Preliminary and conceptual clarifications

EU = A SPECIFIC LEGAL ORDER

Its affecting the EU Member States and the lives of their citizens.
Difficulties
the complexity of the construction,
- some obscurity
- the unfamiliarity of many concepts
A few terms (Eurojargon)
Acquis communautaire:
- lathin acquiescere - to agree, to say yes;
- Fr. acquis from acquerir = get something because of effort, experience, time

This is a French term meaning, essentially, 'the EU as it is' in other words,
the rights and obligations that EU countries share. The 'acquis' includes all the
EU's treaties and laws, declarations and resolutions, international agreements
on EU affairs and the judgments given by the Court of Justice. It also includes
action that EU governments take together in the area of 'justice and home
affairs' and on the Common Foreign and Security Policy. 'Accepting the
acquis' therefore means taking the EU as you find it. Candidate countries have
to accept the 'acquis' before they can join the EU, and make EU law part of
their own national legislation.
Chapters of EU acquis
During the process of the enlargement of the European Union, the acquis was divided into 31
chapters for the purpose of negotiation between the EU and the candidate member states for the
fifth enlargement (the ten that joined in 2004 plus Romania and Bulgaria which joined in 2007).
Free movement of goods
Free movement of persons
Freedom to provide services
Free movement of capital
Company law
Competition policy
Agriculture
Fisheries
Transport policy
Taxation
Economic and Monetary Union
Statistics
Social policy and employment
Energy
Industrial policy
Small and medium-sized enterprises
17. Science and research
18. Education and training
19. Telecommunication and information technologies
20. Culture and audio-visual policy
21. Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments
22. Environment
23. Consumers and health protection
24. Cooperation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs
25. Customs union
26. External relations
27. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
28. Financial control
29. Financial and budgetary provisions
30. Institutions
31. Others
For the negotiations with Croatia (2013), Iceland, Turkey, Montenegro and in the future,
with Macedonia, Serbia
Free movement of goods
Freedom of movement for workers
Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
Free movement of capital
Public procurement
Company law
Intellectual property law
Competition policy
Financial services
Information society and media
Agriculture and rural development
Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy
Fisheries
Transport policy
Energy
Taxation
Economic and monetary policy
Statistics
19. Social policy and employment
(including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for women and men)
20. Enterprise and industrial policy
21. Trans-European networks
22. Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments
23. Judiciary and fundamental rights
24. Justice, freedom and security
25. Science and research
26. Education and culture
27. Environment
28. Consumer and health protection
29. Customs union
30. External relations
31. Foreign, security and defence policy
32. Financial control
33. Financial and budgetary provisions
34. Institutions
35. Other issues
Preliminary and conceptual clarifications
Community law - sui generis system:

Case Study: Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der
Belastingen ((Case 26/62) [1963] ECR 1)- the establishment of a
Community legal order


Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie
der Belastingen ((Case 26/62) [1963] ECR 1)
FACTS
Van Gend en Loos, a postal and transportation company, imported urea-
formaldehyde from West Germany to the Netherlands. The Dutch customs authorities
charged them a tariff on the import. Van Gend en Loos objected, submitting that the tariff
was contrary to EC law. Article 12 of the Treaty of Rome (now replaced by Article 30
TFEU) stated: "Member States shall refrain from introducing between themselves any
new customs duties on imports and exports or any charges having equivalent effect, and
from increasing those which they already apply in their trade with each other."
Van Gend en Loos paid the tariff but then sought to retrieve the money in the national
court. The national court made a request for a preliminary ruling to the European Court of
Justice, asking whether the then Article 12 of the Treaty of Rome conferred rights on the
nationals of a member state that could be enforced in national courts.

Advocate General's opinion

Advocate General Roemer thought that some
provisions of the treaty could have "direct effect"
(that citizens could rely on them) but that Article
12 was not one of them.
Nota bene! the advocate general's opinion is distinct from the
judgment of the court
JUDGEMENT
The European Court of Justice, delivering its judgment on the 5 February 1963, firmly
held that Article 12 was capable of creating personal rights for Van Gend en Loos. In
a seminal judgment it gave a wide and purposive interpretation to the Treaty of Rome.
The Community constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of
which the states have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields and
the subjects of which comprise not only member states but also their nationals.
Independently of the legislation of member states, community law therefore not only
imposes obligations on individuals but is also intended to confer upon them rights
which become part of their legal heritage. These rights arise not only where they are
expressly granted by the treaty, but also by reason of obligations which the treaty
imposes in a clearly defined way upon individuals as well as upon the member states
and upon the institutions of the community.
Judgment of the Court of 5 February 1963.
JUDGEMENT
The court gave guidance as to when a treaty article would be directly effective. It stated that it
is necessary to consider the spirit, general scheme, and wording of a provision alleged to be
directly effective. The court held that since the object of the Treaty of Rome was to establish a
common market, for the benefit of individuals, the treaty is more than a typical international
agreement. Not only does it create mutual obligations between states, but it is capable of
giving individuals rights in the national courts.
The court decided that the fact that the failure of member states to comply with EU law could
be supervised by enforcement actions brought either by the Commission or other member
state, did not mean that individuals should not also be able to act as enforcers in national
courts. Two reasons were given. The first was that a failure to recognise a concept of direct
effect would not give sufficient legal protection to individuals. The second was that individual
enforcement was an effective supervisory mechanism. The availability of supervision and
legal application of article rights by individuals, the Commission and member states is
described by Stephen Weatherill as being one of "dual vigilance".
On the question of the tariff on urea-formaldehyde, the Court ruled that the Netherlands could
not impose a higher tariff than that in force on 1 January 1958 (when the Treaty came into
force). The Court noted that increase in the tariff could arise either through an increase in the
rate or through the reclassification of a product into a higher-rated category, and that both
were illegal under Article 12. The question of the proper tariff for urea-formaldehyde (i.e.,
that which was correctly applied on 1 January 1958) was remitted to the national court

Commentary to the case
The case is authority for the proposition that articles of the EC treaty are
directly effective (as distinct from directly applicable) in their application
against the state.
The case illustrates the creative jurisprudence of the European Court of
Justice. The concept of direct effect is not mentioned in the treaty. The
court held that such a doctrine was necessary in order to ensure the
compliance of member states with their obligations under the Treaty of
Rome.
The case illustrates a procedure of enforcement of EC law at the national
leveldirect effect does not require the Commission to bring an action
against the state. This is significant, because it provides a more effective,
distributed enforcement mechanism.

Fundamental values of the European Union
Article 2 of the TEU (values of the Union)
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human
dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and
respect for human rights, including the rights of persons
belonging to minorities. These values are common to the
Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-
discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality
between women and men prevail.
The Aims of the European Union
1. The Unions aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its people.
2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without
internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in conjunction
with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum,
immigration and the prevention and combating of crime.
3. The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable
development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a
highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social
progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the
environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance. It shall combat
social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection,
equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of
the rights of the child. It shall promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and
solidarity among Member States. It shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic
diversity, and shall ensure that Europes cultural heritage is safeguarded and
enhanced.
The Aims of the European Union
4. The Union shall establish an economic and monetary union whose
currency is the euro.
5. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and
promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its
citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable
development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among people,
free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection ofhuman
rights, in particular the rights of the child, as well as to the strict
observance and the development of international law, including respect
for the principles of the United Nations Charter. []