The ABC of Community law

INTRODUCTION:
FROM PARIS VIA ROME TO MAASTRICHT AND AMSTERDAM
FUNDAMENTAL VALUES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
• THE EU AS GUARANTOR OF PEACE
• UNITY AND EQUALITY AS THE RECURRING THEME
• THE FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS
• THE PRINCIPLE OF SOLIDARITY
• RESPECT OF NATIONAL IDENTITY
• THE NEED FOR SECURITY
• FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EU
THE ‘CONSTITUTION’ OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
• STRUCTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
• THE LEGAL CHARACTER OF THE EC AND THE EU
• THE TASKS OF THE EU
• THE POWERS OF THE EU
• THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE EU
European Council — European Parliament — Council of the European Union —
European Commission — European Court of Justice and Court of First Instance —
Court of Auditors — Other institutions
THE COMMUNITY LEGAL ORDER
• THE EU AS A CREATION OF LAW AND A COMMUNITY BASED ON LAW
• THE LEGAL SOURCES OF COMMUNITY LAW
The founding Treaties as the primary source of Community law —
The Community legal instruments as the secondary source of Community law —
International agreements — Sources of unwritten law — Agreements between the
Member States
• THE COMMUNITY’S RANGE OF TOOLS
Regulations and ECSC general decisions — Directives and ECSC recommendations
— Individual decisions — Non-binding measures by Community institutions
— Resolutions, declarations and action programmes
• THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
Consultation procedure — Cooperation procedure — Co-decision procedure —
Approval procedure — Simplified procedure — Procedure for implementing measures
• THE SYSTEM OF LEGAL PROTECTION
Treaty infringement proceedings — Actions for annulment — Complaints for
failure to act — Actions for damages — Actions by Community staff — Appeals
procedure — Provisional legal protection — Preliminary rulings
• LIABILITY OF THE MEMBER STATES FOR INFRINGEMENTS OF COMMUNITY LAW
Member States’ liability for legal acts or failure to act — Liability for infringement
of Community law by the courts
THE POSITION OF COMMUNITY LAW IN RELATION
TO THE LEGAL ORDER AS A WHOLE
• AUTONOMY OF THE COMMUNITY LEGAL ORDER
• INTERACTION BETWEEN COMMUNITY LAW AND NATIONAL LAW
• CONFLICT BETWEEN COMMUNITY LAW AND NATIONAL LAW
Direct applicability of Community law — Primacy of Community law
CONCLUSIONS
TABLE OF CASES
Nature and primacy of Community law — Powers of the Community — Effects of
legal acts — Fundamental rights — General principles of law
APPENDIX: TABLE OF EQUIVALENCES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 12
OF THE TREATY OF AMSTERDAM