FE-1 Law of the European Union cheat sheet

Article 5 TEU fixes three limits on Union action: conferral (only powers given by the Treaties), subsidiarity (non-exclusive areas, monitored under Protocol No 2) and proportionality (means must not exceed what is necessary).

Article 288 TFEU: regulations are general, binding in their entirety and directly applicable; directives bind as to the result and require transposition; decisions bind only their addressees.

Hierarchy of sources: primary law (TEU, TFEU, Charter, general principles), international agreements concluded by the EU, secondary legislation, then delegated acts (Art 290 TFEU) and implementing acts (Art 291 TFEU).

The Charter has the same legal value as the Treaties (Art 6(1) TEU); the EU may accede to the ECHR (Art 6(2) TEU), though the draft accession agreement failed in Opinion 2/13.

Ordinary revision under Art 48(2)-(5) TEU requires a Convention or IGC plus unanimous Member State ratification; simplified revision under Art 48(6) TEU amends Part Three TFEU by unanimous European Council decision plus ratification.

General principles of EU law developed by the Court include proportionality, legal certainty, legitimate expectations, non-discrimination, sound administration and fundamental rights; they rank above secondary legislation.

Article 7 TEU allows the Council to determine a clear risk of a serious breach of Article 2 values and the European Council, acting by unanimity and excluding the Member State concerned, to find a serious and persistent breach; sanctions may include suspension of voting rights.

Article 352 TFEU (flexibility clause) permits action to attain Treaty objectives where no specific power exists, requiring unanimity in the Council and Parliament's consent; it cannot harmonise fields where the Treaties exclude harmonisation.

Article 13 TEU lists seven institutions: European Parliament, European Council, Council, European Commission, Court of Justice of the EU, European Central Bank and Court of Auditors; each acts within the limits of the Treaties.

European Council (Art 15 TEU): heads of state or government, its President and the Commission President; it defines general political directions and priorities and adopts no legislative acts.

Council (Art 16 TEU): one minister per Member State; qualified majority requires 55% of members representing 65% of the Union population, and a blocking minority must include at least four members.

European Parliament (Art 14 TEU): directly elected for five years with degressively proportional representation; it is co-legislator under the ordinary legislative procedure and elects the Commission President on a Council proposal.

Commission (Art 17 TEU): one national per Member State, promotes the general interest, holds a near-monopoly of legislative initiative, oversees application of EU law and negotiates external agreements.

Ordinary legislative procedure (Art 294 TFEU): Commission proposal, first reading by Parliament and Council, conciliation committee if positions diverge, then second and third readings; failure at third reading means the act is not adopted.

Special legislative procedures: consultation (Parliament gives an opinion and the Council decides) and consent (Parliament's approval is required); the Treaty article governing the field determines which applies.

Competences under Arts 2-6 TFEU: exclusive (customs union, competition rules, monetary policy for the euro area, common commercial policy), shared (internal market, environment, consumer protection) and supporting (education, culture, tourism).

Delegated acts (Art 290 TFEU) supplement or amend non-essential elements of a legislative act; implementing acts (Art 291 TFEU) ensure uniform application and are adopted through comitology committees.

Primacy: Costa v ENEL established that EU law prevails over conflicting national law, including later statutes; Internationale Handelsgesellschaft extended primacy to fundamental provisions of national constitutions.

Simmenthal: a national court must disapply, on its own motion, any conflicting national provision without awaiting legislative repeal or a constitutional ruling.

Direct effect (Van Gend en Loos): a provision is directly effective where it is clear, precise, unconditional and leaves no discretion to Member States or EU institutions.

Directives lack horizontal direct effect (Marshall); they may be invoked vertically against the State and bodies emanating from it that meet the Foster criteria of State control, public service and special powers.

Consistent interpretation (Marleasing, von Colson): national courts must interpret national law, so far as possible, in light of a directive's wording and purpose, including in disputes between private parties.

Limits of consistent interpretation: no interpretation contra legem (Pupino) and no imposition or aggravation of criminal liability (Kolpinghuis Nijmegen).

Incidental horizontal effect: a national court must disapply national technical rules adopted in breach of the notification obligation in Directive 2015/1535, even in private litigation (CIA Security, Unilever Italia).

