1) What were the main reasons for the establishment of the European Communities in the 1950s?

Supplementary questions for Seminar 1 (for self-study only)

1)             How would you distinguish the nature and roles of these two regional international organisations: the Council of Europe and the European Union?

2)             Distinguish between a ‘free trade area’ and a ‘customs union’ and explain to what extent they applyto:the EU, EFTA (European Free Trade Association) and the EEA (European Economic Area).

3)             Outline the main changes made to the evolving EU framework by the following treaties:

-         Single European Act 1986

-         Treaty on European Union 1992 (Maastricht Treaty)

-         Amsterdam Treaty 1997

-         Nice Treaty 2001

-         Lisbon Treaty 2007

4)             Why was further reform of the EU’s legal framework considered necessary after the entry into force of the Nice Treaty? Outline how the reform process evolved after Nice.

5)             i) The TFEU preamble restates the determination of the Member States, first set out in the founding treaty framework in the 1950s[1], ‘to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe’. What do you think ‘ever closer union’ means?

ii) Consider Art 20 TEU and Arts 326-334 TFEU. What are the conditions for recourse to ‘enhanced cooperation’? Does the incorporation of an ‘enhancedco-operation’ procedure undermine the goal of ‘an ever closer union among the peoples ofEurope.

Firstrecital of the preamble of the European Community Treaty 1957 (or ‘Treaty of Rome’) as amended.

Seminar 2 questions for seminar group discussion and an oral presentation

CJEU methodology in interpreting EU Law

1)         i) Outline the methods used by the CJEU to interpret EU law. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the teleological method of interpretation.

ii) What was wrong with the Court of Appeal’s approach to the interpretation of Art. 30 EEC (now Art 34 TFEU) in R v Henn and Darby?

Direct effect

2)         ORAL PRESENTATION ASSESSMENT QUESTION

Joint presentation by students to be given on the legal significance of the judgment of the CJEU in:

Presenters are referred to the note on p2 of this LW593 Seminar Workbook and the information contained in sections 6.4 and 7.5 of the LW593 Module Outline.

Note: The above CJEU judgment contains references to former EU treaty provisions whose numbering has since been amended. The judgment refers to various provisions of the former Treaty of Rome 1957 (EEC Treaty), notably Arts 12, 169, 170 and 177 EEC. These provisions have now been replaced by Arts 30, 258, 259 and 267 TFEU respectively. Blackstone’s EU Treaties & Legislation contains tables of equivalences which provide cross-references between current and former EU treaty numberings.

3)         i)  Identify the basic requirements for an EU norm to be directly effective.

ii) Explain the difference between vertical and horizontal direct effect.

            ii) To what extent does the doctrine of direct effect apply to EU regulations?

4)         i) To what extent has the CJEU been justified in establishing the doctrine of direct effect? 

ii) Was the CJEU correct in its determination of the scope of direct effect in Defrenne No 2? 

Supremacy   

5)         With reference to the CJEU judgments in Costa v ENEL, Simmenthal and Factortame (No 1), explain how the CJEU has justified the doctrine of supremacy and what the implications are for national courts. Is the Court’s reasoning convincing?