Conceived and founded by Robert Schuman, Europe as a community, has continued to evolve and grow over the years, through the formation of various Treaties. Out of the 6 members present originally in 1957, in 1992, the EEC became the European Union with 12 Member States. Today, in less than 60 years, 500 million Europeans are brought together under one flag. However, over this geographic expansion, the EU has had to adapt to new citizens.
The institutions have therefore evolved since then. Since the ECSC was founded in 1951, not less than seven treaties were signed, and out of them, six were ratified. The latter was the Treaty of Lisbon, and was recently ratified. It aimed to simplify the relationship between the 27 Member States. This treaty, if ratified, will be heard as a summary of the project establishing a Constitution for Europe. In addition to giving new momentum to the EU, it will acquire a legal personality.
Similarly, the institutions reaffirmed the values of the EU and gave it a better consistency. The relationships with the Member States have also changed. We can then question the actual impact on the skills on the distribution of competences between the EU and its Member States. We will examine the principle of attribution of powers (I) before turning on the distribution of the latter (II).
Tags: Robert Schuman, European Union, Treaty of Lisbon, Member States, Europe
[...] The Member States in the areas attributed entirely to the EU Member States have lost the power to legislate or regulate, and the power to prevent any possibility of action unless they have a "specific authorization from Union" (Article 2).The Union may legislate and adopt powers that are legally binding and the Court of Justice has repeatedly been called upon to determine these exclusive powers.The treaty goes further to identify areas of exclusive jurisdiction: the customs union, the establishment of rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market (to prevent abuse of dominance etc.), monetary policy for Member States whose currency is the euro, the conservation of marine biological resources, the common commercial policy etc. [...]
[...] The principle of proportionality Article 5 of the Treaty of European Union states: "Under the principle of proportionality, the content and form of Union action shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties.The institutions of the Union shall apply the principle of proportionality in accordance with the Protocol on the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. " The principle of proportionality differs from the principle of subsidiarity in scope: the former is applicable regardless of the type of skills, which means it applies to both shared competences as well as exclusive skills. [...]
[...] " This principle can play only in the context of shared competences, as it clarifies the respective roles of the community and Member States.This aims at offering a technical answer to a choice between national legislation and EU legislation. Political considerations should not normally be taken into account: we must examine the efficiency of the action being considered in practice; although the European Commission has the monopoly on the preparation of texts, it must justify its proposed text based on the principle of subsidiarity. [...]
[...] Although Member States retain their respective responsibilities in the field of CFSP, they are committed to the joint actions adopted by the Council of the European Union in the conduct of their activities and have to ensure the compliance of their national policies with those adopted by the Council. Member States may therefore legislate, but the final word rests with the Union. Although these actions of the Member States are in tandem with that of the Union, they do not replace national policies. [...]
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