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The European Union

European Live

The enlarged Europe gives us a louder voice in the world - with a population of five hundred million, the EU is bigger than the USA and Russia combined; thereby increasing its weight in international negotiations.

Map of new countries in the European Union

Funds for UK Regions

Metric Conversion

Law

The European Union makes laws that affect our everyday lives. But ask most people in this country how these laws are enforced, and they won't know. Many will tell you that it's complicated, confusing, and wrapped up in red tape. From the way some newspapers report on Europe, people might think that unelected bureaucrats in 'Brussels' are imposing laws on Britain against our will. This is not true.

European law is....made by Member States of the European Union (EU) acting together in the Council of Ministers, often along with the European Parliament. You often see it referred to as Eurolaw, EU law or Community law.

What use is it: European law makes sure that citizens and businesses have equal opportunities and protection throughout the European Union. It covers many areas of life, including trade, food, agriculture, and environmental and consumer protection. It means that in the areas covered by European law we enjoy the same legal safeguards and rights where-ever we are in Europe.

So what? How does this benefit me? In many ways.
Here are just a few examples to give you an idea.
European laws mean that:

1. Factories elsewhere in Europe may not pollute the atmosphere whilst their British competitors invest in cleaner technology, or vice-versa.

2. British beaches are cleaner because of EU rulings on water equality. 

3. Food that Europeans export to each other has to be of the same high safety standard

4. A Briton has as much right to work in France as a French person; a German as as much right to work in Italy as an Italian etc.

5. Your employer, where-ever you are in Europe, must allow you a decent period of leave when your children are born and cannot make you work long hours against your will.

6. Electrical goods must be as safe in Britain as in France, Italy and every EU country.

7. The toys you give as Christmas presents must be safe. If they don't carry the 'CE' marking, they are illegal and should not be sold.

Although Britain has not joined the Euro, the purpose of a common currency is to enable
 buyers and sellers within the different countries to know the final cost or gain without any confusion, and without the need of a calculator.

How would I recognise a European law if I saw one? There are two main kinds:

1. Directives: These direct all EU countries to make their own laws to achieve a specific goal. For example, the EU governments agreed a series of Directives committing them to make national laws which require car manufacturers to build in specified safety features such as front and side crash protection and securely fitted seat belts. Directives have also been used to make new cars, lorries and buses quieter and cleaner.

2. Regulations: These regulate specific activities without the need for EU countries to make their laws. For example, one EC regulation prohibits food with an unacceptable high level of contaminants from being sold. 

How does European law fit in with UK made law - most law in Britain is made by Parliament, or by regional assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This will continue to be the case. When there is a clash, European law takes precedence.

Where does European law come from - This country makes it, working together with our European partners. Britain helps decide which areas European law should cover and has a key role in shaping each individual piece of legislation; and our Parliament takes a key role in scrutinising and improving it before it is adopted.
    All European law must be based on and follow procedure set out in the EU treaties. These treaties can only come into effect if the British government (and other EU governments) agree to them. Then they must be approved by our Parliament. Unless all the Member States ratify, they do not become law.

How are the laws actually made: Regulations and Directives start out as proposals made by the European Commission based on one of the articles in the EU treaties that we have agreed. The Commission based in Brussels and made up of Commissioners ( such as Neil Kinnock and Chris Pattern representing the United Kingdom) and officials from all parts of the Union - including of course, from Britain. It's not a huge organisation (with some 20,000 employees - including translators - it's much smaller than Birmingham City Council), but it has a big job to do. This includes spotting areas where new or improved laws would improve the lives of Europe's citizens. It also needs to judge where countries are best left to make their own laws.
    Once a proposal has been made, British Government officials agree the details with their counterparts from the other EU countries. We also make sure, in Britain, that our Parliament is aware of the proposal. Parliament has the right to request a debate if it thinks one is needed. The British negotiators on a given proposal take careful account of any views expressed by Parliament or others with a direct interest (e.g. trade associations). In this way, they work hard to make sure that the proposal suits Britain.
    There comes a point when the officials have taken the proposal as far as they can. Our Government Ministers, together with their European counterparts, then take over again. Ministers get together regularly at meetings called councils devoted to certain topics (environment, agriculture, trade, education etc) to discuss proposals in the pipeline. Which ministers attend depends on the proposals being discussed, e.g. environment Ministers will make up the Council discussing clean beach proposals.
    Whatever the council, Britain always has a representative to argue its case. At Westminster, the Commons and the Lords can question Ministers about how they voted and what deals are done.
    The European Parliament, where Members of the European parliament (MEP's) represent you, also plays a part in the process.
    Finally when the governments of Europe have agreed the law, and European Parliament is also content, the Directive or Regulation is approved.

