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Elaborated class notes Constitutional Law of the European Union
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Elaborated class notes of the course Constitutional Law of the European Union. Obtained 16/20
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Constitutional law of the European Union1. INTRODUCTION AND THE EU INSTITUTIONAL LANDSCAPE AFTER THE 2019 ELECTIONS
AND THE 2020 COVID CRISIS...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................1
1.1.1 Working method and objectives of the course.......................................................................................1
1.1.2 What is constitutional law of the EU?....................................................................................................2
1.2 EU INSTITUTIONAL LANDSCAPE AFTER THE 2019 ELECTIONS TO THE EP.....................................................7
1.3 EU INSTITUTIONS SHAKEN BY THE 2020 COVID CRISIS...............................................................................12
2. DIVISION OF COMPETENCES BETWEEN THE EU AND MEMBER STATES.................................14
2.1 PRINCIPLE OF CONFERRAL/ATTRIBUTED POWERS.........................................................................................14
2.2 LEGAL BASIS REQUIREMENT.........................................................................................................................16
2.3 CONSTITUTIONAL IMPACT OF CHOICE OF LEGAL BASIS................................................................................18
2.4 MEMBER STATE COMPETENCES.....................................................................................................................25
2.5 THE INTERNAL MARKET................................................................................................................................27
3. EU CITIZENSHIP............................................................................................................................................32
3.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................................32
3.2 EU CITIZENSHIP – HISTORY, EVOLUTION......................................................................................................32
3.3 RIGHTS OF EU CITIZENS...............................................................................................................................34
3.4 WHO IS AN EU CITIZEN: DOES IT IMPACT ON MEMBER STATE NATIONALITY LAW?...................................35
3.5 DEVELOPING EU CITIZENSHIP......................................................................................................................39
3.5.1 Loss of EU citizenship and Brexit........................................................................................................39
3.5.2 Developing and strengthening EU citizenship.....................................................................................40
3.5.3 EU Citizenship in the case-law of the Court........................................................................................41
3.5.4 The European Citizens' Initiative.........................................................................................................43
3.5.5 "Institutional processes" of EU Citizenship.........................................................................................45
4. TESTING THE SCOPE OF EU COMPETENCES: FREE MOVEMENT AND MS’ SOCIETAL
CHOICES...............................................................................................................................................................46
4.1 SCOPE OF EU COMPETENCES........................................................................................................................46
4.2 FREE MOVEMENT AND SOCIETAL CHOICES...................................................................................................49
4.2.1 Structure of prohibition........................................................................................................................50
4.2.2 Free movement of economic actors......................................................................................................51
4.2.3 Free movement of non-economic EU citizens: art 21 TFEU...............................................................51
4.2.4 Application in specific areas................................................................................................................51
5. EU DECISION-MAKING PROCEDURE (I): LEGISLATION – DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE........59
5.1 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ON THE REVISION OF THE POSTING OF WORKERS DIRECTIVE...............................59
5.1.1 On the procedure and legal basis.........................................................................................................61
5.1.2 On the negotiation mandates in Parliament and Council....................................................................68
5.1.3 On the trilogue negotiations.................................................................................................................72
5.1.4 On the role of the commission..............................................................................................................75
6. SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY THROUGH THE LENS OF THE EU TOBACCO
LITIGATION........................................................................................................................................................76
6.1. CO-EXISTENCE OF EU AND MS COMPETENCES...........................................................................................76
6.1.1 Three principles for respecting boundaries.........................................................................................76
6.1.2 A brief history.......................................................................................................................................76
I
, 6.2 TREATY BASIS – THE KEY PROVISIONS (DEFINITION, APPLICATION)............................................................77
6.2.1 Subsidiarity...........................................................................................................................................77
6.2.2 Proportionality.....................................................................................................................................77
6.2.3 Subsidiarity indicators (qualitive and quantitative).............................................................................78
6.2.4 Proportionality indicators....................................................................................................................79
