New categories ofactsafter the lisbon reform: Dynamics of parliamentarization in EU law

Common Market Law Review

Volumn 49, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 885-927

  Bast, Jürgen ^a  

^a MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR COMPARATIVE PUBLIC LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW   (Germany)

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EID: 84865546951     PISSN: 01650750     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (130)

1. For empirical evidence, see von Bogdandy, Arndt and Bast, "Legal instruments in European Union law and their reform", 23YEL (2004), 91-136.
2. See generally, de Witte, "Legal instruments and law-making in the Lisbon Treaty", Griller and Ziller (Eds.), The Lisbon Treaty (Springer, 2008), pp. 135-141.
3. See Monjal, "Simplifiez, simplifiez, il en restera toujours quelque chose: La simplification des instruments juridiques de l'Union", (2003) Revue du droit de l'UE, 343-368.
4. Art. 288 TFEU does not provide an exhaustive enumeration, either; see Hofmann, "Legislation, Delegation and Implementation under the Treaty of Lisbon", 15 ELJ 487 and 491. (2009), 482-503, at
5. See in detail, Bast, Grundbegriffe der Handlungsformen der EU (Springer, 2006), pp. 109 et seq.
6. See Best, "Legislative procedures after Lisbon: Fewer, simpler, clearer?", 15 MJ, at 89: "The change in the number of instruments is.. only a matter of words." (2008) 85-96
7. See Ladenburger, "Police and criminal law in the Treaty of Lisbon", 4 EuConst 29 (2008) 20-40, at et seq.
8. Monar, "The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice", in von Bogdandy and Bast (Eds.), Principles of European Constitutional Law, 2nd ed. (Hart Publishing 567-568, 2010), pp. 551-585, at pp..
9. 2 × 4 + 2 × 4 = 16.Acomparatively rare species is a legislative act in the formof a decision which specifies its addressees, e.g. Decision No. 1105/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 Oct. on the list of travel documents which entitle the holder to cross the external borders ..., O.J. 2011, L 287/9. The number of delegated acts adopted is as yet too small to evaluate the choice of instruments, see infra in 4.2.1. 2011
10. But see Craig, The Lisbon Treaty (OUP, 2010), p. 250.
11. See e.g. Decision No. 1194/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 establishing a European Union action for the European Heritage Label, O.J., L 303/1-9. 2011
12. See Case 41/69, ACF Chemiefarma v. Commission, [1970] ECR 661, paras 60-62
13. For an account of the pre-Lisbon situation, see e.g. Schütze, "Delegated legislation in the (new) European Union", 74 MLR 661-693 (2011), at 669-681
14. Möllers, "Durchführung des Gemeinschaftsrechts", 37 EuR (2002), 483-516.
15. see Eberhard, "Das Legalitätsprinzip im Spannungsfeld von Gemeinschaftsrecht und nationalem Recht", 63 Zeitschrift für Öffentliches Recht 64-65, 84-88 (2008), 49-116, at.
16. Case C-133/06, Parliament v. Council, [2008] ECR I-3189, paras. and et seq.
17. See the annual "Report from the Commission on the Working Committees during 2010", COM(2011)879 final of 12 Dec. 2011, at 4. The total number of opinions delivered by the committees in 2010 was 1,904 (compared with 2,091 in 2009); the number of implementing measures adopted by the Commission was 1,812 (compared with 1,808 in 2009).
18. See Carré de Malberg, La loi, expression de la volonté générale (Paris, 1931), pp. 38-39
19. Heller, "Der Begriff des Gesetzes in der Reichsverfassung", 4 Veröffentlichungen der Vereinigung der Deutschen Staatsrechtslehrer 118 (1928), 98-135, at.
20. See Schütze, "The morphology of legislative power in the European Community", 25 YEL 92 (2006), 91-151, at.
21. See Declaration (No. 16) on the hierarchy of Community legal acts, annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Maastricht.
22. See Diedrichsen, "The system of legal acts in the history of drafts and proposals", in Winter (Ed.), Sources and Categories of European Union Law (Nomos 327, 1996), pp. 315-346, at pp. et seq.
23. See Habermas, Zur Verfassung Europas (Suhrkamp, 2011), at pp. 66-69
