudicial function: the national courts are exchanged with the implementation of law, however sometimes they paused their judgements and they ask the Court for the right interpretation, which becomes automatically binding.

3. advisory function: an institution asking for a non-binding advice, especially used when making treaties and agreements with other countries, as in the case of China.

Thursday 23rd March

The European Court of Justice

It possesses judicary power, its main duty is the one of solving disputed among the member states on the basis of law. It is entitled to the interpretation of EU laws and treaties and such interpretation is supreme, in the sense that it is above any possible decision of national courts. To avoid the insurgence of internal contingent, the ECJ is composed for the 70% of judges coming from the 27 member states + national judges.

It is based in

Luxemburg e si divide in due organi:1. la Corte di Giustizia dell'Unione Europea (CGUE), con un membro per ogni stato2. il Tribunale, con due membri per ogni stato, è un'entità sovranazionale che significa che i giudici non rappresentano gli interessi nazionali, ma lavorano per perseguire il bene europeo. I giudici sono nominati dal Consiglio europeo ogni 6 anni e iniziano a funzionare dopo la conferma da parte di un comitato di ex giudici. La CGUE ha 3 funzioni:1. Risolvere le controversie: ha competenza sul Tribunale; in caso di violazione della legge, ci sono 2 procedure possibili:- procedura di infrazione, tra le istituzioni dell'UE e gli Stati membri. L'azione punitiva è spesso una sanzione economica, ad esempio nel caso della produzione di latte, è stato imposto un limite a causa dell'aumento dei prezzi.- procedura di ricorso, tra le istituzioni dell'UE e i singoli individui. Quando uno Stato non rispetta la legge, ad esempio quelle riguardanti la democrazia, lo stato di diritto e i diritti umani fondamentali, può essere sanzionato e l'UE può decidere di interrompere

1. Economic funding: an example are Hungary and Poland.
2. Pre-judicial function: national courts have the duty to implement European laws in their domestic system, however they have the right to pause their judgments and ask for the right interpretation of a specific law, which automatically becomes binding.
3. Advisory function: EU institutions can ask for advice from the ECJ, which is not binding. It is usually used when signing treaties with foreign states, for example China.

Legislative function of the EU:

It is embodied in two chambers, the Parliament and the Council, and it deals with 3 main legal sources: regulations, directives, and decisions.

There are 2 different procedures for a legal process:

1. Ordinary:
   1. Proposal of the EU Commission
   2. Proposal sent to the Parliament and to the Council, which are equally involved
   3. First reading or the Council, concluding acceptance of the Parliament
   4. Second reading, still separated
   5. If there is still no agreement, a consultation

commitee is established

third reading: final step, involving also the President of both Chambers

Publication on the “Gazette” after 20 days- special: mainly entitled to the Council

consent procedure: every law adopted by the Council cannot be amended by the Parliament, which has only a veto power

consultation procedure: just a non-binding opinion by the Parliament

The executive function of the EU

The executive system relies on the national public administration: an example could be environmental laws, such as the requirements for the electricity class. There are some expectation for which the executive power is enforced by the Commission, in the case of the EU budget, and by the Council, rarely and only in the case of foreign affairs. In the case in which a national administration angages in a wrong implementation of a law, then it has to face the ECJ.

The main function is the emocratic control. All though including the term “demos”, overtime it has changed

Becoming more and more a broad term, thanks also to the German jugementin 1993, claiming the impossibility to achieve a common sense of an European nation. Indeed, it was necessary to find a compromise for the representation in the EU: the Parliament and the Commission are elected by European citizens, while the Council of Ministers and the Euroepan Council by national citizens. For this distinction the EU is not a federation.

According to Article 10, the executive function is not entitled to representatives elected directly, but through the system of “participatory democracy”. The EU Commission is obliged to listen to citizens’ proposal, as long as their proposal is over 1 000 000 supporters, before finalizing any law. Moreover, according to the principle of “transparency”, citizens have the right to bring claims to the EU Commission.

Taking into consideration the subsidiary principle addressed to the Parliament, there is the issue of “democratic

not the final owner of its sovereignty. Instead, the EU is an etero-determined legal entity, entitled to act only basing its functioning on EU Treaties. The competences of the EU are defined by Article 3, 4, 5 of the Treaty of the functioning of the EU.

1. Executive powers: there are some cases in which sovereignty is actually transferred to the Union:
   • monetary policy, except for 7 countries which kept their own currencies (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden)
   • trade deals, all though not guaranteeing a single action
   • anti-trust legislation: agreements to make function the market correctly, mainly aimed at avoiding monopolies and favoring free competition
   • custom union: allowing free circulation of goods and services, but imposing a common external tariffs to non-EU countries (different from the example of NAFTA)
2. Shared competences: (Article 4 of the TFEU). The EU and its Member States are able to legislate and adopt legally binding acts. Member States exercise their own

competence where the EU does not exercise, or has decided not to exercise, its own competence. Shared competence between the EU and its Member States applies in the following areas: - Internal market - Social policy (but only for aspects specifically defined in the treaty) - Economic, social and territorial cohesion (regional policy) - Agriculture and fisheries (except conservation of marine biological resources) - Environment - Consumer protection - Transport - Trans-European networks - Energy - Area of freedom, security and justice - Common safety concerns in public health matters (limited to the aspects defined in the TFEU) - Research, technological development and space - Development cooperation and humanitarian aid Parallel and supporting competences: (Article 6 of the TFEU). The EU can only intervene to support, coordinate or complement the action of its Member States in the following areas: - Protection and improvement of human health - Industry - Culture - Tourism - Education - Vocational training - Youth and sport - Civilprotezione, cooperazione amministrativa... Ci sono 2 modi per attuare il principio di attribuzione: - Corte di giustizia dell'Unione europea (CGUE): "dottrina implicita dei poteri". Anche se non espressamente dichiarato, ogni volta che viene conferita una competenza, vengono conferiti anche altri poteri necessari per attuare tale misura. Un esempio è la sentenza del 1973: anche se già dotata del potere di regolare il traffico di veicoli pesanti internamente, l'UE ha acquisito anche il potere di farlo anche con altri paesi. - Clausola di flessibilità: è una disposizione del Trattato, articolo 352 TFUE, che conferisce una competenza legislativa all'Unione, anche se non ordinariamente consentita, necessaria per raggiungere gli obiettivi stabiliti nei Trattati. Questa decisione rimane nelle mani del Consiglio che, previa approvazione del Parlamento e all'unanimità, può