6.3 INCORPORATING PRINCIPLES IN LEGISLATIVE PROCESS................................................................................79
6.3.1 Developing commission proposals.......................................................................................................79
6.3.2 After proposal.......................................................................................................................................81
6.4 JUDICIAL REVIEW OF PRINCIPLES OF PROPORTIONALITY AND SUBSIDIARITY: S & P IN TOBACCO
LITIGATION.........................................................................................................................................................84
7. EU DECISION-MAKING PROCEDURE (II): IMPLEMENTATION......................................................91
7.1 IMPLEMENTATION VERSUS LEGISLATION......................................................................................................91
7.1.1 Member state authority for implementation of EU legislation.............................................................91
7.1.2 Comitology...........................................................................................................................................92
7.1.3 Delegations to the Commission............................................................................................................95
7.2 IMPLEMENTING ACTS AND DELEGATED ACTS...............................................................................................97
7.2.1 Distinction delegated acts and implementing acts...............................................................................99
7.2.2 Delegated acts amending and delegated acts supplementing............................................................102
7.2.3 The Inter-Institutional Agreement on Better Law-Making.................................................................103
7.3 IMPLEMENTING THROUGH UNION AGENCIES..............................................................................................105
7.3.1 Conferral of decision-making power to autonomous Union bodies...................................................105
7.3.2 Meroni criteria...................................................................................................................................105
7.3.3 Accountability.....................................................................................................................................106
8. ECONOMIC & MONETARY GOVERNANCE IN THE EU....................................................................108
8.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................108
8.1.1 Historical Note...................................................................................................................................109
8.1.2 Geographical Note.............................................................................................................................111
8.2 EU ECONOMIC & MONETARY POLICY: AS IT STANDS IN THE TFEU.........................................................113
8.2.1 What can the EU do in that field?......................................................................................................113
1) ECONOMIC POLICY.......................................................................................................................................113
2) MONETARY POLICY......................................................................................................................................122
3) INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS ON BOTH ECONOMIC AND MONETARY POLICY.............................122
4) SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ON THE EUROZONE.............................................................................................123
8.2.2 How does, in principle, EU intervention in this field relate to domestic competences?....................126
8.3 EUROPEAN ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE: IMPLEMENTING THE TFEU AND BEYOND......................................127
8.3.1 Toward the 2011 legislative reform (‘six-pack’)................................................................................127
1) TAKING ONE STEP BACK: THE STABILITY AND GROWTH PACT........................................................127
2) COUNCIL REGULATION 1466/97 OF 7 JULY 1997 ON THE STRENGTHENING OF THE
SURVEILLANCE OF BUDGETARY POSITIONS AND THE SURVEILLANCE AND COORDINATION OF
ECONOMIC POLICIES (AS AMENDED IN 2005 AND MOSTLY IN 2011, LAST CONSOLIDATED IN 2011)
............................................................................................................................................................................... 128
3) COUNCIL REGULATION 1467/97 OF 7 JULY 1997 ON SPEEDING UP AND CLARIFYING THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EXCESSIVE DEFICIT PROCEDURE (AS LAST CONSOLIDATED IN 2011)
............................................................................................................................................................................... 131
4) REGULATION NO 1176/2011 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 16
NOVEMBER 2011 ON THE PREVENTION AND CORRECTION OF MACROECONOMIC IMBALANCES132
8.3.2 The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (or
‘Fiscal Compact’ or ‘Stability Pact’, see also related case from the Belgian Constitutional Court), 2
March 2012.................................................................................................................................................133
1) PURPOSE AND SCOPE (ART 1).....................................................................................................................133
2) CONSISTENCY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LAW OF THE UNION (ART 2).................................133
3) SELECTED PROVISIONS INTENDED TO STRENGTHEN THE EMU........................................................134
8.3.3 Selected aspects of the 2013 legislative reform (‘two-pack’).............................................................135
II
, 8.4 CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK.....................................................................................................................135
9. INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIVENESS TO CRISES – FROM THE EURO CRISIS TO COVID-19. 137
9.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................137
9.1.1 The Economic and Financial Crisis & its link with the EMU............................................................137