Declaration No 17 on primacy, annexed to the Lisbon Treaty, records the Court's case-law that primacy is inherent in the nature of EU law; Article 4(3) TEU imposes sincere cooperation.

Articles 28-30 TFEU prohibit customs duties and charges having equivalent effect on imports and exports between Member States; the customs union requires a common customs tariff for third-country goods.

Article 110 TFEU prohibits discriminatory internal taxation: higher taxes on imported products than on similar domestic products, and indirect taxation protecting domestic production.

Dassonville: a measure having equivalent effect to a quantitative restriction is any trading rule capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, intra-Union trade.

Cassis de Dijon: indistinctly applicable measures may be justified by mandatory requirements such as fiscal supervision, public health, fairness of transactions and consumer protection, and mutual recognition applies.

Keck: selling arrangements fall outside Article 34 TFEU where they apply to all traders in law and in fact and affect the marketing of domestic and imported products equally.

Article 36 TFEU derogations: public morality, public policy, public security, public health, national treasures and protection of industrial or commercial property; they must be proportionate and not arbitrary or disguised restrictions.

Article 35 TFEU covers measures restricting exports; Groenveld requires a measure to have the object or effect of specifically restricting exports and thereby giving domestic production or trade an advantage.

Article 37 TFEU requires adjustment of State monopolies of a commercial character so as to exclude discrimination regarding the conditions under which goods are procured and marketed.

Goods lawfully produced and marketed in one Member State are in free circulation (Art 28(2) TFEU); reverse discrimination in purely internal situations is not caught by Article 34.

Article 45 TFEU guarantees workers free movement, access to employment and equal treatment in working conditions; Regulation 492/2011 details access to social advantages and housing.

Worker status (Lawrie-Blum): genuine and effective activity, under the direction of another, for remuneration; it is independent of the type of legal relationship and of the source of funding.

Article 49 TFEU covers establishment: stable and continuous self-employed activity in another Member State and the right to set up and manage companies (Art 54 TFEU).

Article 56 TFEU covers temporary provision of services; restrictions such as prior authorisation must be justified by imperative public interests and be proportionate (Gebhard).

Directive 2004/38: residence up to three months without conditions; over three months for workers, self-employed persons, students or persons with sufficient resources and sickness insurance; permanent residence after five years.

Citizenship (Art 20 TFEU): Grzelczyk and Baumbast establish that Union citizens residing lawfully can claim equal treatment and residence rights subject to proportionality; Ruiz Zambrano protects dependent third-country carers of citizen children.

Direct discrimination in free movement can only be justified by express Treaty derogations (public policy, security, health) and must be proportionate; indirect discrimination may also be justified by objective public-interest reasons (Bosman).

Article 45(4) TFEU public service exception is interpreted narrowly, covering posts involving participation in the exercise of powers conferred by public law and duties safeguarding general State interests (Commission v Belgium).

Professional qualifications: Directive 2005/36 and the Vlassopoulou duty require national authorities to compare qualifications and grant equivalence where they are substantially similar.

Article 101(1) TFEU prohibits agreements, decisions and concerted practices between undertakings restricting competition by object or effect within the internal market; Article 101(3) exempts agreements meeting four cumulative conditions.

The four Article 101(3) conditions: efficiency gains, a fair share of benefits passing to consumers, indispensability of the restrictions and no elimination of competition in a substantial part of the market.

Article 102 TFEU prohibits abuse of dominance; relevant market definition precedes the dominance assessment; abuses include predatory pricing, exclusivity, refusal to supply and margin squeeze.

Regulation 1/2003 decentralises enforcement: national competition authorities and courts apply Articles 101-102 fully; the Commission may fine up to 10% of worldwide turnover and operates leniency and settlement procedures.

EU merger control (Regulation 139/2004) applies to concentrations with an EU dimension, assessed under the significant impediment to effective competition (SIEC) test.

Article 107(1) TFEU: State aid requires a State or State-resource advantage, selectivity, distortion of competition and effect on trade between Member States; all four elements must be present.

Article 107(2) TFEU lists aid automatically compatible (social aid to individuals, disaster aid, aid compensating for the division of Germany); Article 107(3) allows discretionary compatibility, including regional, SME and research aid.

General Block Exemption Regulation 651/2014 exempts listed aid categories from notification; de minimis Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 sets a EUR 300,000 ceiling per undertaking over three fiscal years.

