European Union

Tasks and responsibilities of the ECJ

Way of calling in the ECJ

There are two ways of calling in the ECJ. The first is over the preliminary rulings procedure, which permits national courts to apply for an interpretation of certain aspects of Community law to help these national courts to reach a decision on a current case. The second way is over direct petitions.
 

ECJ with huge influence over the development of the EU

But its actual influence only really becomes clear after taking a look at its work in individual areas. The European Court of Justice has been a major influencing factor in making the constitution of the EU more supranational by laying down rules such as the principle of direct effect - which means for every citizen without having to call in national states first - of EU law and the primacy of Community law over national law. We have already touched upon these milestones during our journey through the history and development of the EU in Basic Course 2

Moreover, the European Court of Justice has also had a large bearing on other areas of EU policy. For example, in a revolutionary ruling it established the principle of mutual recognition of standards in other member states, which put an end to the extremely slow and time-consuming process of harmonising standards and, in turn, went a long way to making the internal market project possible. One of the main reasons for the ECJ's influence came as a result of a clever, targeted and successful strategy to incorporate the national courts into the administration of EU justice.

Looking at this, it might be easy to get the impression that these landmark decisions were made in the past and that they can no longer be taken to reflect the influence of the ECJ today. A more recent judgement (November 2005), however, demonstrates that it would be quite wrong to get this impression. This judgement might lead to the Commission gaining influence in the area of criminal law and has led to heated discussions. To find out more about this decision, click on the link above (the page will open in a new window).
 

Summary and assessment

In making an assessment it has to be concluded that the ECJ, even when compared to other influential national constitutional courts such as the Supreme Court in the U.S. or the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany, carries weight and has provided the integration process with significant stimulus. The role of the Court and the legal system for which it has been primarily responsible are without any doubt among the most outstanding characteristics of the EU's "supranationality", a supranationality that fundamentally sets it apart from all other international organisations.

An overview of the European Council

The European Council is an institution that stands over the three pillars of the EU, that links them together and that takes on a central leadership role. Here, too, things become significantly clearer by taking a look at the illustration below.

Development of the European Council

Summit meetings held by heads of state and government

If the Council of Ministers has always been embodied in the European Treaty, the same does not apply for the European Council. The European Council was established as a result of the summit meetings involving Heads of State and Governments which have been taking place since 1969. These meetings used to take place at irregular intervals; a resolution passed at the Paris Summit Conference in 1974 made them a permanent fixture in the shape of the European Council, yet they were not embodied in the Treaty establishing the European Community. The European Council deals with the central issues effecting the EU, in particular those connected with European Political Cooperation (EPC) which is an institution founded in 1970 at intergovernmental level in an attempt to coordinate foreign policy. Because of its composition, the European Council developed into the highest decision-making authority - although this was not intended by the treaties.
 

Since the Treaty of Maastricht:  setting the guidelines for the development of the Union

Its role was made more explicit with the Single European Act (SEA) in 1986/87. The Treaty of Maastricht on European Union followed on from this, confirming the Council's function of driving forward European union as a whole and locking together the different policy areas. Article D of the Treaty establishing the European Union states: "The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political guidelines thereof". This applies in particular for the guidelines concerning Common Foreign and Security Policy, with the Treaty of Amsterdam, which came into force on the 1st of May 1999, even providing for policy-making power over the Western European Union. The European Council is also regularly engaged when the ministers of departments in the Council of Ministers are unable to reach agreement and package deals which stretch across policy areas become necessary.
 

Summary

There is no doubt that the European Council as the European Union's dedicated body for reflecting the intergovernmental components of the Union has gained a great deal of influence over the past few decades. Indeed, following the introduction of the new constitution, which, since the "No" votes from the referendums in France and the Netherlands, has failed for the time being, would have increased even more. Having said this, however, it would be wrong to conclude that there was a general trend in the EU towards more intergovernmentalism.

The details that we have provided about the Court of Justice and in particularly the overview provided in Basic Courses 2 and 3 on how the integration process has developed, have made it very clear indeed that there has been a simultaneous trend towards supranationality. Indeed, the simultaneous nature of thee opposite developments is also reflected in the construction of the complicated institutional structure, which is truly unique in its character.

According to the learning goals that we set at the beginning of this Main Subject Group, I have kept my focus concentrated on the five main bodies at the EU level during our look at the institutions. Basic information on the remaining institutions at a supranational level can be found online. One of a large number of sources is the European Union Website.