9.1.2 The COVID-19 crisis, as it unfolds since March 2020, and its link with the EMU...........................138
9.1.3 How do legal responses to these crises inform our understanding of the dynamics of EU
constitutional law?......................................................................................................................................138
9.2 CRISIS MANAGEMENT OUTSIDE THE EU TREATIES.....................................................................................138
9.2.1 Ad hoc Responses to the Crisis...........................................................................................................138
9.2.2 A more Permanent Solution for Euro area Member States: the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)
.....................................................................................................................................................................139
1) TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN STABILITY MECHANISM..................................................139
2) HOW DOES THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE ESM RELATE TO THE PRE-EXISTING ALLOCATION
OF POWERS IN THE EU?....................................................................................................................................140
9.3 THE RISE OF NEW PLAYERS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF EU LAW......................................................................145
9.3.1 The ECB in the spotlight....................................................................................................................145
1) THE OMT SAGA..............................................................................................................................................145
2) THE PSPP SAGA..............................................................................................................................................146
3) WHAT’S NEXT................................................................................................................................................148
9.3.2 The Euro Group in the Background...................................................................................................148
9.4 CONCLUSIONS.............................................................................................................................................149
10. EU LAW AND THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS: ORDERING PLURALISM...........................150
10.1 ARTICULATING THE PRIMACY OF EU LAW WITH DOMESTIC CONSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY IN THE
CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF THE EU: THE ORIGINAL CHANGE...............................................................151
10.1.1 The primacy of EU law from the perspective of the EU...................................................................151
1) EU LAW TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER NATIONAL (CONSTITUTIONAL) LAW....................................151
2) GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF UNION’S LAW AS BRIDGING DEVICES.....................................................152
3) NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY WITHIN EU PRIMARY LAW............................................154
10.1.2 National constitutional orders and the primacy of the EU..............................................................155
1) BELGIUM: A CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION AND ITS INTERPRETATION.........................................156
2) GERMANY: AN ACT OF APPROVAL AND SO-LONG-AS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, IDENTITY
REVIEW AND (NO?) ULTRA VIRES….............................................................................................................157
3) POLAND: AN EXAMPLE OF ADDRESSING CONFLICTS BY ADJUSTING THE CONSTITUTION.......163
4) THE UK: (DES?-)INCORPORATION THROUGH AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT..........................................164
10.2 ARTICULATING THE PRIMACY OF EU LAW & CONSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY IN THE DAILY LIFE OF EU
LAW: ON-GOING CHALLENGES...........................................................................................................................165
10.2.1 How does the Court of Justice articulate its relationship with domestic constitutional law on a daily
basis?...........................................................................................................................................................165
10.2.2 How do domestic constitutional authorities articulate their relationship with domestic
constitutional law on a daily basis?............................................................................................................167
10.3 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS...................................................................................................................167
11. THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE EU LEGAL ORDER FOR THE PROTECTION OF
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS...............................................................................................................................168
11.1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................168
11.2 THE SOURCES FOR THE PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EU LEGAL ORDER....................169
11.2.1 The guidance of article 6 TEU.........................................................................................................169
1) CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EU................................................................................169
2) EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS....................................................................................171
3) GENERAL PRINCOPLES OF EU LAW..........................................................................................................171
4) HOW DO THESE SOURCES INTERACT?.....................................................................................................172
11.2.2 Looking beyond article 6 TEU.........................................................................................................174
1) OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE EU TREATIES..............................................................................................174
2) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TO WHICH THE EU IS A PARTY.......................................................174
III
