What is the primary legislation of the European Union?

The foundation Treaties of the European Communities i.e. the European Coal and Steel Treaty, the European Atomic Energy Treaty and the European Economic Treaty together with the various Annexes and Protocols attached to them are a primary source of European Union law. These Treaties have been amended and supplemented on a number of occasions since the foundation of the European Communities through the respective Treaties of Accession on the accession of the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland in 1973, Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986 and most recently, Finland, Austria and Sweden in 1995, through the Single European Act, the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice which became effective throughout the European Union on 1st February 2003, and the Treaty of Accession 2003 signed in Athens on 16th April 2003. This Treaty provided for the accession of the following countries to the European Union: Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. More recently, the Accession Treaties for Bulgaria and Romania were signed on 21 June 2005 and these countries became members of the EU on 1 January 2007.

What is contained in these Treaties?

These Treaties contain basic provisions on the European Union's objectives and organisation. They set the constitutional framework for the operation of the European Union which is administered by the Union institutions.

Where can I source the texts of the respective Treaties?

Links to the texts of the respective Treaties may be sourced by clicking here.

Are further amendments to the primary legislation proposed?

In June 2003 the European Convention submitted its proposals for a Constitutional Treaty to the European Council. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was agreed by the Governments of the Member States during the European Council summit in June 2004. This Constitution for Europe would have come into force throughout the EU following ratification in all Member States. However, following rejection of the Treaty by France and the Netherlands in 2005, it was agreed that further developments in implementing the Treaty should be postponed to allow for a period of reflection on the future of the EU.

What is the secondary legislation of the European Union?

Law made by the European Union institutions in exercising the powers conferred on them by the Treaties is referred to as secondary legislation. Secondary legislation consists of the legal acts listed and defined in Article 249 of the EC Treaty i.e. regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.

Regulations

What are European Community regulations?

Regulations are legislative instruments of general application. They apply to abstract rather than individual situations. For example, many regulations apply to operators in the agricultural sector. 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.

Recent regulations include Regulation 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding or cancellation or long delay of flights.

Directives

What are European Union 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.

Examples of directives which have been incorporated into Irish law include the Unfair Contract Terms Directive 93/13/EEC incorporated into Irish law under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1995 and the Product Liability Directive 85/374/EEC incorporated into Irish law under the Liability for Defective Products Act 1991.

Decisions

What are European Union 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.

Examples of situations where decisions are used include the granting or refusal of State aid, the annulment of agreements or arrangements contrary to fair competition and the imposition of fines or corrective measures. An interesting recent decision is that of the Commission issued on 11th December 2002 on aid granted by Greece to Olympic Airways.

Recommendations and Opinions

What are European Union recommendations and opinions?

Recommendations and opinions are non-binding instruments of Community law. They are of persuasive value only.

In what circumstances are conventions between Member States concluded?

Agreements between Member States may be concluded for the settlement of issues closely linked to European Union activities where no powers have been transferred to the Community institutions. There are also full scale international agreements between the Member States aimed especially at overcoming the drawbacks of territorially limited arrangements and creating law that applies uniformly throughout the European Union. This is important primarily in the field of private international law.

These agreements include the Convention on the Mutual Recognition of Companies and Legal Persons (1968), the Convention on the Community Patent (1989) and the Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation of Parental Responsibility for the Protection of Children (1996).

Where can I find further details of the sources of law referred to?

A comprehensive inventory of the sources of European Union law is located at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm