Browsing by Subject "principle of conferral"

The thesis examines the features of the EU legal system produce competence creep. The method of the thesis is theoretical, and the research question is reflected through theories of EU legal system and constitutionalism. In the thesis three main qualities of EU legal system is considered that are essential for the understanding of competence creep: inter-legality, constitutionalization of policy objectives and incremental constitutional change. Inter-legality means that the EU doesn’t conform to the systematic view of legal orders. Instead, it is an incomplete legal order that is in constant interaction with and dependent on the legal orders of the Member States. Inter-legality also informs the discourse and conflict in EU constitutionalism. Because of the limited competences the EU policy objectives are constitutionalized. This produces purposiveness of EU powers, which means the powers are delimited to pursue certain goals. In the EU constitutionalism the economic constitution has primacy over other policy fields, which means that the economic goals have pronounced role in the EU actions and integration. Both inter-legality and purposiveness informs the constant incremental change in EU legal system. The flexibility of EU legal system is needed in order to facilitate the discourse and conflict in pluralistic legal system. Moreover, the incompleteness of EU legal system means that it doesn’t have its own developed and independent deeper structure of the law, or formal, constitution. Consequently, besides the material constitution of the EU – the Treaties – there is the empirical and often invisible constitution that is constantly evolving through legal practices. The competences in the Treaties are formulated categorically, which doesn’t reflect the interdependence of policy fields. Moreover, the legal principles that relate to the exercise of the competences tend to be interpreted in a way that supports integration and the primacy of the economic constitution. Consequently, the division of competences in the Treaties doesn’t reflect the dynamism of the EU competences, nor the current state of evolving practices and ‘living’ constitution. Mechanisms of competence creep can be seen as illustration of the incremental constitutional change in purposive legal system. Moreover, the EU has went through constitutionally significant changes in response to crises. The crises responses have further induced questions on what normal constitutional variation is, and whether competence creep erodes institutional balance and the rule of law requirements in the EU.