24. von Achenbach, "Vorschläge zu einer Demokratietheorie der dualen demokratischen Legitimation europäischer Hoheitsgewalt", in Kirste et al. (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Research in Jurisprudence and Constitutionalism (ARSP-Beiheft 127) (Nomos, 2012), pp. 205-218.
25. Art. 16(1) TEU is somewhat misleading in this regard.
26. Compare e.g. Art. 23(2) TFEU and Art. 109 TFEU.
27. See e.g. Council Directive 2011/96/EU of 30 Nov. 2011 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States, O.J. 2011, L 345/8 (based on Art. 115 TFEU). For unknown reasons, some of these acts were published in the Official Journal's section reserved for "non-legislative acts", see e.g. Council Directive 2011/64/EU of 21 June 2011 on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco, O.J. 2011, L 176/24 (also based on Art. 115 TFEU). Thanks to Alison McDonnell for pointing this out.
28. Such provisions constitute Bewirkungssperren, using a German term coined by Schmidt-Aßmann, Das allgemeine Verwaltungsrecht als Ordnungsidee (Springer, 2006), at p. 300.
29. See infra, in 4.2. For a further example, see Art. TFEU. 3(2)
30. Art. 16(8) TEU and Art. TFEU. 15(2)
31. Confirmed in Art. 12(a) TEU.
32. See Louis, "National parliaments and the principle of subsidiarity", 4 EuConst (2008), 429-452
33. Kiiver, "The early warning system for the principle of subsidiarity: The National Parliaments as a Conseil d'Etat for Europe", 36 EL Rev. (2011), 98-108.
34. This construction was first offered in von Bogdandy and Bast, "La loi européenne: Promise and pretence", in Curtin et al. (Eds.), The EU Constitution: The Best Way Forward? (T.M.C. Asser Press, 2005), pp. 171-179.
35. On a comparative basis, see von Bogdandy, Gubernative Rechtsetzung (Mohr Siebeck, 2000), at pp. 199-207. 37. See van Raepenbusch, "La réforme institutionnelle du Traité de Lisbonne", 43 CDE 618 (2007), 573-621, at.
36. Cf. Schusterschitz, "Rechtsakte und Rechtsetzungsverfahren", in Hummer and Obwexer (Eds.), DerVertrag von Lissabon (Nomos, 2009), pp. 209-235, at p. 226, referring to consensus among the legal experts of the IGC to redraft the articles to enable the Council to choose between the categories. See CIG 4/1/03 of 6 Oct. 2003, at 354-355 and 486-487, and CIG 51/03 of 25 Nov. 2003, at 3.
37. On the similarity to the règlements autonomes pursuant to Art. 37 of the French Constitution, see Ziller, "National constitutional concepts in the new constitution for Europe", 1 EuConst, 452-480, at 469-470. 2005
38. For a detailed analysis of the deliberations and the inconsistencies of the results, see Liisberg, The EU Constitutional Treaty and Its Distinction between Legislative and Non-Legislative Acts - Oranges into Apples?, Jean Monnet Working Papers No 1 available at (2006), www.jeanmonnetprogram.org
39. See Art. 103 TFEU.
40. See Art. 74 TFEU.
41. See Arts. 129(4) and 132(3) TFEU.
42. Council Regulation (EU) No. 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilization mechanism, O.J., L 118/1. 2010
43. Dougan, "The Convention's Draft Constitutional Treaty: Bringing Europe closer to its lawyers?", 28 EL Rev. 784 (2003), 763-793, at
44. Lenaerts, "A unified set of instruments", 1 EuConst (2005), 57-61, at 61
45. Lenaerts and Gerard, "The structure of the Union according to the Constitution for Europe: The Emperor is getting dressed", 29 EL Rev. (2004), 289-322, at 311 and 313.
46. On the logic of European reflexive constitutionalism, see Bast, "The Constitutional Treaty as a reflexive constitution", 6 German Law Journal at 1448-1451 (2005), 1433-1452,.
47. Case 25/62, Plaumann v. Commission ECR, [1963] 95-107.
48. Extensively documented by Cassia, L'accès des personnes physiques ou morales au juge de la légalité des actes communautaires (Dalloz, 2002).
49. See e.g. Arnull, The EU and its Court of Justice (OUP,), pp. 91 et seq. and pp. 125 et seq. 2006
50. Ward, Judicial Review and the Rights of Private Parties in EC Law (OUP,), pp. 261 et seq. and pp. 323 et seq. 2000
51. Opinion of A.G. Jacobs in Case C-50/00 P, Unión de Pequeños Agricultores v. Council, ECR I-6677, paras. 40 et seq. 2002
