EUROPEAN UNION

LAW

LECTURES BY SAMUEL HUTCHINSON

MOSCOW 2015

LECTURE No1:
INTRODUCTION
THE NATURE OF THE EU AS AN INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION.
Definition of an international organization:
-an association of States established by international treaty.
-with a constitution and common organs.
- having a legal entity distinct from that of its Members States.
-this distinct legal personality gives the international organization the capacity
to enjoy
rights, enter into transactions and claim judicial remedy [Judge Fitzmaurice,
1956].

THE NATURE OF THE EU AS AN INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATION (2).
THE EUROPEAN UNION
A supranational organization ?
I.

For some authors, an organization can be considered as a supranational organization if it

fulfils two conditions:
.it must have significant powers.
.those powers can be exercised independently from of its

member states.
For other authors, a supranational organization is
.not only an organization which operates in relations between its Member States
.but also it has power over Member States.

The EC bureaucracy, the Commission fits both definitions since it can:

.operate in relations between its Member States
.exercise its powers independently of its Member states
.have power over Members states.

THE NATURE OF THE EU AS AN INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATION (3).
The word supranational should not be mixed with that of international.
Supranational organizations belong to a special category of international
organizations.
The contrary of supranational is intergovernmental a word implying that the activity
is carried out by a coalition of States without any supranational element.
The EU has supranational elements which distinguish it from international organizations of
the traditional kind:
It can pass legislation, in many cases even if its member States are not unanimous.
This legislation is binding on the Member States and has to be applied by their courts.
Its judicial organ, the European Court of the European Union (formerly known as the

European Court of the European Community (ECEC) can give rulings in cases originating
in Member-States courts.
The Member States are themselves subject to the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court in

cases concerning the Treaties or Community legislation.

THE NATURE OF THE EU AS AN INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATION (4).
II. THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
Students, especially Russian students often mix the
Council of Europe with the European Union.
This confusion is partly due to the fact the most important organ of the EU is
called the European Council.
The Council of Europe is quite distinct from the European Council and from the
EU as a whole.
Among the differences between those two organizations, one can note that:
the Council of Europe is older than the EU.
the membership of the Council of Europe much wider (47 States, including Russia)

than that of the EU (27 States).

the scope of the powers of the Council of Europe is much narrower.

THE NATURE OF THE EU AS AN INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATION (5).
II. THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE (FOLLOW-UP).
One of its major achievements is the European
Convention on Human Rights.
On the whole it is respected, not completely but to a large extent.
This is due to two factors :
The Council has its own court, the European Court of Human Rights to

whose jurisdiction the Contracting States are subject.

Individuals who think a Contacting State has infringed their human rights

can go directly to the Court to bring proceedings against that State.

This constitutes the main supranational element of the Council of Europe.

Even the European Unions court, the European Court of Justice, cannot
hear complaints from individuals against the Member States.