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Structure EU institutions
EU legislation principles
Influence
Accession
Capacity to implement acquis
Partnerships
1. Structure: EU Institutions
- Council of EU (ministers, topic)
- European Council (heads of state)
- European Parliament (732 members
directly elected)
European Commission (1 per state)
European Court of Justice (1 per state)
Court of Auditors
Decision-making (legislation) - 1
Involved institutions:
- Council of Ministers
- European Parliament
- European Commission
Decision-making (legislation) - 2
Different procedures, depending on the
issue (treaty provision used as basis)
Initiative: mostly European Commission
Consultation (EP can advise)
Co-operation (EP can amend, art. 251 EC)
Co-decision (EP can amend,reject, art.
252)
Decision-making (legislation) - 3
3 pillars of EU
EC (used to be EEC, Euratom + ECSC also included)
Common Foreign and Security Policy
Justice and Internal Affairs (police and judicial cooperation
in criminal affairs)
Decision-making (legislation) - 4
Ultimately, Members States (Council or
European Council) have final say
But
After adoption of legislation it is out of
political hands
2. EU Law Principles
EC EU : own system of law, special because
EU Law Principles - 2
EU Law Principles - 3
Depending on formulation: direct rights and obligations for citizens to use (in
court) clear, intended, target group clear
Directive: state has to formulate own law in line with aim and text of
directive before certain date (commitment is binding, form and methods
up to Member State)
EU Law Principles 4
Trend:
EU makes policies for more and more issues,
more and more intertwined (ever closer union,
art. 2 EC)
Court reinforces EU order: less space for
national interpretations, emphasis on
harmonising law (interpretation) for EU citizens
(for instance: now criminal punishments for
environmental tresspasses under EU jurisdiction
according to Court!)
EU Law Principles 5
Discussion
EU/Court tends to protect weaker parties
(women, employees, consumers)
Court tends to use Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the EU (Nice 2000, not binding yet
would be binding if Constition were adopted) to
levy the 4 freedoms (movement of goods,
services, persons, capital) (Schmidtberger)
4 freedoms are used to harmonise treatment of
citizens
EU Law Principles 6
Discussion
Member states have less room for own
policies (e.g. NL drug policy,
euthanasia...)
Influence 1
Political Parties from non-member states are members of
European parties and can influence policies of those
parties -> voting in EP
- Lobby national parties or directly European parties
Member states and candidates can influence policies
Lobby national government
European networks/organisations
- Lobby European networks
4. Influence - 2
Commission initiates policies
Lobby Commission (e.g. Commissioner
Environment open for NGO input)
EU policies tend to favour public participation
Use this as tool on national level (compliance
with EU)
Use legal options available to protest!
Accession
Copenhagen criteria (1993)
SAp
Stabilisation and Association Agreements
(SAAs)
Trade measures
Financial assistance (CARDS)
Accession process
Europe Agreements/Association Agreements/SAAs
Accession Partnerships/European Partnerships
Pre-accession assistance (IPA)
Co-financing from IFIs
Participation in EU programmes/agencies/committees
NPAA
Progress Reports/Regular Reports
Political Dialogue
(Nicolaides)
Empowered and accountable institutions +
Decision making independence +
Performance obligations and control
Knowledge
Ability
Willingness
Knowledge
Knowledge on EU law and policies, obtainable also via
screening process, seminars, advice, etc
Ability
Committing resources, extra staff, trainings, acquaintances
with MS practice (TAIEX, twinning programmes)
Willingness
Mostly neglected according to Nicolaides, related to
institutional design
Willingness
Effective implementation has become a harder
requirement
This is both a clarification (lessons learned) and
a toughening of EU position (raising entry
requirements, unilateral, no criteria for judging
preparedness, bringing commitments forward in
time: before accession it all has be in order)
So preparedness and assessment of this may
obstruct accession!
Willingness
First time that Candidates had to show effective
implementation was in fifth enlargement: 10 new
MS
Integration in EU further advanced, so
weaknesses in administration capacity and
incorrect and incomplete implementation touch
at the core of EU
Also within EU Commission is more and more
supervising implementation
Willingness
How does the EU deal with incorrect and
incomplete implementation internally?
No direct judgement of administrative
capacity but indirectly
Trust!
EU is asking more detailed information...
Expectations about future behaviour
Track record
Impossible to act in another way
(evaluation + adjusting)
(willingness!)
Elaborate rules
Educate and guide target groups
Partnerships
What is a partnership?