Constitutional Foundations and Sources of EU Law
Constitutional foundations and sources
This domain tests whether you can identify the EU legal sources, their hierarchy and the constitutional principles that constrain them. The EU is a legal order based on conferral: the Treaties are primary law, and secondary law is valid only if it has a Treaty basis.
Core rules
- Primary law: TEU, TFEU and the Charter; Art 6 TEU gives the Charter the same legal value as the Treaties. Protocols and accession treaties also form part of primary law.
- General principles are unwritten primary law: fundamental rights, proportionality, legal certainty, legitimate expectations and non-discrimination.
- Secondary law: Art 288 TFEU. Regulations are generally applicable and directly applicable; directives bind as to result; decisions bind their addressees; recommendations and opinions are non-binding.
- International agreements under Art 216 TFEU bind the institutions and Member States and may have direct effect if clear, precise, unconditional and not subject to further implementation.
- Hierarchy: primary law, international agreements, secondary law, then delegated and implementing acts.
Worked example
A national minister refuses to apply a directly applicable regulation because a later national statute conflicts with it. The regulation is secondary EU law. Under Costa and Simmenthal, the national court must disapply the conflicting statute. Direct applicability under Art 288 means no transposition is needed, and the later date of the national law does not save it.
Traps
Do not call the Charter secondary law; it has Treaty status. Do not confuse direct applicability of regulations with direct effect of directives. Recommendations create no enforceable rights. General principles can be invoked even without a written Charter provision, but their scope is shaped by the Treaties.