Acquis communautaire: autonomous nature of law with the principle of primacy
The European Union is a unique supranational political and economic structure. Upon accession, Member States adopt and incorporate the acquis into their national legal system. European Union law is therefore a special international legal system functioning in parallel with the laws of Member States.
EU law consists of founding treaties (so-called primary legislation)1 and legal acts adopted by the EU institutions to exercise their powers, such as regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions (so-called secondary legislation)2. International agreements and EU case law with legislative powers, i.e. the Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court, are another important legal source.
The relationship between the EU acquis and the legislative systems of the Member States is illustrated by three principles:
- the primacy of EU law, which means that in the event of deviations between a rule adopted at the EU level and a rule contained in the legal system of a Member State, EU law prevails;
- the direct applicability of EU law means that acts of the EU institutions can be directly applicable without further action by the Member States;
- the autonomy of EU law means that the established EU legal system is independent of the law in force within the Member States themselves – this in turn means that EU regulations are valid in all Member States, requiring all non-compliant national legislation to be suitably changed.
This relationship facilitates the implementation of EU policies, since it applies only to areas where Member States have transferred sovereignty to the EU. This includes the single market, the environmental policy, and transport, but not areas such as welfare and tax policy.
1The text of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as well as other acts governing the establishment and functioning of the European Union, can be accessed through EUR-Lex.
2All European Union legislation is accessible by visiting EUR-Lex.