, 3) EU LEGISLATION GIVING EXPRESSION TO FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT..................................................174
4) OTHER SOURCES?..........................................................................................................................................175
11.3 EU ACTS OUGHT TO COMPLY WITH FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AS PROTECTED IN THE EU..........................177
11.3.1 Upstream the decision-making process............................................................................................177
11.3.2 Downstream the decision-making process.......................................................................................177
1) EU ACTS V EU CONSITUTIONAL LAW......................................................................................................178
2) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE EU AND THIRD STATES/ORGANISATIONS.......180
3) EU INSTITUTIONS ACTING OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF EU LAW.............................................................180
4) OTHER EU ORGANS.......................................................................................................................................180
11.4 MEMBER STATE’S DUTIES TO COMPLY WITH FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS WHEN THEIR ACTION FALL WITHIN
THE SCOPE OF EU LAW.....................................................................................................................................181
11.4.1 When does the matter fall within the scope of EU law?...................................................................181
1) CASE LAW PREDATING THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE LISBON TREATY...................................181
2) LEGAL GUIDANCE PROVIDED FOR WITH THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE LISBON TREATY....181
3) LEGAL GUIDANCE PROVIDED FOR AFTER THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE LISBON TREATY. 182
11.4.2 Ensuring that national organs acting within the scope of EU law comply with fundamental rights
.....................................................................................................................................................................183
1) OBLIGATIONS OF PUBLIC ORGANS...........................................................................................................183
2) OBLIGATIONS OF PRIVATE ENTITIES.......................................................................................................184
3) MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT..........................................................................................................184
11.5 CONCLUSION & PERSPECTIVES: ENFORCING FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EU.....................................184
12. MUTUAL TRUST IN THE AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE...............................186
12.1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................186
12.1.1 From Mutual Recognition as a core concept of EU Internal Market law…....................................186
12.1.2 …To Mutual Trust as a core concept of the Area of Freedom Security and Justice........................187
12.1.3 The CJEU, the ECHR & Mutual Trust.............................................................................................188
12.2 MUTUAL TRUST IN THE CONTEXT OF EU ASYLUM LAW.........................................................................189
12.2.1 A concise introduction to the Dublin system....................................................................................189
1) OVERVIEW OF KEY LEGAL TEXTS TO DATE...........................................................................................189
2) KEY RULES AND PRINCIPLES FOR OUR PURPOSE OF THIS LECTURE...............................................189
12.2.2 Case law interpreting the conditions for transfers from one MS to another MS.............................190
12.2.3 The future of the Dublin system........................................................................................................194
12.3 MUTUAL TRUST IN THE CONTEXT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT....195
12.3.1 A concise introduction to the EAW...................................................................................................195
12.3.2 Case law on the implementation of the EAW...................................................................................196
12.3.3 The future of the EAW and the EU legislation in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal
matters.........................................................................................................................................................199
12.4 CONCLUSION: MUTUAL TRUST IN THE AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE AND BEYOND.......200
13. MONITORING THE RULE OF LAW IN THE EU.................................................................................201
13.1 BASIC TEXTS.............................................................................................................................................201
13.2 POINTS OF DISCUSSION..............................................................................................................................201
13.2.1 Values of the European Union.........................................................................................................201
13.2.2 The procedure of article 7 TEU.......................................................................................................202
13.2.3 Non compliance with EU law and the Rule of Law..........................................................................205
1) PRELIMINARY REFERENCES ON THE RULE OF LAW UNDER ARTICLE 267 TFEU...........................206
2) INFRINGEMENT ACTIONS ON RULE OF LAW UNDER ARTICLE 258 TFEU........................................207
13.2.4 Is it for the EU and for EU law to ensure the Rule of Law in MS?..................................................207
14. THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE AND THE EU
LEGISLATOR.....................................................................................................................................................213
14.1 CENTRAL POSITION OF THE ECJ IN DISCUSSIONS ON EU (CONSTITUTIONAL) LAW – OR IN LAW, TOUT
COURT...............................................................................................................................................................213
IV
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