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European Union law - Basics

7 important questions on European Union law - Basics

What are the "four freedoms" of the European Union?

The four freedoms on the internal market of the EU are movement of goods, services, people and money.

What is primary and secondary legislation in the EU? What are the laws called that derive from the legislations?

The primary legislation in the EU are the treaties, which lay out the whole basis of the EU and how it operates. The secondary legislation includes directives and regulations that are all based on the principles and objectives laid out in the treaties. Only laws that meet the objectives in the treaties can be passed.

What is a regulation?

A regulation within the EU is a law that is applicable to all member state directly. This means that all members of the EU has to take this law directly into their own law and therefore may have to adapt national law to the new law of the EU in order to avoid conflicting with the regulation.

What is a directive? How is a directive different from a regulation?

A directive is a law that first becomes effective when the member states have implemented it into their national law. This means that the EU is only directing the member states but they are not telling them exactly what to do. Directives can be used on general matters where it is not important to tell the states word by word what they have to do like for example with climate goals.

What is a decision? What is an example of a decision?

A decision is addressed to a group of people and only this group of people are effected by the decision. The decision is binding in its entirety which means that the parties do not have a choice whether to oblige or not, because they have to. Decisions can be used upon big companies where it is decided that they have to pay a fine if the EU finds that they did something illegal within the EU law.

What is a recommendation within the EU?

A recommendation is not binding and does not create any legal obligations for the Member States. It is rather just a way for the EU to express their opinion on certain matters.

What two options does a private individual or a company have if the have suffered damage directly or indirectly by an EU institution?

They can take action against them in the Court by either going indirectly through the national courts which then may refer the case to the Court of Justice or by going directly before the General Court if they have been affected by an EU institution directly.

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International Business law

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European Union law - Basics

7 important questions on European Union law - Basics

What are the "four freedoms" of the European Union?

What is primary and secondary legislation in the EU? What are the laws called that derive from the legislations?

What is a regulation?

What is a directive? How is a directive different from a regulation?

What is a decision? What is an example of a decision?

What is a recommendation within the EU?

What two options does a private individual or a company have if the have suffered damage directly or indirectly by an EU institution?

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