THE EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union (EU), to all intents and purposes, governs the governments of  all of the 25 countries of Europe that are part of it, with also others whose applications to join are being processes.

The European Union membership is normally by a referendum -by which the electorate of the applicant state by a majority vote express consent and approval for their government to become  part of the European Union ~membership of it normally being intended to be permanent, and with the expectation to comply with the Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights which are subscribed to by some 40 European countries and to incorporate them into the laws of the member state, treating the Articles of the European Convention superior in cases of conflict with its own laws -the European Union being to its member states (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain -etc) rather like the United States government to its own states -but (except in the case Britain -which is adapting)  different political culture and greater compatibility in law and education among the states of their union.

Legislating in the European Union involves various bodies…

The European Commission is the body who proposes policy and the legislation of the European Union, with the duty, where the interests of any member state clash with those of the European Union's, to deem paramount the latter's, and to supervise the governments of member states in implementing them, where it deems essential by court action to enforce their compliance with the Treaties ~the European Union considering its interests to include its member states' compliance with also the Articles of the European Convention. 

European Council are the heads and the foreign-secretaries of the members states who, twice a year, have an audience with the President of the European Union. They are allowed to submit  feedback through the President of European Union to the European Parliament and they are charged with the duty to legislate the proposals of the European Commission, under its supervision issuing Regulations, Directives, Decisions, to member states -under Article 189.

The European Parliament is the assembly that is directly in  each member state elected by the electorate  -its members are the Members of the European Parliament ('MEP's).  Under the Single European Act 1986 has authority if it sees fit directly to deal with the Council of Europe (which normally functions under the supervision of the European Commission) in respect of all changes it wishes in relation to any legislation and its wishes may not be overridden by the Council of Europe even by a unanimous vote of it alone -since its proposals are subject obligatorily to consultations with the...

Committee of Regions -a body of representatives of local and regional authorities who must be consulted by the Council of Europe before it may legislate in any social or economic respect ~this consultative body includes representatives of various organisations such as of employers and employees.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the highest court of all of the member states of the European Union, and its judges are one from each member state assisted by Advocates General.  It rules in cases referred to it under Article 177 on interpretation and application, it may be requested guidance from by a court of a member state or appealed to by any company or person, and its decisions are binding in member states.

The European Union's 'Decisions' are binding on the specific party about whom they are, its 'Directives' on the government of any member state that it may issue them to for compliance  within the specified time granted, its 'Regulations' being (under the Treaty of European Union 1992 and the Treaty of Amsterdam 1997) directly binding on all of its member states.

In Britain in the above respects this has developed by way of changes in its courts' views from 'unless instructed by the Parliament otherwise' (Garland -v- British Rail Engineering Ltd. 1982) to 'unless Parliament repeals [the Act by which it is a member of the European Union]' (MacCarthy's Ltd. -v- Smith 1979) and later 'in exceptional circumstances may suspend the application of English law if it conflicts, pending guidance from European Court of Justice'  (R -v- Secretary of State for Transport. ex. p. Factotrane Ltd 1990).

Under European Union law, national courts must give priority to European Union law and must set aside the inconsistent national law (Costa -v- ENEL 1964 & Minister of Finance -v- Simmenthal 1978), Treaties are directly applicable if a member state's laws do not provide a remedy or where the national remedy conflicts (MacCarty's Ltd -v- Smith 1981), and it matters not if the member state's government  has not yet implemented a relevant  European Directive (Francovitch -v- Italy 1993) -it supersedes.

The European Union came into existence in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris when was created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSE) which was commonly a market and the Treaties of Rome 1957 which created the European Atomic Energy Authority (Euratom), and the European Economic Community (EEC), followed by the Maastrich Treaty 1993 and the European Communities (Amendment) Act, when it renamed itself the European Union (EU).

Its original members, in 1951, were France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands, others having joined later, and its aims have been stated as being 'the establishing of a common market, an economic and monetary union by the implementation of common policies, and the of promoting a harmonious, balanced , development of economic activities, sustainable non-inflationary growth respecting environment, a high degree of convergence of economic performance, level of employment, and social protection raising standard of living and quality of life, and solidarity among member states with economic and social cohesion' and it has since achieved considerable centralisation and amoung its founder members with the exception of a few not yet ready it has (with a single common currency, € -the EuroDollar ) already achieved also monetary union.

European Union membership being normally intended to be permanent the right to veto of individual member states has since been abolished (except in relation to taxation, for a while longer), as well as in e.g. Britain has been introduced into national law the Human Rights Act.

In 2004, the European Union having sought to incorporate all of its treaties into one single document in the form of its Constitution in some countries whether it is to be adapted is to be the subject of referendums to be held by the year 2006.

The European Union since 2002 have been: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Eire [the Republic of Ireland], Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and Spain (the 'Founding Members') ~with the integration of 10 more countries such as Malta, Cyprus, Poland, Czechoslovakia in 2004 ~and 12 of some 30 other nations' applications to join being processed -and of some 20 others' being in the pipe-line, a new name they have considered for themselves, as the hyper-state of the future -as it is seen, being 'the United States of Europe' .

(this is being updated)

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