|
Rule of Law and Protection of Fundamental Rights in the European Union EU Module, MAHRS programme, OSCE Academy in Bishkek |
14.05.24 |
|
26.-28.03.2024 |
|
|
|
|
Final note
After the end of the course this website has been finished. It will stay available for the purpose of deepening and repetition. Thank you for your interest and commitment. You are always welcome to contact me for any comments or questions. With best wishes for your future studies, yours Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitz
The short course provides a brief introduction to European Union law with a special focus on rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union.
The European Union is a difficult to understand state-like but non-state organisation of supranational integration, with a highly developed, complicated institutional and legal system and far-reaching competences, that has a much greater impact on life in its member states than is generally perceived. This course presents the EU's legal and theoretical backgrounds, the discussion about its legal nature, the status and role of its member states, the Union's institutional system and other aspects of the EU as an organisation. It also discusses the fundamental values, on which the Union is built, and provides an overview over the special rights of the Union citizens.
A special part is dedicated to the legal system of the European Union, in particular to its basic concept of integration through law, the strong emphasis of the rule of law and the prominent role of the European Court of Justice that results from it. It will also present the interesting rule of law elements developed for the execution of Union law, including general principles of European administrative law. Two other special parts are dedicated to the fundamental rights protection in the European Union, to its reasons and its unique architecture, and finally to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, one of the most modern fundamental rights catalogues in the world. The course will discuss the legal significance of the Charter and present its interesting innovations, esp. the categorisation of the guaranteed rights, but also discuss its weak point, the system of fundamental rights limits under the Charter, and its relation to the European Convention on Human Rights.
There will be an in-class examination after the course.
 |
Syllabus (→ from OSCE Academy Canvas) |
|
|
|
|
|
Bibliography (selection in English) |
|
|
Diagram 1 (Forms of international cooperation, supranational cooperation and integration) |
|
|
Diagram 2 (The rights of the citizens of the European Union) |
|
|
Diagram 3 (The law of the European Union) |
|
|
Final examination (questions) |
|
|
Slides presented in
the lectures (®
aids for illustration) |
Contents (summary/details)
|
|
§ 1 Introduction |
|
|
§ 2 The European Union as an organisation |
|
|
§ 3 The legal system of the European Union |
|
|
§ 4 General aspects of fundamental rights protection in the European Union |
|
|
§ 5 The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union |
Bibliography (short/detailed selection in English)
[A. Textbooks] [B. Special publications] [C. Commentaries] [D. Works of reference & handbooks] [E. Law reports and casebooks] [F. Compendiums of laws] [G. Journals]
|
|
Barnard, Catherine; Peers, Steve (editors): European Union Law, 4th edition 2023 |
|
|
Borchardt, Klaus Dieter: The ABC of EU Law, 2023 (textbook in all official languages) |
|
|
Costa, Marios; Peers, Steve: Steiner & Woods, EU Law, 15th edition 2023 |
|
|
Craig, Paul: Búrca, Gráinne de: EU Law. Text, Cases and Materials, 7th edition 2020 |
|
|
Davies, Karen; van Munster, Maarten; Düsterhöft, Isabel: Understanding European Union Law, 8th edition 2022 |
|
|
Hartley, Trevor; Tridimas, Takis: The Foundations of European Union Law, 9th edition 2022 |
|
|
Lenaerts, Koen; Nuffel, Piet van: EU Constitutional Law, 2023 |
|
|
Schütze, Robert: European Union Law, 4th edition 2023 |
|
|
Ziller, Jacques: Advanced Introduction to European Union Law, 2nd edition 2023 |
B. Special publications on fundamental rights in the European Union
|
|
Imamovic, Šejla: The Architecture of Fundamental Rights in the European Union, 2022 |
|
|
Schutter, Olivier de: Fundamental Rights in the European Union, 2023 |
|
|
Bobek, Michal; Adams-Prassl, Jeremias (editors): The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Member States, 2020 |
|
|
Tzemos, Vasileios G.; Margaritis, Konstantinos (editors): The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The First Ten Years - New Challenges and Perspectives, 2021 |
|
|
Geiger, Rudolf; Khan, Daniel-Erasmus; Kotzur, Markus: European Union Treaties. Treaty of the European Union, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2015 |
|
|
Kellerbauer, Manuel; Klamert, Marcus; Tomkin, Jonathan (editors): The EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. A Commentary, 2019 |
|
|
Peers, Steve; Hervey, Tamara; Kenner, Jeff; Ward, Angela (editors): The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. A Commentary 2nd edition 2022 |
|
|
Pinn, Guillaume J.: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Unoin - Explanations & case law, 2019 |
|
|
Smit, Hans; Herzog, Peter; Campbell, Christian; Zagel, Gudrun (editors): The Law of the European Union (loose-leaf edition), volume 1 and 2, 2005 ff. |
