To Give or to Grab: The Principle of Full, Crippled and Split Conferral of Powers Post-Lisbon. Research Paper in Law 04/2016

Govaere, Inge (2016) To Give or to Grab: The Principle of Full, Crippled and Split Conferral of Powers Post-Lisbon. Research Paper in Law 04/2016. UNSPECIFIED.

PDF - Published Version Download (1199Kb)

Abstract

From the Introduction. The principle of conferral of powers occupies a prominent place in the Lisbon Treaty. Not only is it stated as a fundamental and horizontal principle in the common provisions of the Treaty on the European Union (Art. 5 TEU).2 For the first time utmost care has been given to lay down, in a Treaty text, also the modalities and the consequences of the application of this principle.3 As such, a catalogue of competence is introduced in Articles 2-6 TFEU which lists the “categories and areas of union competence” (Title I TFEU) whilst spelling out the nature of the competences conferred to the Union in those fields, for instance exclusive, shared or complementary. Moreover, it is recurrently and firmly stated that powers which are not conferred to the Union by the Treaties are to remain with the Member States (a.o. Arts. 4(1) & 5(2)TEU). Especially those new additions in the Treaties are revealing of the currently prevailing political context whereby the Member States seek to get a renewed grasp on the formulation, interpretation and application of the Treaty principle of conferral. This can hardly be considered in isolation from the development of case law of the CJEU, who deftly asserts exclusive jurisdiction to interpret this key structural principle of EU law.

Actions (login required)