LAW 2112 EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

LAW 2112 EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET - Essay Example EU sets out three types of relationships between member states and the EU, namely: exclusive competences, shared competences, and fields in which EU law cannot exclude national legislatures from making law. (Damian Chalmers et al.p.184-5) The primacy principle applies here and it was first proclaimed in the case of Costa. EU law takes precedence over national law. The Costa v ENEL case was concerned with the nationalisation of the Italian electricity industry, whose bills Costa refused to pay in protest since he said its creation breached EU law. The Italian Constitutional court said that subscription to the EU was an ordinary law, subject, like any other, to repeal. The ECJ ruling overturned this, saying (1) that upon the EEC Treaty coming into force a â€Å"new legal order† came to exist, which caused EU law to enter into domestic law and that domestic courts are â€Å"bound to enforce† it. And (2) that â€Å"transfer from [member states’] domestic legal syste ms to a Community legal system† meant a loss of sovereignty and hence any subsequent act made in breach of EU law would be ineffective, since EU law would prevail. It was held by the ECJ: To allow national laws to be effective even when they conflict with EU law would frustrate the aim of creating a truly common market. It is implied that EU law is supreme over national law: otherwise it would be meaningless to say that regulations are binding and directly applicable†¦as national legislation could just nullify its effects. Law stemming from the treaty is an â€Å"independent source of law†. This ruling established that member states couldn’t deviate from EC treaties without prior permission. It also established that national high courts couldn’t determine incompatibility of national and EU law without consulting ECJ. This principle was neatly illustrated in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft v. Einfur in which the Court ruled that EU law takes precede nce over all forms of national law, including national constitutional law. â€Å"Therefore the validity of a Community measure or its effect within a member state cannot be affected by allegations that it runs counter to either fundamental rights as formulated by the constitution of that State or the principles of a national constitutional structure† Article 288 TFEU provides: To exercise the Union’s competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods. A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force. Article 19 TEU pro vides: The Court of Justice of the European Union shall include the Court of Justice, the General Court and specialised courts. It shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed. Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law. It follows that the law stemming from