EU Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Community Law Principles and Applications
The Application of Community Law
The Court determines the basic principles of Community law, which are based on the interrelationship of the law and these principles. These principles are:
Principle of Primacy
This principle is based on the direct application and effectiveness of Community law, even if there is a national standard that contradicts it. Community law always prevails over national law, regardless of the nature of the act.
Principle of Direct Applicability and Direct Effect
This principle means that Community law does not need any national measure or its application to have direct effect. It also means that individuals can claim rights under Community law in their domestic courts. These rights and obligations are given to individuals or Member States.
There are two types of direct effect:
- Horizontal: This applies between individuals.
- Vertical: This applies between individuals and the state.
System Resources
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) intervenes in the application of Community law through several resources:
- Action for Annulment: This controls the legality of binding acts (directives, decisions, and regulations) adopted by the EU institutions. It can be called by:
- Privileged Applicants: Member States
- Semi-Privileged Applicants: Organizations in second place at the ECB, Tribunal of Accounts
- Individual Applicants: Individuals
- Action for Failure: This ensures Member States comply with their obligations under Community law.
- Action for Damages: This monitors the extra-contractual liability of the EU institutions.
- Preliminary Ruling: This facility is available for domestic courts to seek a ruling from the ECJ on the interpretation of Community law.
- Default Action: This controls the inactivity of the EU institutions.
Free Movement of Goods
The aim of the free movement of goods is to remove any obstacles (tariff or non-tariff) that prevent free trade and the inter-market movement of products in a fully merged market. Goods are products that are economically valuable and susceptible to commercial transactions between countries.
The origin of goods can be:
- Own Production: 100% own production
- In Free Circulation: When a product enters an extra-EU country and pays the corresponding duties
Contents of the Free Movement of Goods
- Suppression of common external customs tariff rights
- Abolition of quantitative restrictions
Free Movement of Persons
This refers to a national of a Member State who moves to another Member State with the aim of economic activity.
Free Movement of Workers
This includes the displacement and residence of a national of a Member State and their family to another Member State to work for a wage. It includes the right to enter, leave, or stay in the territory of any Member State and the EU states’ obligation not to require additional conditions to those in EU rules.
Rights in Residence
This refers to the right to stay in a country for a period less than three months (self-employed worker, student).
Exceptions
There are exceptions to the free movement of persons for reasons of public order, security, and public health in cases of a genuine and sufficiently serious threat.
Freedom to Provide Services
This refers to services normally performed for benefits in return for remuneration, including:
- Industrial activities
- Commercial activities
- Craft professions
There are two ways to provide services:
- Permanent (Right of Establishment): This involves installing equipment, a stable and permanent physical presence, and a legal person of a national of a Member State in another Member State to develop a kind of self-employment economy.
- Temporary (Services): This involves the temporary installation of material and individual legal national of a Member State in another Member State to develop a kind of self-employment economy.
Free Movement of Capital
The free movement of capital from the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is an adaptation to the EU single currency, setting monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB). It considers moving all capital transfers that occur between the member states without any obstacle to full liberalization of capital movements.
The objectives of the free movement of capital are:
- To allow residents of a Member State to access capital markets and financial products that are more advantageous in another Member State under the same conditions as residents.
- To prohibit restrictions on capital movements and payments between Member States and between the members and third countries.
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
Member States must be willing to put themselves under Chapter V of the EU Treaty, which appears as a second pillar of the CFSP. The objectives of the CFSP can be achieved using common criteria in this pillar. This pillar will find some drives and positions common strategies, and is a pillar of cooperation. They are represented by the Council of Ministers and the European Council.
Article 2 Common Goals
The common goals are achieved through:
- Promoting the interests of the EU against the interests of each state and respect for fundamental rights.
- General international interest, international cooperation, peacekeeping, and common security.
States’ unanimous agreement is required for Member States to refrain from constructive action. If all member states vote in Congress, and a state decides not to participate, there is an action where it says,”This does not mean that other states do not go up ahead (to 13 States may refrain).
Sui Generis Acts
These are acts that are not covered within Article 259 TEC. They include:
- Acts that are only available internally: Internal acts of the relationship between institutions, internal acts of the community are not affected by the institutional.
- Events arising from the practice of institutions: Acts preparatory to an earlier recommendation.
- Sui Generis Acts: The unknown effects that the recipients will have on acts. They can modify articles of the treaties in order to delimit its scope or special equipment (EX relationships / agreements between heads of state at a summit). This is not a decision itself, but rather relationships or arrangements that take the heads of state and government in a global convention.
Acts Not Compulsory
- Recommendations: Before a compulsory act, as recommended, should act in a certain sense.
- Opinions: Any government can make an opinion, but it does not mean that it is binding.
Supplementary Law (International Agreement)
The right part of the supplementary international agreement is divided into two sections:
Agreements Concluded by the EC
These are concluded by the Community institutions in exercising their powers. They are binding for both institutions, as the European Commission, as part of the agreement within the Community legal order. They are integrated into the legal order from the moment they come into force and are directly subordinate to the primary law. The original court is responsible for its control.
Agreements Concluded by Member States
These are not part of Community law and set a background source which is in agreements between Member States. Competences are national and Community.
General Principles of Law
These principles of international law are reconciled with Community law:
- Pact Sunt Servanda Pacta: Everything they undertake.
- Principle of Interpretation: The principles that come from different Member States: the principle of equal treatment, the principle of respect for acquired rights, and the principle of fundamental rights.
Own Principle of Community Law
- Principle of Non-Discrimination
- Principle of Uniformity
- Principle of Balance of Power