Hierarchy of Norms and Instruments of EU Law PDF

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Hierarchy of Norms and Instruments of EU Law Hierarchy of norms - Vertical ordering of legal acts - Things lower down on the hierarchy are subject to things higher up - In practice, this means that ‘higher’ norms can invalidate ‘lower ‘norms Top – TEU, TFEU, Charter - The treaties sit at the top - The Charter is given the same status by Article 6(1) TEU Next – general principles of law - Second - The ‘unwritten law’ of the EU, brought into EU law by the Court - Derived from principles common to the Member States or international law, modified for EU needs - Includes: Proportionality Fundamental rights Legal certainty Legitimate expectations Equality Procedural justice Precautionary principle Next - legislative acts - Third - Article 289 (3) TFEU: ‘Legal acts adopted by legislative procedure’ - Can come in the form of regulations, directives or decisions Next – delegated acts - Fourth - Article 290 (1) TFEU - Essentially, this is when a legislative act delegate some power to the commission to act as a regulator Bottom – implementing acts - Essentially, this is when an act delegate some power to the Commission to execute it Types of EU acts - Regulations - Directives - Decisions Regulations - Biding rule of general obligation - Rules of general application - Binding in their entirety - Directly applicable - Create uniform rules

Directives - May be addressed to all Member States, but does not have to be - Binding only as to the result, not the means of achieving it - Not directly applicable: member states must transpose directives into domestic law - Create flexible rules - Transposition of directives – member states must transpose directives in a certain time limit (between 1-5 years) - If a member state fails to transpose a directive within the time period, the commission will bring an infringement action against the Member state for violating EU law Decisions - Binding to their entirety - Binding only on addressees e.g., Member States, natural or legal persons Which act should be used? - Sometimes specified in the Treaties - Flexible regulation? Directive - Exhaustive regulation, directly applicable? Regulation - Singling out an addressee, but directly applicable to them? Decision...