Thirty years of Community law

Directorate-General For Translation European Commission

Description

Community secondary legislation

Sujets

• Delegated legislation
• European Union law
• Treaties of the European Union

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

Extrait

Commission of the European Communities
Thirty years
of Community law
ZO UWUVD DESSER hebm dl· imtarceLcfaiiatMi «_.
ihr· ünterachrtften unter di.·en Vertra*·^.«^
IB wTTSESfl WHiaiOT, the ufid.r»i«n«il Π «ni tet­«.. u
r.m^d th«ir eicnaturea Mio» thi. Tr«ì^tenu^·
El FOI ΙΠ! QUOI, lis pi ini po t ent tal rt a IOUMI—U.
Leur· ilfnaturea au tea du ;r¿««it Trait*. κ' ^l*
D* FHIAJlu 81«, chuir M Lánebueuehtaj.|h thl.*__i­
lel· «ri jConradh no. ""'""'«1.*, 14
IS PEDE DI CHE,1pi«ni potencia, rl aottûecrilït n»^­
1« loro flree ΙΛc«lc·al preaente trattato. ^^ ****ϊ
TIL aSKREFTELSE HERA Y har nedene'.åand· UrullaekUjak al­
teen* t danna Traktat.
Ceictaahan xu SrCaoel aa t­eiund»an»i*it«a JaMer
neuaEahnhunderttweltiiKlB lablis
„Ut à BruaU... 1. «I««­«·» i«.ur 11­"■"*
doua*
,1«UU '"» ,,lst''
jns. dlutumsai «« Bhruljill.
nau: g"». " _
„ttant·*·· ^W A­i­iitr Μωο«.»«...i.««»i«*»l—1­
twaeÍEixavanti*
eyttito. COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
€
European perspectives Photograph of the original of the Treaty
concerning the accession to the European
Communities of Denmark, Ireland and
the United Kingdom, signed in Brussels
on 22 January 1972
The following have contributed to this
publication :
Rudolf Bernhardt
Giorgio Bernini
Pródromos D. Dagtoglou
Maurice Flory
Isi Foighel
Eberhard Grabitz
Claus Gulmann
Trevor C. Hartley
Albert W. Koers
Robert Kovar
Bryan M.E. McMahon
Michel Melchior
Finbarr Murphy
Hjälte Rasmussen
Georg Ress
Henry G. Schermers
Guy Schrans
Christiaan W.A. Timmermans
Antonio Tizzano
John A. Usher
Gillian M. White COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Thirty years
of
Community law
THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES SERIES This publication was prepared outside the Commission of the European Communities and is intended as a con­
tribution to public debate on Community law. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Commission.
This publication is also available in:
DA ISBN 92-825-2649-6
DEN 92-825-2650-X
GR ISBN 92-825-2651-8
FRN 92-825-2653-4
IT ISBN 92-825-2654-2
NLN 92-825-2655-0
ES ISBN 92-825-2656-9
FTN 92-825-2657-7
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1983
ISBN 92-825-2652-6
Catalogue number: CB-32-81-681-EN-C
© ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels · Luxembourg, 1981
Printed in Belgium Preface
On 9 May 1950 the declaration by Robert Schuman began the process of integrating the
countries of Western Europe into a European Community.
This work, published under the auspices of the Commission, aims to survey the develop­
ment of the Community legal order during the 30 years from that beginning to 31 Decem­
ber 1980. The principal features of this legal order—the basic structure of the Community
and the lines along which its activities have developed—are placed in historical perspective
by examining their origins and gradual implementation through the Treaties, secondary
legislation and judicial pronouncements.
A temporal perspective is essential to a full understanding of any phenomenon : this is
particularly true of European integration, which was conceived from the outset as a process
of modular construction, concentrating initially on a limited field and intended to expand
into full political union. Robert Schuman stated: 'Europe will not be made all at once, or
according to a single, general plan. It will be built through concrete achievements, which
first create a de facto solidarity. ' He went on to say that pooling the means of production
of coal and steel as he proposed would constitute the first concrete foundation of the
European Federation.
Later on, the EEC Treaty set out a general economic framework for the Community and,
by vesting broad discretion in the institutions regarding the decisions required for this
purpose (consider, for example, the Community's power under Articles 43, 113 and 235),
opened the way for a process of development which was regarded as no more than the
straightforward implementation of the Treaty, for which the institutions were responsible.
But, of course, the Member States were no less able to make other agreements going
beyond the limits of this edifice in order, as the preamble to the EEC Treaty put it, to
create an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe and to call upon the other peoples
of Europe who share their ideal to join in their efforts.
It is only in retrospect that some Community achievements can be seen as decisive steps
forward on the road to integration and the inevitable obstacles and set­backs assessed in
their proper light.
The historical perspective shows how the main legislative acts and principal judgments of
the Court of Justice have strengthened Community law. It also shows that progress
continued even at times when the European idea was not at the forefront of the political
stage.
·■ *
**
III Thirty years of Community law has been written by a group of academic lawyers from the
various Member States. They have endeavoured to adopt the simplest and most straight­
forward style so that their work may be accessible to the general public as well as to
specialists.
This work is designed to fill the vacuum left by the general surveys of Community law
written for other purposes.
— The digests of judgments of the Court which appear from time to time in specialist
journals and the chapter on Community law in the General Report issued each year by
the Commission (which also appears separately as an offprint) review the most import­
ant acts of the Community institutions shortly after the event. Their time-scale, how­
ever, is too short for them to consider the general trend of developments in European
law.
— A number of authors have produced remarkable studies of the judgments of the Court
over a number of years. This work, however, also covers acts by other Community
institutions and some particularly important national legislation and rulings.
— The great commentaries of the Treaties, whether article by article or systematic, are
synchronic in character, in the sense that they state the law as at the time of writing as
if it had always been so and would remain unchanged. As we have seen, however, a
diachronic view—one which sees developments as a continuum—is essential to a proper
understanding of European construction as progressive and forward-looking.
*
* *
Given the number of topics to be considered and the range they cover, each chapter of this
book was contributed by a specialist, generally in public law or economic law. An Editorial
Committee was set up to ensure consistency, and its first task was to prepare a structure
plan to which the contributors—academic lawyers of different nationalities, backgrounds
and schools of thought—were asked to adhere. The Committee then provided them with
the information they required and coordinated their work so as to keep contradictions,
repetitions and gaps to the minimum. It also prepared some additional material itself.
The contributors willingly accepted the restrictions of subject-matter and presentation
which were imposed upon them. No restrictions, on the other hand, were imposed on their
freedom of thought. Their views are not necessarily those of the Commission—unorthodox
views are advanced and the Community institutions are criticized.
I believe that an editor should refrain from any form of censorship and that the reader
gains from being offered a variety of opinions. The honest presentation of a debate ranging
over a number of questions is preferable to enforced unanimity. Taken as a whole, then,
this book reflects the complexity of the European edifice as seen by legal experts in the
Community.
IV However, the conclusion which may be drawn is encouraging. There have been more steps
forwards than backwards; the contributors to this book do not shrink from drawing atten­
tion to the difficulties encountered on the road towards integration and the mistakes made,
but they nevertheless recognize that there were good grounds for most of the solutions
adopted and that the European enterprise is in good heart.
Gaston Thorn
President of the Commission
of the European Communities