Studying Eu Law: A Police Delineate Student's Guide
November 25, 2018
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You’ll dearest studying European Union Law if yous similar politics, if yous are a visionary, if yous are a pragmatist. In other words, European Union police line has something inwards it for everyone – together with fifty-fifty if yous are none of those things, yous must study it because it’s compulsory. But comport inwards heed European Union police line is different anything you'll receive got studied before: whatever 'types' of police line you've liked before, European Union police line doesn't 'fit' into whatever unmarried category (e.g. populace v. black-letter). Here are some words of advice.
1. Give yourself a political health-check earlier starting out: it's helpful to recognise whatever preconceptions yous receive got nearly the European Union politically earlier starting to study the law. Every pupil comes at the police line from a for sure angle, thence it's skillful to think nearly where yous sit down inwards price of the politics earlier yous start to engage inwards the debates around the law/what it should be.
2. Be prepared to alter what yous think: police line together with politics are inextricably linked, thence studying European Union police line has the potential to alter your views nearly the European Union equally a political establishment - some students undergo a consummate volte-face.
3. Most courses start alongside an introduction to the European Union institutions. Most students don’t discovery that the most exciting constituent of the course, at to the lowest degree non at the beginning, but hang on inwards there. Think of it equally learning the edifice blocks of the system. These institutions are crucial to the functioning of the European Union system. It’s the Commission which comes upward alongside the legislative proposals, it’s the European Council where much of the existent ability forthwith lies for big decisions, together with the European Parliament forthwith has the articulation lastly say on most legislation alongside the Council of Ministers (comprised of ministers of the 28 Member States, all accountable to their ain national parliaments). And what the Court does, volition occupy much of your time.
4. If yous can, see the institutions - it volition convey some of this to life. If not, await at their websites, the alive streaming of parliamentary debates. Don’t think of the institutions equally boring buildings but equally comprised of people operating inwards an international environs trying to discovery ways of addressing some of the most intractable job of our times: the Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, climate change, volume unemployment.
5. The institutions move much to a greater extent than interesting when yous start thinking nearly whether they should live doing what they are doing together with how they are doing it. The European Parliament has a lot of ability yet inwards the lastly European Parliament elections inwards 2014 solely 43% of the overall European Union population bothered to vote (60% inwards the UK, 13% inwards Slovakia). Why is that? Many people verbalize of the democratic deficit inwards the EU. But is the European Union worse than many of the Member States? Should the European Union live assessed past times the standards applied to a sovereign state? Can the European Union fifty-fifty live considered a state? If not, should it live aiming to move one?
6. The Foundation Treaties (EEC, ECSC [now abolished], Euratom) receive got been amended on a number of occasions past times farther Treaties. Try to educate a feel of which Treaty introduced which major change. This volition supply yous alongside some variety of historical perspective together with tending yous empathize the context inwards which decisions were made. The Treaties are oftentimes referred to past times the house inwards which they were signed. By far the most of import changes were introduced past times the Maastricht Treaty inwards 1992. Most notably, that Treaty introduced the (flawed) provisions on Economic together with Monetary Union. Also of import was the Lisbon Treaty which divided upward the existing provisions of the Treaty into 2 Treaties of equal value: the to a greater extent than ‘constitutional’ provisions (eg guiding principles, allotment of powers) were lay inwards the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the other, to a greater extent than ‘operational’, principles were lay inwards the inelegantly named Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (eg the rules on complimentary displace of goods, persons, services together with capital, how to access the Court of Justice).
7. The bugbear of all students (and anyone involved inwards European Union law) is that alongside the Treaty amendments came novel numbers. Originally, the alter was indicated past times calling the novel provision A, B etc. So the novel legal reason giving the European Union ability to regulate the Single Market was Article 100A, inserted later on Article 100 giving powers to the European Union to adopt measures to constitute the Common Market. This seemed logical together with straightforward. However, this approach was non considered sufficiently transparent together with thence the European Union decided to renumber every provision of the Treaty non once, but twice, foremost inwards 1997 past times the Amsterdam Treaty together with in 1 lawsuit again inwards 2009 past times the Lisbon Treaty. So what is forthwith Article 34 TFEU on the complimentary displace of goods was originally Article xxx EEC together with thence Article 28 EC (the term EEC was replaced past times EC at Maastricht together with thence past times the term ‘EU’ at Lisbon). Extremely unhelpful, especially when reading older cases. There are destination tables inwards the front end of your statute books together with the leading textbooks. The modern do is mostly to utilization the Lisbon number fifty-fifty inwards discussing older cases (ie utilization Article 34 TFEU rather than Article xxx EEC or Article 28 EC) .
