The purpose of the book/CD is to give a general overview to secondary students on the institutional framework and unique legal system of the European Union concentrating on the most relevant policies regarding the function of the internal market of the European Union. The treatise does not deal with the history of the European Union – it assumes reader familiarity – however at relevant points it may refer to some historical aspects of the European integration and other sources for further reading.
For the sake of simplification, we use the term of the European Union or European Community in the book/CD. However it should be noted that European Communities, European Community and European Union are not the same and the provisions behind should be differentiated.
The European Communities are founded on three Treaties: the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Steel and Coal Community (1952), the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community and the other Treaty of Rome establishing the European Atomic Community (both 1958). The European Union was established by the Treaty of Maastricht (1991). The Treaty of Maastricht created a three pillar Union. The first pillar includes the three European Communities renaming them as the European Community. The second pillar is the Government’s cooperation in common foreign and security polices, while the third pillar is the cooperation in justice and home affairs.
Understanding the functioning of the internal market requires two approaches. First it necessitates the introduction of the legal and institutional framework of the Union. Second is an understanding of the basic policies, instruments and procedures of the internal market.
The first part of the book/CD aims to provide an introduction to the institutional and legal framework of the European Community. The Community is founded on law. The Treaties signed by the Member States, the legal norms adopted – in accordance with the Treaties - by the European institutions and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice are the key elements of this legal phenomenon. The Community has its own institutions. Based on legal norms there is a clear division of power and competences between the European Communities and its Member States. The Treaties define the provisions of the European institutions: the Commission, the Council, the Parliament and the Court of Justice. They also set the rules for decision-making within the Union taking into account the role and the balance of power between European institutions.
The second part the book/CD gives an overview of the internal market as the key of the European integration. In this part the purpose, the notion and the principles of the internal market are explained, the main policies of the internal market such as the free movement of goods, services, persons and capitals, competition rules, taxation and other internal market related policies are introduced. The practical questions of the internal market are also touched upon in the book/CD.
As to the methodological approach of the book/CD the followings should be mentioned. Each and every chapter gives a short introduction to the subject matter including or referring to the basic provisions of the Treaties, the main pieces of the secondary legislation of the Community and the principles to be applied. To better understand the detailed and sometimes difficult legal provisions they are illustrated with the cases before the Court of Justice and other practical information of the implementation and enforcement of the Community law. To understand the whole system it is necessary to do self-studies, by searching and using the enormous information about the Union, for which the internet is an excellent source. The chapter exercises are to insure understanding and to expound on the practicality of the information.
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