The Many Faces of Differentiation in EU LawBruno de Witte, Dominik Hanf, Ellen Vos Intersentia nv, 2001 - 390 pages The introduction by the Amsterdam Treaty of the flexibility clauses, authorising a majority of Member States to cooperate more closely in areas covered by the Treaties, has been received with mixed feelings. Flexibility is by no means a new phenomenon in the EU's development. It has been on the Community's agenda already since the 1970s. The Single European Act introduced several provisions allowing for flexible approaches to the single market, whilst the Maastricht Treaty launched a differentiated approach to the EMU and social policy. In addition to these forms of differentiation in primary Community law, for many years there has also been a number of quite important, though less visible, forms of differentiation in secondary Community law. This book aims to link both levels of differentiation and seeks to unveil the many faces of differentiation in EU law. It analyses whether, and to which extent, there is a shift in European integration from a system of unity and uniformity to one of flexibility and differentiation. A first series of contributions to the book analyse a number of exemplary policy fields (EMU, social policy, environment, free movement of persons, justice and home affairs) in order to identify their degree of differentiation. A second set of contributions examine various 'horizontal' institutional matters of cross-sectoral importance. These two main parts are framed by introductory articles on the development of flexibility and by contributions drawing on the constitutional limits to differentiation. The contributions are made by Dominik Hanf, José M. de Areilza, Jean-Victor Louis, Sean Van Raepenbusch, Ludwig Kramer, Georgia Papagianni, Grainne de Burca, Ellen Vos, Linda Senden, Sacha Prechal, Wouter Devroe, Deirdre Curtin, Bruno De Witte, Eddy De Smijter en Jan Wouters. |
Contents
Flexibility Clauses in the Founding Treaties from Rome to Nice | 3 |
Towards Less Flexibility? | 27 |
Differentiation and the | 43 |
Flexibility in Social Policy | 65 |
Differentiation in EU Environmental Policy | 83 |
an Old Phenomenon Taking | 101 |
Legal Principles as an Instrument of Differentiation? | 131 |
Differentiation Harmonisation and Governance | 145 |
Differentiation in and through Community Soft | 181 |
Neglected Players? The Role of the National Judiciary and | 201 |
Differentiation by Means of Partial | 231 |
The External Relations of a Differentiated European Community | 269 |
the Principle of Equality | 301 |
Emerging Institutional Parameters and Organised Difference | 347 |
from Differentiation to the Avantgarde | 379 |
Common terms and phrases
acquis communautaire adopted Amsterdam Treaty application areas Article 300 Article 43 Article 95 Belgavia Central banks closer co-operation Commission communautaire Community law concerning concluded constitutional Convention Council Directive Court of Justice decision-making Denmark derogation differentiated integration discrimination EC law EC Treaty economic enhanced co-operation environmental established EU law Euro European Community European Council European Parliament European Union European Union Law example existing external differentiation competence flexibility framework implementation institutions internal differentiation international agreement international law international organisations judgment legal order legislation limited Maastricht Treaty matters minimum harmonisation modalities obligations parallel agreements participate political possibility principle of equal procedure Protocol regard regime relating relevant requirements rules safeguard clauses Schengen acquis Single European Act social policy soft law soft law instruments specific subsidiarity supra note Third Pillar tion Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty of Maastricht Treaty of Nice Treaty provisions United Kingdom