The European dimension Corso di inglese giuridico (M-Z) Prof.ssa C. M. Cascione Università degli Studi di Bari ‘Aldo Moro’ Lezione n. 9

European Institutions  The European Council  The European Parliament  The European Commission  The Council of Ministers  The Court of justice

 It sets the EU's overall political direction and defines the EU's broad priorities  It deals with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be resolved at a lower level of intergovernmental cooperation  has no powers to pass laws  it comprises national heads of state or government and the President of the Commission The European Council

 It is mainly an advisory and consultative body  It is composed by members (members of the EuropeanParliament -MEPs) directly elected by EU voters every 5 years. The members sit in Parliament in political, rather then geographical, groups  Parliament is one of the EU’s main law-making institutions, along with the Council of the European Union. The European Parliament

 debating and passing European laws, with the Council  scrutinising other EU institutions, particularly the Commission, to make sure they are working democratically  debating and adopting the EU's budget, with the Council. Main functions

The Council of Ministers  It is the main decision making and legislative body in European Union  It consists of ministers from the governement of the member States; the Precidency of the council rotates between the member states every six months.

 The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the EU's legislative branch,EU's legislative branch  It also holds, jointly with the Parliament, the budgetary power of the Union  It has control over the more intergovernmental areas of the EU, such as foreign policy and macroeconnomic co-ordination. Main functions

The European Commission  The European Commission is one of the main institutions of the European Union.  It represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole.  It drafts proposals for new European laws.  The 28 Commissioners, one from each EU country, provide the Commission’s political leadership during their 5-year term. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for specific policy areas by the President.28 Commissioners

Main functions:  proposing new laws to Parliament and the Council  managing the EU's budget and allocating funding  enforcing EU law (together with the Court of Justice)  representing the EU internationally, for example, by negotiating agreements between the EU and other countries.

Ordinary legislative procedure Commission Proposes legislation CouncilParliament Codecision

The Court of Justice  The Court of Justice interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries.  It also settles legal disputes between EU governments and EU institutions.  Individuals, companies or organisations can also bring cases before the Court if they feel their rights have been infringed by an EU institution.

Types of cases:  requests for a preliminary ruling – when national courts ask the Court of Justice to interpret a point of EU law requests for a preliminary ruling  actions for failure to fulfil an obligation – brought against EU governments for not applying EU law actions for failure to fulfil an obligation  actions for annulment – against EU laws thought to violate the EU treaties or fundamental rights actions for annulment  actions for failure to act – against EU institutions for failing to make decisions required of them actions for failure to act  direct actions – brought by individuals, companies or organisations against EU decisions or actions direct actions

How cases are heard:  A judge and an advocate general are assigned to each case that comes before the Court.  Cases submitted to the court are processed in two stages: - a written stage - an oral stage  The Court's judgements are majority decisions and are read out at public hearings.

Sources of European Law  Primary legislation (The treaties)  Secondary legislation: - regulations - directives - decisions  ‘soft law’ - recommendations - opinions

The Treaties  Treaties contain basic provisions on the European Union's objectives and organisation.  They set the framework for the operation of the European Union which is administered by the Union institutions.  They set up the various organs of the Unions and grant them their powers, delineating the areas of exclusive and shared competence between the Union and member states

Main treaties Treaties of Rome - EEC and EURATOM treaties Signed: 25 March 1957/Entered into force: 1 January 1958 Purpose: to set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Main changes: extension of European integration to include general economic cooperation. Treaty on European Union - Maastricht Treaty Signed: 7 February 1992/Entered into force: 1 November 1993 Purpose: to prepare for European Monetary Union and introduce elements of a political union (citizenship, common foreign and internal affairs policy). Main changes: establishment of the European Union and introduction of the co-decision procedure, giving Parliament more say in decision-making. New forms of cooperation between EU governments – for example on defence and justice and home affairs.

Treaty of Amsterdam Signed: 2 October 1997/Entered into force: 1 May 1999 Purpose: To reform the EU institutions in preparation for the arrival of future member countries. Main changes: amendment, renumbering and consolidation of EU and EEC treaties. More transparent decision-making Treaty of Nice Signed: 26 February 2001/Entered into force: 1 February 2003 Purpose: to reform the institutions so that the EU could function efficiently after reaching 25 member countries. Main changes: methods for changing the composition of the Commission and redefining the voting system in the Council.

Treaty of Lisbon Signed: 13 December 2007/Entered into force: 1 December 2009 Purpose: to make the EU more democratic, more efficient and better able to address global problems, such as climate change, with one voice. Main changes: more power for the European Parliament, change of voting procedures in the Council, citizens' initiative, a permanent president of the European Council, a new High Representative for Foreign Affairs, a new EU diplomatic service.citizens' initiative The Lisbon treaty clarifies which powers: belong to the EU belong to EU member countries are shared. The Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe (2004) – with aims similar to the Lisbon Treaty – was signed but never ratified.Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe

Regulations  Regulations are legislative instruments of general application.  They apply to abstract rather than individual situations.  Regulations are binding in their entirety. This means that a Member State has no power to apply regulations incompletely or to apply only those provisions of which it approves.  Regulations are also directly applicable. This means that regulations do not need to be transposed into national law by the respective Member States in order to take effect.

Directives  Directives are legislative instruments which reconcile the dual objective of both securing the necessary uniformity of Community law and respecting the diversity of national traditions and structures.  Directives are binding on Member States as to the result to be achieved but leave it to the respective national authorities to decide how the Community objective set out in the directive is to be incorporated into their domestic legal systems before a specified date.  A directive does not acquire legal force and effect until the date for implementation of the directive has expired.

Decisions  A decision is an individual act addressed to a specified person or persons.  Decisions are binding only on those to whom they are addressed without any need for implementation into national law.