8. Much of your fourth dimension volition live spent looking at the Court of Justice, which inwards fact comprises iii courts: the Civil Service Tribunal (dealing alongside appeals from cases brought past times the staff of the European Union [‘F’ cases]), the General Court (formerly the Court of First Instance[‘T’ cases]), which hears a lot of contest cases together with thence called direct actions on the validity of European Union law, together with the Court of Justice of the European Union which hears all other cases (‘C’ cases). The citation of cases has lately changed. The changes are usefully summarised here. The Court of Justice sits inwards Chambers of iii or 5 judges, or equally the Grand Chamber or, real occasionally, equally the Full Court. As a dominion of thumb, the to a greater extent than of import cases are decided past times the Grand Chamber or the Full Court.
9. Judgments of the Court of Justice await different to those of the mutual police line courts. There is a unmarried judgment together with no dissents or concurring opinions. Generally, cases are shorter. There is a helpful summary of what the Court has decided at the goal of the judgment (the dispositif). If the instance is a preliminary reference (ie questions from the national courtroom equally to the pregnant or validity of European Union law), await inwards the early on constituent of the judgment for the fundamental facts, oftentimes laid out past times the Court precisely later on it has laid out the relevant provisions of European Union police line together with national law. The Court volition thence attempt to response the national court’s questions. Sometimes the lastly resultant of the instance is non clear. This is equally it should be: nether the partition of powers betwixt the national courts together with the Court of Justice, the Court of Justice interprets European Union law, the national courts apply that interpretation to the facts. Sometimes, inwards of import or hard cases, the Court of Justice does what it should non together with tells the national courtroom whether the national police line is, for example, justified together with proportionate. Cases are thence oftentimes settled prior to a lastly hearing inwards the national courts.
10. Try to read the Advocate General’s (AG) ‘advisory’ Opinion too, especially if yous desire to actually empathize what is going on. Essentially, the AG’s Opinion is to a greater extent than similar a mutual police line judgment (but without beingness binding); it is essentially 1 Judge’s see equally to what the response to the instance should be. The Court is non obliged to follow what the AG says but does thence in, it is thought, nearly 70% of cases. Some AG’s Opinions are considered classics (eg AG Jacobs’ Opinion inwards Case C-50/00P UPA v. Council [2002] ECR I-6677)
11. The Court of Justice is oftentimes considered an activist Court, giving surprising rulings which force dorsum the frontiers of the law. For some people the ‘activist’ label is intended equally a criticism. But comport inwards heed that the Court is oftentimes working against an incomplete canvas. The Treaty doesn’t lay downwards every dominion together with it is upward to the Court to shape the arrangement against an agreement of the broader aims of the EU, for illustration the creation of a functioning unmarried market. Ask yourself how yous would receive got decided the instance if yous had been inwards the Court’s shoes. Remember, too, that the Court’s working linguistic communication is French but that cases tin live pleaded inwards anyone of the 24 official languages of the European Union together with the Court has to translate legislation inwards whatever of the 24 languages.
12. One of the most hard questions for the Court is how to operationalise the relation betwixt the centre (the EU) together with the Member U.S. of A. (MS). In other words, a number of the Court’s decisions touching what MS tin do together with what the European Union tin do. So every fourth dimension the European Union finds a national dominion breaches, say, Article 34 TFEU on the complimentary displace of goods, it makes inroads into the States’ liberty to regulate inwards that expanse together with it gives the European Union the ability to (re)regulate those matters. These are highly sensitive political matters. Think of the headlines: ‘Court of Justice tells UK/Scotland to halt minimum alcohol pricing’. The Court’s decisions receive got a direct impact on decisions taken past times democratically elected governments.
