Course 3

The definition of the EU law:

As a definition, the EU includes all legal rules applicable within the EU legal order which regulate the
organization and the functioning of the European institutions, as well as the specific rules that must be
applied within different fields of economic activity that are provided by the treaties.
The Community Law, now EU law, have become a specific instrument for the achievement of
European integration of member states. Concerning the definition of EU law, Van Gen den Loos case
number 26/1962, the court of justice of the European union, had stated the legal nature of the European
communities providing that they constitute a new legal order of international law, having as subjects
not only the member states, but also their nationals.
Assignment:
Van Gen den Loos case number 26/1962
Costa v Enel case number 6/1964
• Read the judgment and make a summary out of it. (information in the court of justice site).
1 page for each law.
In the same way in Costa vs Enel case number 6/1964, the Court of Justice has developed its reasoning
providing that the Community Law constitutes a new legal order which became an integral part of the
national legal systems at member states and the national court of law at member states are obliged to
apply it.
The EU law is characterized by autonomy because it constitutes a legal system which is different from
the international legal order and the national legal systems of each member state. In the same time, the
EU law must not be conceived as an external system of law because it is an integral part of the national
legal system of each member state. As a consequence, the EU law must be applied on the territory of
each member state as its own national law.

The EU law includes mainly the following categories of legal rules:

1. All legal rules included in the founding treaties, the amending treaties and the treaties of
obsession of new member states.
2. All legal rules contained in the acts adopted by the European institution within the application
of the treaties.
In a wider meaning, the EU law also includes the written and unwritten rules that are applicable in the
European legal system, such as the general principles of law belonging to the legal systems of member
states, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the rules related to the external
relations of the EU, the rules included in the internal regulations of the European institutions and so on.
The classification of the European legal rules:
The European legal rules maybe classified in accordance with the following 2 criteria:
1. According to its sources, the EU law may be divided as follows:
a) Primary law, which had been created by the founding treaties, the amending treaties and the
treaties of accession of new member states.
b) Secondary law, which is a result of the activity of the European intuition in the application of
the treaties. (secondary because it is based on the primary).
2. According to its content, the EU law may be divided in the following 2 categories:
a) Institutional law, which deals with the organization, the functioning and the powers of the
European institutions, the relations between the institutions, the financial resources and the external
relations of the EU.
b) The material law, which deals with the specific rules that must be applied indifferent fields of
economic activity, provided by the treaties.
(legal rules related to free institutions, free market etc.)
The principles/characters of EU law:
The EU law is an integral part of the national legal systems of member states. Therefore, EU law is
based on the following 3 principles:
1. The direct applicability of EU law. (only that is provided by the treaties).
It means that the EU legal rules are directly and automatically applicable in the national legal systems
of member states. Therefore, the legal provisions of EU law take effect in the legal systems of member
states as soon as they enter into force, without the need to be incorporated into the national law by
means of national normative acts. As a consequence, the national courts of law are obliged to apply the
European legal provisions into the internal legal order of member states. Concerning the direct
applicability and the method of incorporating international provisions into the national law, there are 2
main approaches in the national legal systems of member states, as follows:
a) The Mornist (means 1, single) approach, provides that any international treaty takes effect into
the national legal system as soon as the treaty is ratified. This approach is applied into the national legal
systems of several member states, such as Romania, France or the Netherlands.
b) The dualist (means 2) which provides that any international treaty cannot take effect into the
national legal systems until its incorporation by national provisions. This approach applies in Germany,
Italy, Belgium or in the UK.
Despite these differences between member states, concerning the method of incorporation of
international legal provisions, the EU law provides the Mornist approach. As a consequence, the
European legal provisions became a part of the national legal system of each member state from the
moment of their entering into force.
2. The direct effect of EU law.
3. The supremacy of EU law.