This book is a comprehensive textbook on EU constitutional law, setting out the structure, values, procedures, and policies of the European Union. It encompasses five major parts. The first part addresses the formation history of the European Union, the treaties, the accessions, and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the second part provides an extensive analysis of the key constitutional principles governing the exercise of competences by the Union and the balance of power between the Union and its Member States, followed by an in-depth analysis of EU citizenship and the four freedoms.
The third part addresses the role and workings of the various institutions, while part four looks at the various decision-making processes. The fifth part considers the legal instruments and the position of Union law in the EU and national legal orders, with an attention to the key principles of primacy and direct effect, and the role of fundamental rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Finally, the book sets out the complete and coherent system of judicial protection in the European Union, offering an overview of the various courses of action before the EU courts and in the national legal orders to enforce Union law or to obtain judicial protection.
Table of Contents:
- Part I | Constituting the European Union
- 1. The Development from European Communities to European Union
- 2. The Treaty of Lisbon and the Current Treaties
- 3. Amendment of the Treaties
- 4. Accession to and Withdrawal from the European Union
- Part II | Competences of the European Union
- 5. Values, Objectives, and Principles Governing the Union Competences
- 6. Citizenship of the Union
- 7. The Internal Market
- 8. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 9. Other Areas of Union Policy
- 10.External Action of the Union
- 11. Limitations and Exceptions to the Application of the Treaties
- Part III | Institutional Actors of the European Union
- 12. The Political Institutions of the Union
- 13. Other Institutions and Bodies of the Union
- 14. The Union as an International Organization
- 15. The Member States of the Union
- 16. The Relationship between the Institutional Actors
- Part IV | Decision-Making in the European Union
- 17. The Legislative Procedures
- 18. The Implementation of Union Legislation
- 19. CFSP Decision-Making
- 20. The Budgetary Procedures
- 21. The Procedure for Concluding International Agreements
- 22. Decision-Making Restricted to Particular Member States
- Part V | Legal Instruments of the European Union
- 23. Union Law and its Effects in the National Legal Orders
- 24. The Treaties: Primary Union Law
- 25. Fundamental Rights and General Principles of Union Law
- 26. International Law
- 27. Acts Adopted by the Institutions and Bodies of the Union
- 28. Other Sources of Union Law
- Part VI | Judicial Protection in the European Union
- 29. Judicial Protection vis-a-vis Member States and Private Parties
- 30. Judicial Protection vis-a-vis the Institutions and Bodies of the Union
