International and EU

Law
Budapest Business School
Faculty of International Management and Business
2022/23. Fall Semester
Dr. Krisztina Kusnyér-Gedey
 WEEK 7

HISTORY AND SOURCES OF THE

EUROPEAN UNION

October 17, 2022

 Questions of the day

• Attempts on ”uniting” Europe: who, when and how?

• How was the European Union created?
• What are the legal sources of the EU?
 The history of Europe until WW2

• Remember what we learnt about states and their borders

- definition of a state
‒ defining and changing borders

• Who attempted to ”unite” Europe, and when and how?

See: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9P0QSxlnI
 The history of Europe until WW2 (cont.)
• What were the economic and ideological backgrounds of the various empires in
Europe:
- Ancient Roman Empire → Western and Eastern (Byzantine)
- Frankish and Holy Roman Empire
- ”Norsemen” (Vikings) and the steppe nomads (Huns, Magyars)
- Al Andalus, Ottoman Empire
- Napoleon’s empire, colonialist empires (Britain and France)
- the Soviet Union, Nazi ”Reich”
• Why should we deal with history? Any relevance to current issues?
 The history of the EU
Milestones:
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VCYHTGjr-U
• How did WW2 end? Who lost? Who won?
• Cold war
• Marshall plan (European Recovery Program; 13 bn USD), 1947:
- large scale structural recovery program for Europe from USA w/ 16 countries participating.
-trade liberalization, convertability of currencies;
- funds supervised by Organization for European Economic Cooperation (later OECD)
↔ Council of Mutual Economic Assistance in socialist countries
• Schuman plan: sectoral economic integration between FRGer and Fr regarding steel production
→ Paris Treaty of 1951 creating the European Steel and Coal Community (FRGer, Fr, BeNeLux, It) for
50 years
 The history of the EU (cont.)
Milestones:
• Rome Treaties, 1957
‒ The Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and
- the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC, Euratom)
signed by members of the ECSC
EEC: - customs union
- CAP
- rules for free movement of persons, services & capital
Euratom: sectoral integration (like ESCS) limited to civil application of nuclear energy

Institutions: Assembly, Council, Commission, Court of Justice

 The history of the EU (cont.)
Milestones:
• the era of „deepening” and „widening” as a response to crises / Fr vetoes to UK accession
• the Single European Act, 1986:
- institutional reform required by enlargement (12 member states)
- creation of the single market
- cooperation in the field of foreign policy
• Maastricht Treaty, 1992 (on the European Union)
- EMU
- political union
- first pillar: European Community (ECSC + EEC + Euratom)
- second pillar: Common Foreign and Security Policy
- third pillar: justice and home affairs
 The history of the EU (cont.)
Milestones:
• the Treaties of Amsterdam, 1997 and Nice, 2001
- institutional reforms due to enlargements
• the Treaty of Lisbon, 2007 („Constitution for Europe):
- merging the EU and the European Community into a single European Union

• global challanges after 2008 (e.g. Arab spring, occupation of Crimea, conflict in Syria, migrant
crises, Covid-19, Russian invasion of Ukraine)
• what is next? Western Balkans and Ukraine joining:
https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/enlargement-policy/conditions-membership_en
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/enlarg/candidates.htm
 Sources of EU Law
• Primary sources = „The Treaties”
- Treaty on European Union (TEU) and
- Treaty on Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Treaty of Lisbon awarded the
same value to the
- Charter of Fundamental Rights.

• International agreements concluded by the EU

• General principles of EU law

• Secondary sources: valid only if and so far as they are consistent with acts and agreements
having precedence over them.
- Regulation: direct effect (no act of nat’l gov’t is required; to be applied directly in every
member state) e.g. GDPR
- Directive: nat’l gov’ts have to pass nat’l legislation with the specified content; some
alterations are possible; binding upon member states & wrt the goals to be achieved, e.g. AVMS
-
 Sources of EU Law (cont.)
• Secondary sources: (cont.)
- Regulation: direct effect
no implementing act of nat’l gov’t is required;
to be applied directly in every member state)
e.g. GDPR

- Directive: nat’l gov’ts have to pass nat’l legislation with the specified content
(implementation);
some alterations are possible between national legislations;
binding upon member states & wrt the goals to be achieved,
e.g. AVMS

- Decisions, recommendations, opinions

Binding on the addresse guidance as to interpretation of EU law

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION !