Direct effect of union rules

As was briefly shown above, Union law does not demand that national courts raise of their own motion an issue as to a possible breach of provisions of Union law, where examination of that issue would oblige them to set aside the passive role assigned to them by going beyond the sphere of the dispute defined by the parties. However, where by virtue of domestic law, courts must raise of their own motion points of law based on obligatory domestic rules, which have not been raised by the parties, such an obligation also exists where binding Union rules are concerned. The situation is the same, if domestic law gives courts a discretion to apply of their own volition binding rules of law.

Indeed under the principle of co-operation laid down in the Treaty, it is for the national courts to make certain the legal protection which persons derive from the direct effect of provisions of Union law. The basic rule remains, indeed, that it is the national judge who is, in the first place, responsible for the implementation, application, and interpretation of Union law when the parties resort to it in disputes brought before him.

In a 2003 judgment the Court confirmed once more that in the case of a breach of a directive by legislative provisions or by provisions of collective agreements introducing discrimination contrary to that directive, the national courts are required to set aside that discrimination, using all the means at their disposal, and in particular by applying those provisions for the benefit of the class placed at a drawback and are not required to request or await the setting aside of the provision by the legislature, by collective negotiation or otherwise.

Vocabulary Notes:

1. of one’s own motion / of one’s own volition – по собственному желанию, по своей инициативе

2. by virtue of – в силу, на основании, в соответствии с

3. at one’s disposal – в своем распоряжении

4. otherwise – (зд.) в иных случаях, при иных обстоятельствах

Speaking

Exercise 10. Choose any item and talk about it at length in pairs with follow-up questions. Practise using linkers to build a topic.

1. Direct applicability of EU law.

2. Direct effects doctrine of Union law.

3. Primacy of Union law.

4. Sources of Union law.

5. Application of EU law by national courts.

Linkers: To begin with; Let’s start with…; As to…; As far as … is concerned,…; In respect of…; Another point to make is …; By the way, …; Incidentally, …; Going back to …; What can be added is …; The emphasis must be put on…; Generally speaking, …; Frankly speaking, …; Obviously, …; Apparently, …; Moreover, …; Furthermore, …; However, …; Contrary to what has been said…; As was pointed out in …; Indeed, …; Hence the question: …; Consequently… ; In fact if not in law, …; The latter being referred to as …; It must be clearly understood that…; In other words, …; In addition, …; In regard to …; On the other hand, …; Smth reads as follows: …; etc.

Research

Exercise 11. Find the information about the case Francovich v Italy 1990) C-6/90 and work at it as at a project (a group of 3-4 students) or prepare a PowerPoint presentation.

Writing

Exercise 12. Write a mini-composition on one of the the topics in Exercise 10, using appropriate linking words to help structure a piece. Mind that the composition must contain 200-250 words.

Exercise 13. Write a summary of the text UNION LAW reducing it to 25 percent.

Unit 5

THE FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS

Discussion

1. Have you ever heard the term ‘common market’? In what context is it usually used? What does the term mean?

2. In what way does the free movement of goods differ from the free movement of persons? What legal aspects are involved in the issue?

3. What do you know about the Customs Union?

4. Is it profitable for the EU Member States to be within the Customs Union? What about its profitability for third countries?

Legal terms

1	free movement of goods	свободное движение товаров
2	customs union	таможенный союз (соглашение между двумя или более странами о снятии таможенных пошлин и устранении других барьеров для торговли между собой и введении общих ставок на товары, импортируемые из стран, не являющихся членами союза)
3	commercial policy	торговая политика (государственная политика в области управления торговыми потоками; в частности, политика в области ограничения импорта и стимулирования экспорта)
4	competition	конкуренция
5	economic area	экономическая зона
6	tariff barrier	тарифный барьер (для ограничения торговли)
7	state monopoly	государственная монополия
8	agreement between undertakings	соглашение между предприятиями
9	abuse of dominant position	злоупотребление господствующим положением
10	mergers and acquisitions	слияния и поглощения (корпоративные сделки по обмену акциями и т. п., результатом которых является создание укрупненных (часто транснациональных корпораций))
11	state aid	государственная субсидия
12	fiscal discrimination	налоговая дискриминация
13	customs duty	таможенная пошлина
14	common customs tariff	единый таможенный тариф
15	levy the duties on	взимать, взыскивать пошлины с чего-л.
16	free circulation of goods	свободное товарное обращение
17	invisible trade barriers	невидимые торговые ограничения, помехи на пути развития торговли
18	trading rule	правило торговли
19	internal/external taxation	внутреннее/внешнее налогообложение
20	charge	сбор, налог