Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
EU. The economic association of over two dozen European countries which seeks to create a unified, barrier-free market for products and services throughout the continent, as well as a common currency with a unified authority over that currency. The European Union was established in 1993 by the Treaty of Maastricht and was based on the European Economic Community. The EU is formed of three areas, or pillars, which are the European Community, Common Foreign, and Security Policy, and Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters. The EU has a wide variety of legislative bodies, including the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission. The European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance are the two main judicial bodies for the European Union. The format and principles of the EU have their roots in the European Coal and Steel Community, created in the early 1950s.
The politico-legal entity formed by the Treaty of Maastricht 1992, which extended the existing European Communities into a new ‘three-pillar’ structure.
The first pillar encompasses the former European Communities, now renamed the ‘European Community’. The EC includes and is dominated by, the European Economic Community (EEC). The second pillar is a set of agreements on establishing a common foreign and defence policy. The third pillar is the set of agreements on establishing common police and judicial cooperation procedures. From a strictly legal perspective, the first pillar is the most important, as it is the treaties encompassed by this pillar that give the EU its power to legislate and enforce EU law over member states. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) only has jurisdiction over matters in the first pillar.
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This glossary post was last updated: 22nd November, 2021 | 0 Views.