The European dimension of English law
The European Economic Community was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, with the purpose of creating closer relationships between the countries of Europe. The original members of the Community, were Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Britain, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland joined in 1973, followed by Greece in 1979, Spain and Portugal in 1986, and Sweden, Finland and Austria in 1995. It seems likely that membership will increase still further in the future, with a number of east European countries, including Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Romania, expressing an interest in joining.
The Treaty of Rome, together with the Single European Act 1986, made provision, inter alia, for the harmonisation of the legal codes of member states to the extent required for the proper functioning of the common market. What was originally an economic community, however, has increasingly moved towards both monetary and political union: the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty) of 1992 established the European Union, and contains provision for closer ties on matters including foreign policy, national security, and defence. Two particularly controversial matters included in the Treaty are the single European currency, and the 'social chapter', providing for, among other things, expanded legal protection of workers' rights. These developments have been the cause of substantial debate and disagreement between and within all political parties in Britain, with firmly held views ranging from those advocating Britain's full integration into the European Community, to those insisting that Britain should pull out of Europe altogether. Many are fearful of Britain's loss of sovereignty, as EC policies seem increasingly to shift policy-making and political power from Westminster to Brussels. There is little doubt that the Britain's membership of the still-developing EC will generate political upheavals for some time to come, especially as the union expands to take in countries of increasingly disparate economic and social backgrounds.
The effect of the European Communities Act 1972 is that the legal provisions contained in the Treaties are part of the law of the United Kingdom, and there is also provision for the output of the European legislative bodies to be incorporated into English law. There are various kinds of EC legislation in addition to the Treaties themselves, the most important of which are the Regulation and the Directive.
European Community law: an overview
It is not possible in one chapter to examine in any detail the considerable body of substantive law of the European Community, contained in the various Treaties, Regulations and Directives, and all the domestic legislation through which Directives are implemented: for this, the reader should consult the specialist texts. However, some idea of the nature and scope of EC policy can be gained by a brief overview of the main areas.
Originally, the European Economic Community, as it was first called, was solely concerned with economic, commercial and business matters, creating legislation designed to unify, and remove barriers between, the economic practices of the various member states, and business organisations operating within them. Article 8A of the EEC Treaty, as amended by the Single European Act, defined the internal European market as 'an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured'. The principal means of achieving this aim is by means of the adoption of common systems of, for example, customs tariffs, across all member states, and of prohibitory legal rules designed to prevent inequality and discrimination. The free movement of goods is sought by means of removing barriers in the form of individual national customs duties on goods exported and imported, and no member state may discriminate against the goods or products of any other member state by means of the imposition of taxes on those goods in excess of any taxation imposed on any similar domestic version of the product.
As we saw above, however, it is provided in Article 36, that these provisions referred to above shall not preclude:
prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants; the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value; or the protection of industrial and commercial property. Such prohibitions or restrictions shall not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between member States.