European Union Institutions and Law - Coursework Example

EUROPEAN UNION S AND LAW Date: Introduction European Union is the association of European nations to form a body that addresses European matters. The European Union is expressed by certain institutions. Increase in the unions responsibilities and tasks have led to its institutions growing and increasing in numbers. There are five main institutions (Adams, 2006). Institution triangle which makes the European council law is made up of parliament, council and commission (Riches, 2005). Institutions of European Union The European parliament is the first European institution and is believed to be the largest parliament in the world (Upex, 2006). It is directly elected by citizens of the member states. It also democratically reflects the will of the European Union’s citizens. The parliament in conjunction with the council will formulate and adopt legislation proposed by the commission. It also approves the annual budget for the EU and exercises political governance and control. It is responsible for approval of the composition of the commission and can remove it by a vote of no confidence. Members of the European parliament are allowed to forward both oral and written questions to the council and commission. It approves new member states as well as appoints the EU’s ombudsman. It has 626 elected members who are supposed to serve for five years term and they are distributed into groups based on their political affiliations. Its role is to exercise democratic control over all community institutions. It also shares legislative authority with the council and commission and has a decisive role concerning the budget adoption (McCormick, 2011). Council of the European Union is the second institution and is the main decision making body. It is also called council of ministers and is where EU legislation is made often jointly with the European parliament and commission. It acts as the single council for all three European communities (ECSC, EC and Euratom). As a rule the council will only act on a proposal from the commission. Each member state has a representative with the mandate to make binding decisions on his government’s behalf. Its role involves decision making, sharing budgetary function with the European parliament and coordination of economic policies of the member states (Thomassen, 1999). European commission is the third institution and plays the role of proposal presentation for new legislation (Bavasso, 2000). It acts as the guardian of treaties, by monitoring compliance with treaties and common decisions. Is also responsible for acting against Member State before ECJ. Acts as the executive body of the EU hence implementing decisions made by the Council and Parliament (Schmitter, 2000). The European commission has 20 members that have been appointed by governments of member states and has a president appointed for a renewable 2 years term. Roles of the European commission include; proposing legislation to parliament and the council, Administration and implementation of community policies, enforcing community law, acting as a negotiator of the European Union and negotiating international agreements especially those concerning trade and co-operation (Cini, 1996). European court of auditors is the one that represent the tax payers and ensures that the European Union spends its money according to budget rules and regulations and for the right purposes (Bishop, 2009). It has 15 members appointed by the council for a renewable six year term. This institution ensures good financial management and promotes proper effectiveness and transparency of the community system (McNamara, 1998). Every citizen of each Member State is both a national and a European citizen and has a right to apply to the European ombudsman if he or she experiences maladministration by the European Union institutions or bodies. The ombudsman plays the role of the mediator between the citizen and the community authorities (Nixon, 2007). The ombudsman is entitled to make recommendations to the community institutions and to report a matter to the European parliament so that the latter can apply the political measures of a case of maladministration. The ombudsman is appointed for a renewable term of five years. His role includes; dealing with complaints from EU citizens, helping to uncover maladministration in the community institutions and bodies. The court of justice and the court of first instance fall outside his jurisdiction (Thomassen, 1999). Sources of European Union law European law is created by the legislative powers with which the EU member states have invested the EU institutions. The law created by EU institutions is also binding on all EU member states (Article 10 EC) who must: ‘take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfillment of the obligations arising out of this Treaty…’.The European union law is made up of treaties and legislations that include regulations and directives which have direct and indirect effect on the laws of European union member states. It has three sources which include; primary, secondary, and supplementary law. The primary law has the treaties establishing the European Union as its main sources where as the regulations and directives are its secondary sources. The treaties of the European Union are a set of treaties between member states of the European Union which are supposed to formulate the EU’s constitutional basis. They are made up of treaties on European Union and the treaties on the functioning of European Union. These treaties lay out how the European Union operates and have a number