Article 108(3) TFEU imposes notification and standstill; unlawful aid can be recovered under Article 108(2), subject to a ten-year limitation period under Regulation 2015/1589.

Article 258 TFEU: the Commission sends a letter of formal notice, then a reasoned opinion with a deadline, before referring the Member State to the Court of Justice; the procedure is discretionary.

Article 259 TFEU allows a Member State to bring another Member State before the Court after giving the Commission the opportunity to comment; Article 260 TFEU allows financial penalties for non-compliance with a judgment.

Article 263 TFEU: privileged applicants (Member States, Parliament, Council, Commission) need no standing test; non-privileged applicants must show direct and individual concern or challenge a regulatory act not requiring implementing measures.

Plaumann test for individual concern: the applicant must be affected by reason of attributes peculiar to them or by a factual situation distinguishing them from all other persons.

Article 263(6) TFEU sets a two-month time limit from publication, notification or knowledge of the measure; Article 277 TFEU allows a plea of illegality against a general act in incidental proceedings.

Article 267 TFEU: any court or tribunal may refer questions on validity or interpretation; courts of last resort must refer unless acte clair (CILFIT) or acte éclairé applies.

Foto-Frost: national courts may not declare an EU act invalid; only the Court of Justice has that power, and national courts may grant interim relief subject to the Zuckerfabrik conditions.

A preliminary ruling binds the referring court and has, in principle, retroactive effect; the Court may impose temporal limitations on its ruling for reasons of legal certainty.

The urgent preliminary ruling procedure (PPU) applies to references concerning the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, particularly detention and family cases.

Article 19(1) TEU and Article 47 of the Charter require effective judicial protection; Article 47 guarantees access to an independent and impartial tribunal, a fair hearing and legal aid where necessary.

Rewe: where EU law provides no remedy, national procedural rules apply, provided they are no less favourable than for similar domestic claims (equivalence) and do not make EU rights practically impossible or excessively difficult to exercise (effectiveness).

Francovich: State liability for failure to transpose a directive requires that the directive confer rights on individuals, that their content be identifiable from the directive and that there be a causal link with the loss.

Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame III: liability for legislative or executive breaches requires a sufficiently serious breach of a rule intended to confer rights and a causal link to the damage.

Köbler: liability for a judicial breach requires a manifest infringement of applicable law by a court of last resort, assessed against the clarity of the rule, the novelty of the question and the court's discretion.

Interim relief: Factortame I requires a national court to set aside a national statute if necessary to protect EU rights; Zuckerfabrik allows suspension of a national measure based on an EU regulation under strict conditions.

The Court accepts limitation periods and strict procedural rules provided equivalence and effectiveness are respected; the Emmott exception for out-of-time claims is no longer applied.

Directive 2014/104 facilitates damages actions for competition infringements, including disclosure of evidence, pass-on defences, joint and several liability and a five-year limitation period.

The Charter applies to EU institutions and to Member States only when implementing Union law (Art 51); it does not cover purely internal national situations, as confirmed in Åkerberg Fransson and Siragusa.

Article 52(1) Charter: limitations must be provided by law, respect the essence of rights, be necessary and proportionate, and genuinely meet objectives of general interest or protect the rights of others.

Article 53 Charter: nothing in the Charter restricts rights recognised by EU law, international agreements such as the ECHR, or national constitutions, but the level of protection may not fall below the ECHR.

Equal treatment: Article 2 TEU, Article 19 TFEU and secondary directives (2000/43, 2000/78, 2004/113, 2006/54) prohibit direct and indirect discrimination on grounds such as sex, race, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation.

Direct discrimination occurs where a person is treated less favourably on a protected ground; indirect discrimination arises from a neutral provision, criterion or practice that disadvantages a protected group unless objectively justified and proportionate.

Mangold and Kücükdeveci: the prohibition of age discrimination is a general principle of EU law and can be invoked horizontally; the Charter and general principles bind national courts applying EU law.

Article 157 TFEU requires equal pay for equal work and work of equal value; Directives 2006/54 and 97/80 shift the burden of proof to the employer once facts suggesting discrimination are established.

Accession to the ECHR requires a unanimous Council decision, the consent of the European Parliament and ratification by Member States (Art 6(2) TEU) and must preserve the autonomy of EU law (Opinion 2/13).