EU Law and Legal Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EU Law and Legal Contract - Essay Example For member states of the EU, it is no longer the case that only national government can make laws within their territories. Britain joined the EU in 1973 when it was still European Economic Community (EEC). So until 1972 UK had complete parliamentary sovereignty" but as the UK's application to join the EU was accepted, Parliament passed the European Communities Act. This Act transferred some control over creation of laws to EU institutions. Primary sources of EU law are treaties. Treaties are agreements signed by the Heads of State of all the member states of the EU. They set out all the main principles and goals of the EU. So far as our law is concerned all treaties signed by our head of government become part of English law automatically. This is a result of the European Communities Act 1972. There are four main treaties of the European Union. The Treaty of Rome 1957 was when the EEC was created and trade barriers and custom duties were abolished. The Maastricht Treaty 1993 was when the EC became the EU and everybody holding a passport from one of the member states of the EU became a citizen of the EU. It also meant that that the European Parliament gained more powers. The Amsterdam Treaty 197 which meant there were more powers for the European Parliament and immigration laws were to be common between states, human rights provisions were also established. The Treaty of Nice 2001 meant that changes in the qualified majority voting system were agreed, a necessary preparation for a big increase in the number of member states. The idea that groups of countries will develop at different paces within the EU was agreed also. Citizens of the UK are entitled to rely on the rights in the Treaty of Rome and other treaties, even though those rights may not have been specifically enacted in English law. This is shown by the case of Macarthy's Ltd v Smith (1980). In this case Wendy Smith's employers paid her less than her male colleagues for exactly the same job. As the two people were not employed at the same time by the employer there was no breach of English domestic law. However, Wendy Smith was able to claim that the company which employed her was in breach of Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome over equal pay for men and women and this claim was confirmed by the European Court of Justice. Secondary sources of EU law are regulations, directives and decisions. What these different types of law have in common is that they are all laws aimed at putting the general principles set out in the treaties into practice. Unlike treaties, however, they do not require the signature of Heads of State. They are proposed by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Directives are the main way in which harmonisation of laws within member states is reached. They are statements outlining the kind of national laws that member states are required to pass in order to meet the requirements of treaties. Directives are issued under Article 249 of the Treaty of Rome. Directives are more specific than treaties, which contain general principles. They direct member states to pass laws which meet certain criteria, though they lever it to