scholarly journals FROM SPECIALITY TO A CONSTITUTIONAL SENSE OF PURPOSE: ON THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 935-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris Larik

AbstractAfter the Lisbon Treaty, the objectives of the European Union are more numerous and ambitious than ever. But what is their importance and function within the ‘thickening’ legal order of the EU? Combining insights from both the law of international organizations and comparative constitutional law, the article traces the diverging role of objectives for, on the one hand, a traditional international organization marked by the principle of ‘speciality’ and, on the other, a maturing legal order increasingly exhibiting ‘constitutional’ traits. It argues that in the case of the EU, objectives and competences have developed into two related but distinct norm categories. While objectives serve to bolster arguments to shape such powers, they no longer represent a rationale in their own right for founding competences. The EU no longer justifies its existence solely by striving for a particular set of goals. Rather, these norms represent an entrenched duty to pursue these objectives through the actors, structures and procedures available, regardless of the Union's ultimate form (finalité). Today, the EU stands for certain values and has been endowed with powers, the exercise of which is guided by promoting these various aspects of the ‘common good’.

Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini

This chapter focuses on the European Union after Brexit and articulates the case for constitutional reforms. Reforms are necessary to address the substantive and institutional shortcomings that patently emerged in the context of Europe’s old and new crises. Moreover, reforms will be compelled by the exigencies of the post-Covid-19 EU recovery, which pushes the EU towards new horizons in terms of fiscal federalism and democratic governance. As a result, the chapter considers both obstacles and opportunities to reform the EU and make it more effective and legitimate. On the one hand, it underlines the difficulties connected to the EU treaty amendment procedure, owing to the requirement of unanimous approval of any treaty change, and the consequential problem of the veto. On the other hand, it emphasizes the increasing practice by Member States to use intergovernmental agreements outside the EU legal order and stresses that these have set new rules on their entry into force which overcome state veto, suggesting that this is now a precedent to consider.


Author(s):  
Barbara Guastaferro

Article 4 of the Treaty on the European Union is a core provision to understand the ‘federal’ nature of the European Union. It is composed of three paragraphs, any of which tries to strike a balance between the constitutive units of the composite legal order, namely the EU, on the one hand, and the Member States, on the other. The first paragraph enshrines the so-called ‘principle of presumed Member States competences’, according to which competences not conferred upon the EU remain to the Member States. The second paragraph requires the EU to respect Member States’ national identities, inherent in their fundamental political and constitutional structures. The third paragraph enshrines the principle of sincere cooperation. In this respect, all the paragraphs express a sort of ‘federal concern’. Article 4(1) TEU is devoted to the vertical division of competences and strengthens the respect of the principle of conferral, Article 4(2) TEU is devoted to the identities of the Member States of the EU thus protecting diversities in the composite legal order, and Article 4(3) TEU is devoted to loyalty, which, like in many federal or compound legal orders, should inform the cooperation among levels of government.


Author(s):  
Justine Pila ◽  
Paul L.C. Torremans

This chapter discusses the role of the EU in the IP field before and since the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty. To that end it introduces the EU legal order itself, including its founding Treaties, institutions, and authority to act (competence), with a focus on IP. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2.2 traces the establishment of the European Economic Community and its development to the European Union. Section 2.3 describes the seven EU institutions: the European Council, European Commission, European Parliament, Council, Court of Justice of the EU, European Central Bank, and Court of Auditors. Section 2.4 explains the legal authority of the EU, in relation particularly to IP. Section 2.5 covers EU measures and their legal effects. And Section 2.6 discusses the actions of the Court of Justice.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bennett C. Thomas

Core–periphery analysis is vital to an understanding of the European Union (EU) and regional development. The European Economic Community (EEC), which would eventually become the EU, was formed in 1957 in order to promote progressive economic integration. Recognizing that there were depressed regions within both peripheral and core nation-states, the EC adopted a programme with the goal of bringing those regions into convergence. Its programme is essentially a liberal centre–periphery model similar to the one proposed by Friedman. Many of the nation-states within the EC also have their own regional policies and programmes regarding intervention within their own spatial boundaries. To present an approach for comparison this article will focus on two examples of regional policy: Britain's attitude toward regional development in the North and the German programme for integrating East Germany.


2020 ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Ognyan Stoichkova

The article deals with the issues related to financing of agricultural industry in Bulgaria from the EU funds and programs. The outcomes of European support under the first and second pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, in which Bulgaria has been participating since 2007, are analyzed. Besides, the positive effects on Bulgaria’s agriculture as well as the problems facing the agricultural sector in the new programming period are highlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-25
Author(s):  
Alexey Gromyko ◽  

In the centre of the study ‒ the contemporary discourse on the subjectivity of the European Union, conducted by euro-atlantists and euro-autonomists in the field of both conceptual and applied issues. We witness a collision of two views about a desirable type of the EU’s identity as a part of the revived Western-centric world or as a moderate Eurocentrism. A significant attention is paid to the principle of strategic autonomy and the role of Germany and France in its implementation. The subjectivity of the EU is treated as a multi-speed process, intrinsic to the history of the European integration. The author explores the Eurocentric tendencies in the military-political sphere including deliberations on the primary deterrence. The EU’s aspirations towards digital and trade sovereignty are highlighted drawing examples of the JCAP and Nord Stream 2. The article demonstrates that J. Biden’s victory in the presidential election in November 2020 has not reduced the EU ‒ US contradictions on a range of important issues. The recent events in Afghanistan and the signing of AUKUS have become a stark reminder that the principle of strategic autonomy of the EU should be treated by Brussels as the basis for the common security and defense policy.


Author(s):  
Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot

CESAA 17TH ANNUAL EUROPE ESSAY COMPETITION 2009 - Honours winner: Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot, Monash UniversityOver the past decades, the European Union has witnessed an increasing apathy among European citizens’ vis-à-vis EU institutions. In 1993, EU elites formally introduced the idea of a ‘European citizenship’ in an attempt on the one hand, to reactivate the European integration project, and, on the other hand, to foster greater consciousness of the European identity which the EU is supposed to represent. What opportunities and challenges would Turkey’s accession to EU membership have on our idea of ‘European citizenship’ and ‘identity’? An analysis on the current debate regarding Turkey’s possible accession in the EU raises significant questions on the EU’s identity and on the role of the EU in the international community.


Author(s):  
Doina Gavrilov

The Economy has always been considered an essential pillar of the development. This is why, when the European Union appeared, the idea of a community based on economic relations with the purpose of empowering the common economy seemed to be an attractive idea to the outside states of the European Economic Community. Even at first, the idea of empowering the Economy was a very good one, after politics, culture, agriculture, science, and other domains were directly linked to the economic development, the Economy was seen as the nucleus of development of all. Giving its role, we are asking ourselves: Is the Economy role only a positive one in the development of other domains? To understand the role that the fall of the Economy can have on other domains, we focus on Economy- culture relation. Assuming the role of the spillover effect of the Economic crises on the culture we conclude that the Economy should not be the only basis of development, but we should enlarge our possibilities of independence of other domains.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Watson

AbstractEuropean Documentation Centres (EDCs) are neutral collections of official publications of the European Union, open to the public and normally housed in academic institutions throughout the European Union (EU). EDC status entitles the host organisation to receive one copy of the most significant publications and documents of the EU. The EDC network goes back to 1963, and its primary purpose has always been the support of academic research into European integration. The decision to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union clearly raises questions about role of the EDCs in the United Kingdom after ‘Brexit’. This article is written by Margaret Watson.


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