Where does the European Parliament come in!
Around 80% of European laws are jointly decided between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. 
    This means your representatives get to influence the way laws are made, both through our national Parliament and through the European Parliament. This is democracy in action. Law is made not by the unelected Commission, but by the council (representatives of elected national governments) and European Parliament (elected representatives of EU citizens).

What Happens once a European law has been agreed!
If it's a Directive, it's then down to the British Government and Parliament to draw up a suitable national law in line with what has been agreed. If it's a Regulation, it becomes law straightaway across the whole European Union.

The main stages in the law-making process are set out in the diagram below.

This seems a long, complicated process!
It is. But in all democratic systems of government, the process by which laws are made is complicated. This is to ensure that laws do the job they are designed to do, protecting citizens.

What happens when Britain does not want a law, but everyone else does! Aren't we forced to back down
Most laws are agreed under what is called Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in the Council of Ministers. This means that out of a total of 87 votes, 62 are needed to adopt a proposal. Also the votes cast by each country are weighted to reflect their relative population size so that bigger countries, like Britain, get more votes than smaller ones, like Luxembourg.
    The Principle of QMV is good because it ensures efficient decision-making, prevents gridlock and has, for example, allowed us to create the Single Market on which over three million jobs depend in Britain. It is possible for countries including Britain to be out voted. But in practice this hardly ever happens. Britain was only outvoted twice in 1999-2000 (compared to Germany five times, France four times and Italy nine times).
    In a few sensitive areas, such as taxation, there is no QMV. This means that in those areas laws can only be made if every country is in favour. One country can stop laws from being made. This is known as the unanimity rule. This unanimity rule applies in all the most important areas: tax, social security, border controls, the EU's budget, defence and changing the EU treaties.

Isn't Qualified Majority Voting being used more than in the past?

Yes, for a good reason. As the EU has grown larger, so has the need to extend QMV to stop decision-making grinding to a halt.

How is European law enforced

The courts in Britain make sure that European Community law is enforced. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxemburg resolves disputes and makes sure that the law is applied in the same way throughout the EU. The European institutions and governments can bring cases to the ECJ. Citizens can also do so if the matter is of direct concern to them.
    Don't confuse the ECJ. with the European Court of Human Rights (which covers more than forty European countries and has nothing to do with the EU) or the International Court of Justice (part of the United Nations)!

Travelling and Living in the European Union

Table listing the UK regions (by Structural Funds Objective)

 Amounts earmarked to each of them for the current Structural Funds round, 2000-2006

Web Sites

http://curia.europa.eu/en/transitpage.htm - Website of the European Court of Justice

www.europe.org.uk/info/ - European Information Network website giving contact details of local EU information providers eg public libraries and information centres for business.

www.europarl.org.uk - European Parliament, UK and UK MEPs.
Tel: 020 7227 4300
2, Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AA

www.cec.org.uk - The European Commission Representation in the UK
Tel: 020 7973 1992
8, Storey's Gate, London SW1P 3AT

www.airecentre.org/law_index.html - Advice on Individual Rights in Europe
Tel: 020 7831 3850 (Mon to Thurs 2 until 5pm
The Aire Centre,
17, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4QH

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