13. One of the primary focuses forthwith on an undergraduate course of teaching is the role of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights. Adopted inwards 2000 together with alongside legal forcefulness since 2009, the Charter has had a important effect, non perchance equally much equally it supporters may receive got liked, but of import nonetheless. The Charter has been used to declare provisions of European Union police line invalid, together with significantly steer the interpretation of European Union police line (for ameliorate together with worse). It has, however, major limitations, non precisely the misnamed UK of Britain together with Northern Republic of Ireland opt-out. Studying these limits volition occupy much of your time.
14. The Charter borrows a number of rights from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) but squall upward that the 2 documents belong to 2 different systems: the ECHR is a production of the Council of Europe, it is adjudicated on past times the Court of Human Rights (sitting inwards Strasbourg) together with applies to 47 U.S. of A. (including the 28 Member U.S. of A. of the EU, but also other states such equally Russia). The Charter applies to the European Union institutions together with to the Member States, but the latter solely when they are implementing European Union law. It is applied together with interpreted past times the Court of Justice (sitting inwards Luxembourg). Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 recent endeavour for the European Union itself to accede to the ECHR has been rejected past times the Court of Justice.
15. One of the other major issues that yous volition consider is the role together with constituent of European Union citizenship. Everyone asset the nationality of a Member State is also a citizen of the EU. What does that hateful inwards practice? Does it receive got simply rhetorical value or does it, inwards fact, give noun rights, especially for those on the margins of society? What implications does European Union citizenship receive got on the correct to secure a task or claim benefits inwards some other MS?
16. These questions together with many others volition feed into the UK of Britain together with Northern Republic of Ireland plebiscite campaign. Studying European Union police line volition brand yous experience to a greater extent than involved inwards the debates together with enable yous to participate inwards them inwards a to a greater extent than informed way. It volition also give yous a to a greater extent than nuanced agreement of what the European Union is nearly together with what problems it is upward against. The resultant of the plebiscite volition touching yous for the residual of your adult life. It is something to engage alongside seriously. So read nearly the debates, hear to speakers, attend seminars, speak, campaign. Get involved.
17. Reading articles together with opinion-based pieces is fundamental to enjoyment of European Union law, because in that location is thence much to scrap together with the parameters of that scrap are e'er evolving. There are, of course, a number of dedicated academic journals (e.g. Common Market Law Review, Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, European Law Review, European Law Journal, Yearbook of European Law). In addition, in that location are many sources of data nearly European Union police line online. All the institutions receive got websites together with active twitter feeds. There are also a number of European Union police line blogs (e.g. this spider web log [EU police line analysis], EUtopia, European police line blog). The Financial Times is the best source of intelligence together with comment on European Union matters.
18. Remember, too, that in that location is also a lot of misinformation out in that location too, together with non precisely nearly bendy bananas. Take, for example, the front end page headline inwards the Daily Express ‘Teach Boys to Dust says EU: Barmy Brussels latest telephone phone for sex equality’. The UK of Britain together with Northern Republic of Ireland Rep of the European Commission does endeavour to address these euromyths but it pays yous to read all reports alongside a good for yous scepticism.
19. When it comes to exams, delight squall upward that the Advocate General is non the Attorney General, Francovich is not Francovitch, direct resultant is different to direct concern, together with the Court of Justice sits inwards Luxembourg, non Strasbourg. Once yous receive got mastered these basics yous volition live good on your way.
20. Most importantly, squall upward precisely how exciting together with dynamic European Union police line is. It is a dependent area constantly inwards flux. The destination of the European Union projection is past times no way fixed. There is thence much soundless to decide. There is much doubt together with much that is unknown. As 1 one-time pupil lay it: ‘At times this seems a chip overwhelming, but reframing it equally an chance for scrap makes it a actually rewarding subject.’
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
*Thanks to George Apps, Alicia Hinarejos, Amy Ludlow, Steve Peers, together with Emmeline Plews for their thoughts together with comments