of other satellite treaties which interoperate with them. They determine the legal framework within which the EU institutions apply and implement European policies. Primary law is responsible for changing and amendments of EU treaties. It can also be considered as the main source of law in the European Union. It is the highest of the European legal order (Burca, 2011). The secondary law involves law made by European institutions (Kramer, 2011) to exercise power conferred to them by primary law. It requires thorough reference to the relevant provisions of primary law which is its basis (legal base). It involves legislative and non legislative Acts. Under legislative we have; Regulations, Directives and decisions. Whereas non legislative involves delegated acts, implementing acts Recommendations and opinions (Humphreys 2012). The supplementary law has two main sources which involve; Case law of the court of justice , international law and the general principles of law. It has enabled the court to bring together primary and secondary law. International law inspires the court of justice when developing its case law. General principles of law are unwritten law sources developed by the case law of the Court of Justice. They include general principles of law and rules of public international law (Hargreaves, 2007). Types of European Union law European laws are also categorized into types which include; Treaties, regulations and directives. To expand on this, treaties as mentioned earlier are known as primary legislation. This implies that they apply in all member states and become laws automatically without the member states acting in any way. Treaties are the highest levels of EU laws and set out a range of aims as well as rights and obligations. Treaties have both horizontal and vertical direct effect. This means that citizens can rely on the treaty against each other and their government. Regulations like the treaties are directly applicable. They must be applied even if the Member State has already passed legislation which is against it (Ringbom, 2008). They build on provisions in the treaty and are enforced in the member country as soon as they are passed by the Council of the European Union. There is no need for the member state act so as to incorporate them into the law (Monti, 2010). Unlike the other two, directives are not directly applied. This means that the member state has to pass some legislation to incorporate them into law. They are broadly phrased so that the Member States can create their own detailed legislation to put the objectives of the directive into practice, within a specified time limit. This means that everyone was under the assumption that citizens of a member state could not use them until the member state had brought the directive into law (Somek, 2008). However, the ECJ has consistently refused to accept this, and has made it clear that an individual can rely on the directive, even if it is not properly implemented in the Member State’s law. Citizens can only rely on directives against member states (Vertical direct effect) (Nugent, 2006). Conclusion The European Union being a governance body has a number of institutions which have been discussed above. The institutions mentioned are very essential because they assist in governance and running of affairs. These institutions require European Union laws to effectively function thus forming a strong relationship with the sources of these laws. These laws as stated earlier are categorized into primary, secondary, and supplementary sources which directly influence the European parliament, council of the European Union, European commission, European court of auditors, and European ombudsman on different levels and prove that without them, the European union institutions cannot effectively work because they need to be provided with laws to follow during governance so as to maintain a good relationship between European nations. These sources of law form the backbone if this institutions and every institution has a set of laws guiding it which keep on changing from time to time thus making them fully reliant on these sources (Agraa, 2007). References Adams, A. (2006). Law for business students. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman. Artis, M. J., & Nixson, F. I. (2007). The economics of the European Union: Policy and analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cini, M. (1996). The European Commission: Leadership, organisation, and culture in the EU administration. Manchester: Manchester University Press. El-Agraa, A. M., & El-Agraa, A. M. (2007). The European Union: Economics and policies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Keenan, D. J., & Riches, S. (2005). Business law. Harlow: Pearson/Longman. McCormick, J. (2008). Understanding the European Union: A concise introduction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. McNamara, K. R. (1998). The currency of ideas: Monetary politics in the European Union. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press. OKeeffe, D. (2000). Liber amicorum in honour of Lord Slynn of Hadley: 1. The Hague: Kluwer Law Internat. Ringbom, H. (2008). The EU maritime safety policy and international law. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Schmidt (n.d.). Political Representation and Legitimacy in the European Union. Oxford University Press. Schmitter, P. C. (2000). How to democratize the European Union-- and why bother?. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Somek, A. (2008). Individualism: An essay on the authority of the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More