International Relations and European Integration
Domain 5 tests the structures of the UN, NATO and the EU, how they differ, and how EU law operates inside domestic legal orders.
United Nations
Founded in 1945. The General Assembly works on one state, one vote; its resolutions are not binding. The Security Council has 5 permanent members (USA, UK, France, Russia, China) with the veto and 10 members elected for two years; its decisions are binding and may impose sanctions or authorise peacekeeping. The ICJ in The Hague settles disputes between states, not individuals. Specialised bodies include WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF and FAO.
NATO
Collective defence under Article 5: an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, but each ally decides its own response - it is not automatic war. Decisions are by consensus; 32 members since 2024; headquarters in Brussels.
EU institutions
European Council (heads of state or government; sets direction; no legislative role), Council of the EU (ministers; co-legislator), European Parliament (720 MEPs directly elected, co-legislator and budgetary power; Poland elects 53), European Commission (27 commissioners, one per state; legislative initiative and guardian of the treaties), CJEU (interpretation and validity of EU law), ECB (monetary policy for the euro area).
EU law
Regulations are directly applicable without transposition; directives bind as to result by a deadline; decisions bind their addressees. Principles: conferral, subsidiarity, proportionality, primacy, direct effect.
Worked example
Poland misses the deadline for a consumer-rights directive. A consumer sues a shop. Reasoning: the directive cannot be invoked horizontally against a private trader; but against a public body exercising state functions it may have vertical direct effect if the provision is unconditional and precise; separately the state may owe damages for failing to transpose.
Traps
- European Council, Council of the EU and Council of Europe (Strasbourg, ECHR) are three different bodies.
- The Commission, not the Parliament, holds the general monopoly of legislative initiative.
- Directives do not create obligations for private parties directly.