European Union Law Book

Preface     xi
Abbreviations     xxv
Table of Statutes     xxvii
Table of European Legislation     xxix
Table of Cases     xli
Introduction     1
Further Reading     9
The constitutional base of the Union     11
The period up to the Single European Act (SEA) 1986     13
The Single European Act (SEA) 1986     14
The Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty) 1993     16
The Treaty of Amsterdam 1997     17
The Nice Treaty     18
Structure and content of the Treaties     19
Further Reading     32
Self-Test Questions     32
The institutions of the Community     35
Introduction     35
The Council of the European Union     38
Organisation     39
Voting procedures     41
The Luxembourg Accords and the 'Ioannina Compromise'     43
The Commission     46
The European Parliament (EP)     54
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance (CFI)     59
The European Council     60
The Court of Auditors     61
The Economic and SocialCommittee (ECOSOC)     62
Committee of the Regions (COR)     63
The European Investment Bank     64
The European Central Bank     64
The Draft Constitutional Treaty     64
Further Reading     66
Self-Test Questions     67
The Community legal system     69
Primary legislation     70
Secondary Community legislation     76
Legislative procedures     82
Decision-making procedure of the Commission     82
The consultation procedure     85
The co-operation procedure (Article 252 (ex Article 189c) EC)     86
The co-decision procedure (Article 251 (ex Article 189b) EC)     87
The assent procedure     89
The budgetary procedure     89
Changes made by the Amsterdam Treaty     90
Legislative powers     91
The problem of the legal base     94
Exclusive and concurrent powers and the doctrine of pre-emption     95
Subsidiarity and proportionality as a limit on Community powers     96
Further Reading     98
Self-Test Questions     99
The European Courts: composition, functions, jurisdiction; preliminary rulings     101
The European Court of Justice (ECJ)     102
Jurisdiction of the ECJ     103
The Court of First Instance (CFI)     106
Judicial panels     107
Other changes made by the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties     107
Preliminary rulings     109
Jurisdiction of national courts     112
Discretionary and mandatory references     114
When should a national court refer?     115
Should national courts always make a reference?     116
Interim measures     120
Effects of preliminary rulings     120
The future of preliminary rulings     121
Further Reading     124
Self-Test Questions     125
General principles of law     127
Introductory comments on the idea of general principles     128
Human rights protection as a general principle of Community law     132
Principles of administrative justice and good governance     142
Some overarching principles of the Community legal order     149
Further Reading     155
Self-Test Questions     155
Direct effect of Community law     157
Direct applicability and direct effect     157
Direct effect of Treaty articles      158
Direct effect of international agreements     160
Direct effect of Directives     161
Horizontal and vertical direct effect     164
Other means of giving maximum effect to Community law     166
Further Reading     169
Self-Test Questions     170
Supremacy of Community law     171
The doctrine of supremacy     171
Community law in the United Kingdom     176
Scheme of European Communities Act 1972     177
The relationship between supremacy and sovereignty     180
Community law in other Member States     186
Further Reading     196
Self-Test Questions     196
Remedies in Community law     199
Introduction     199
The principle of effective remedies     202
The principle of equivalence     203
Procedure     204
The creation of a uniform Community remedy     208
Application of these principles in the United Kingdom     217
Interim measures as a remedy     218
Further Reading     220
Self-Test Questions     220
Enforcement of Community law by the institutions     221
Article 226 (ex Article 169) EC     221
Consequences of the judicial phase: Article 228 EC     236
Commission discretion     238
Article 227 (ex Article 170) EC     240
Further Reading     241
Self-Test Questions     242
Judicial review of community action     243
Article 230 (ex Article 173) EC     243
Reviewable acts     244
Locus standi     248
Article 230 and Article 234 (ex Article 177) EC     267
Article 232 (ex Article 175) EC     269
The plea of illegality under Article 241 (ex Article 184) EC     272
Contractual and tortious liability of the Community     273
Further Reading     281
Self-Test Questions     282
Free movement of goods (I): the abolition of customs duties and internal taxation     283
Introduction     283
The Customs Union: common customs tariff (Articles 26 and 27 (ex Articles 18-29) EC)     284
Free movement of goods provisions in the Treaty     285
Customs duties     286
Charges having equivalent effect to a customs duty     287
Charges falling within the scope of internal taxation     292
Further Reading     302
Self-Test Questions      302
Free movement of goods (II): quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect     305
Prohibition of quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect     305
Distinctly applicable MEQRs     309
Indistinctly applicable MEQRs     310
Derogations under Article 30 (ex Article 36) EC     312
Confining Dassonville: developing the rule of reason     319
Principles of mutual recognition and equivalence     324
Keck and certain selling arrangements     329
Quantitative restrictions under Article 29 EC     339
Further Reading     342
Self-Test Questions     343
Competition policy     345
Introduction     345
Article 81 EC: the general structure     346
Article 81 EC: conclusion between undertakings     347
The de minimis principle     352
Conditions for exemption     353
Negative clearance and comfort letters     354
Modernisation of EC competition law     355
Block exemptions     359
Article 82 EC: abuse of a dominant position     362
The meaning of abuse     366
Application and enforcement of EC competition law      370
Merger control     377
National competition law     382
Further Reading     383
Self-Test Questions     384
Environmental law and policy     385
The role of European environmental law and policy     385
The historical development of European Union environmental policy     386
The legal basis of European environmental law     388
Environmental law principles     390
Action programmes in the development of European environmental policy     393
Free movement of goods and the environment     398
Substantive EC environmental law     399
Environmental liability     399
Further Reading     404
Self-Test Questions     404
Free movement of persons (I): workers' rights     405
Introduction     405
Free movement of workers     407
Independent rights     412
Rights for workers' families     415
Further Reading     422
Self-Test Questions     423
Free movement of persons (II): freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide and receive services     425
Introduction     425
Freedom of establishment     429
Freedom to provide services     438
Freedom to receive services     444
Major legislative proposal in the field of services and establishment     450
Further Reading     451
Self-Test Questions     452
Free movement of persons (III): towards a people's Europe?     453
Exceptions     453
Limitations on grounds of public policy, public security, public health     454
A wholly internal situation     459
The public service exception     460
Free movement in the field of professional sport     463
Free movement and lawyers     468
Equal treatment in education     477
Citizenship of the European Union     483
Further Reading     493
Self-Test Questions     493
Discrimination law: from sex discrimination in employment to a general equality principle     495
Introduction     495
Article 141 EC and Treaty changes relevant to sex equality     499
The meaning of 'pay' in Article 141 EC     500
Does Article 141 EC have direct effect?     506
Temporal effect of Article 141 EC     507
Secondary legislation     507
Time limits and the secondary legislation      516
Burden of proof     517
Direct and indirect discrimination and justification     518
Further Reading     526
Self-Test Questions     527
Appendix     529
Index     545