D. Works of reference and handbooks
|
|
European Commission (editor): Glossary (explanation of numerous legal and political terms in all official languages) |
|
|
Haastrup, Toni; McGowan, Lee; Phinnemore, David: A Dictionary of the European Union, 9th edition 2019 |
|
|
Kostakopoulou, Dora; Thym, Daniel (editors): Research Handbook on European Union Citizenship Law and Policy. Navigating Challenges and Crises, 2022 |
|
|
Court of Justice of the European Communities/Union (editor): Case-law (database of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice, the General Court [formerly the Court of First Instance] and the Civil Service Tribunal and also of the opinions of the Advocates General in the different official languages) |
|
|
Said, Lana; Shahid, Masuma: Cases and Materials. International and European Union Law, 3rd edition 2022 |
|
|
Publications Office (editor): EUR-Lex. Access to European Union law (online compendium of primary and secondary law in the different official languages) |
|
|
Publications Office (editor): Summaries of legislation (specialised online compendium of legislation concerning the individual fields of activities) |
|
|
Foster, Nigel (editor): Blackstone's EU Treaties and Legislation, 34th edition 2023 |
|
|
CJEL: Columbia Journal of European Law, since 1994 |
|
|
ELJ: European Law Journal, since 1995 |
|
|
ELRev: European Law Review, since 1975 |
|
|
EHRLR: European Human Rights Law Review, since 1979 |
|
|
EUI Law Working Papers: since 1990 |
|
|
JEDH: Journal européen des droits de l'homme - European Journal of Human Rights, since 2013 |
|
|
JMWP: Jean Monnet Working Papers, since 1995 |
|
|
WHI-Papers: since 1997 |
A. Links concerning the general subject of the course module
 |
Homepage of the European Union: Main server "Europa" (in 24 languages) |
|
|
Compendiums of Laws: Founding Treaties (consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (FEU Treaty) with protocols and declarations); Charter of Fundamental Rights and official explanations; EUR-Lex (comprehensive database; here you find all EU primary and secondary law in all official languages); Summaries of legislation (by topic) |
|
|
Institutions of the European Union: European Council (heads of state and government of the member states), Council of the European Union (representatives of the member states at ministerial level), European Commission, European Parliament, European Court of Justice, European Central Bank, European Court of Auditors; European Economic and Social Committee (advisory body), Committee of the Regions (advisory body); EU Agency for Fundamental Rights |
|
|
Jurisprudence: at the website of the European Court of Justice; jurisprudence at EUR-Lex; see also my Compendium Jurisprudence on European integration (with direkt links to the inidvidual judgements) |
|
|
Bacis information on the European Union: Information at the Main Server; Europe in 12 lessons (European Commission), Glossary on EU institutions and policies (EuR-Lex) |
|
|
Overview on EU activities and topics (Main Server) |
B. Links concerning special subjects
|
|
concerning § 2 I: Thomas Schmitz, A New Form of Organisation: the Supranational Union (summary of habilitation thesis, 2001) |
|
|
concerning § 2 III: ECJ, case 138/79, Roquette Frères / Isoglucose (principle of institutional balance in the European Union |
|
|
concerning § 2 V: Thomas Schmitz, The fundamental values of the European Union, course material, Chișinău 2016; Bojan Bugarič, Central Europe’s descent into autocracy: A constitutional analysis of authoritarian populism, I*CON 17 (2019), 597 ff. |
|
|
concerning § 3 I: Thomas Schmitz, Integration through Law. The European Approach of Supranational Geo-Regional Integration, conference materials ICONAS 2019/article |
|
|
concerning § 3 II: European Court of Justice (= ECJ), case 26/62, van Gend & Loos (Community law as an independent legal order, see p. 23 ff.); ECJ, case 6/64, Costa/ENEL (primacy of Community law, see p. 1269 ff.); ECJ, case 11/70, Internationale Handelsgesellschaft (primacy of Community law over national constitutional law, see no. 3 f.) |
|
|
concerning § 3 IV 1: ECJ, case 148/78, Ratti (direct applicability of directives after expiration of implementation period, see no. 19 ff.); ECJ, case 79/83, Harz (interpretation of national law in the light of the directives); ECJ, joint cases C-6/90 and 9/90, Francovich (state liability for non-implementation of directives, see no. 31 ff.); more jurisprudence on the implementation and enforcement of European Union law |
|
|
concerning § 3 IV 2: Thomas Schmitz, The general principles of European Union law - a source of inspiration for the development of a modern administrative law in the Republic of Moldova, Administrarea Publică, No. 1, 2017, p. 26 ff. |
|
|
concerning § 3 V: self-presentation of the European Court of Justice (with a concise presentation of its composition, jurisdiction and procedure, in all languages); Thomas Schmitz, The most important legal actions at the European Court of Justice, course material, Chișinău 2016 |
|
|
concerning § 4 IV: ECJ, opinion 2/2013 (rejection of the draft ECHR accession agreement) |
|
|
concerning § 5: Charterpedia (comprehensive expert website of the Funamental Rights Agency on the Charter with advanced training material) |