EU Policies and Their Legal Basis
What the exam tests
Policy questions ask you to connect a policy objective to the correct legal basis, competence and decision-making procedure. The legal basis is not decorative: it determines whether the EU may act, whether action is exclusive or shared, and whether unanimity or QMV applies. The legal basis must be chosen on objective factors, including the aim and content of the act, and the centre-of-gravity test applies where an act pursues several objectives.
Core rules
- Internal market: Articles 26 and 114 TFEU underpin harmonisation and mutual recognition. Cassis de Dijon established mutual recognition where no EU harmonisation exists. Article 114 measures must genuinely improve the functioning of the internal market.
- Competition: Articles 101 and 102 TFEU prohibit anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominance; merger control uses Regulation 139/2004; state aid is governed by Articles 107-109 TFEU.
- Environment: Article 191 TFEU sets objectives and principles, including precaution, prevention and polluter pays. Climate policy is now a central part of this area.
- Digital: the Digital Markets Act (Regulation 2022/1925), Digital Services Act (Regulation 2022/2065) and AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) rely heavily on Article 114, while respecting fundamental rights and consumer protection.
- Social policy: Articles 151-153 TFEU support minimum requirements, gender equality and working conditions; some matters require unanimity.
Worked example
The Commission proposes a rule requiring large online platforms to provide business users with access to data. Is Article 114 a sound basis? Yes, if the rule removes obstacles or distortions in the internal market for digital services and ensures a level playing field. The Commission must explain the internal-market objective, choose the ordinary legislative procedure, and respect proportionality and the Charter. If the rule instead imposed a pure public-health ban unrelated to market integration, Article 114 would be vulnerable to challenge.
Traps
Do not use Article 114 for any social or environmental objective without an internal-market link. Do not assume competition law is enforced only by the Commission; national authorities also apply Articles 101 and 102. Do not confuse the polluter-pays principle with a blanket ban. Do not treat digital acts as having no fundamental-rights limits.