52. Case T-177/01, Jégo-Quéré v. Commission, ECR II-2365, paras. 41-51 2002
53. see e.g. Craig, "Standing, rights, and the structure of legal argument", 9 EPL (2003), 493-508.
54. Nowak, "Das Verhältnis zwischen zentralem und dezentralem Individualrechtsschutz im Europäischen Gemeinschaftsrecht", 35 EuR (2002), 724-742, at 725
55. Nettesheim, "Effektive Rechtsschutzgewährleistung im arbeitsteiligen System europäischen Rechtsschutzes", 57 JZ (2002), 928-934, at 932.
56. See on the one side, Koch, "Locus standi of private applicants under the EU Constitution", 30 EL Rev. 527 (2005), 511-527, at
57. on the other side, Usher, "Direct and individual concern: An effective remedy or a conventional solution?", 28 EL Rev. 599 (2003), 575-600, at.
58. See e.g. Di Federico, "The distinction between legislative and non-legislative acts in the Constitutional Treaty and its possible impact on locus standi and on non-contractual liability", in Dony and Rossi (Eds.), Démocratie, cohérence et transparence (Brussels 24, 2008), pp. 13-36, at p.
59. Mayer, "Individualrechtsschutz im Europäischen Verfassungsrecht", (2004) DVBL, 606-616, at 610
60. Temple Lang, "Declarations, regional authorities, subsidiarity, regional policy measures, and the Constitutional Treaty", 29 EL Rev. (2004), 94-105, at 102.
61. Alonso García, Lisbon and the Court of Justice of the European Union, WP IDEIR 1 (2010), at 14.
62. for an extensive analysis supporting our results, seeKottmann, "Plaumanns Ende: EinVorschlag zuArt. 263Abs. 4AEUV", 70 ZaöRV(2010), 547-566, in particular at 559-562
63. ditto De Schutter, "Chronique: Les droits fondamentaux dans l'Union Européenne", (2008) Journal de droit européen, 126-131, at 130.
64. See e.g. Balthasar, "Locus standi rules for challenges to regulatory acts by private applicants", 35 EL Rev. (2010), 542-550 (supporting a broad reading)
65. Herrmann, "Individualrechtsschutz gegen Rechtsakte der EU 'mit Verordnungscharakter' nach dem Vertrag von Lissabon", (2011) Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht, (in favour of the narrow construction). 1352-1357
66. This point was made by Everling, "Rechtsschutz in der EU nach dem Vertrag von Lissabon", 44 EuR (2009), suppl. 1, 71-86, at 74
67. Everling, "Lissabon-Vertrag regelt Dauerstreit über Nichtigkeitsklage Privater", 21 EuZW (2010), 572-576.
68. Some languages employ a term that corresponds to "rule-making" rather than "regulation": Fredriksen, "Individualklagemöglichkeiten vor den Gerichten der EU nach dem Vertrag über eine Verfassung für Europa", Zeitschrift für europarechtliche Studien 120, 99-133, at. 2005
69. CaseT-18/10, InuitTapiriit Kanatami et al. v. European Parliament and Council, Order of 6 Sept., nyr. 2011
70. CaseT-262/10, Microban International Ltd and Microban (Europe) Ltd v. Commission, Judgment of 25 Oct., nyr. 2011
71. The European Parliament accepted the result of a compromise negotiated with the Council by 550 votes to 49, with 41 abstentions, see European Parliament legislative resolution of 5 May 2009, P6_TA0342. 2009
72. Regulation (EC) No. 1007/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 Sept. 2009 on trade in seal products, O.J., L 286/36. 2009
73. See their motto at: "Anything you can make, we can keep cleaner". www.microban.com
74. These are materials and articles which are brought, or intended to be brought, into contact with foodstuff. For an overview, see Holland and Pope, EU Food law and Policy (Kluwer, 2004), at pp. 135-143.
75. Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 Oct. 2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and repealing Directives 80/590/EEC and 89/109/EEC, O.J., L 338/4. 2004
76. Commission Directive 2002/72/EC of 6 Aug. 2002 relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs, O.J. 2002, L 220/18 (Corrigendum O.J., L 39/1). 2003
77. Commission Decision of 19 March 2010 concerning the non-inclusion of 2,4,4"-trichloro-2"-hydroxydiphenyl ether in the Union list of additives which may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs under Directive 2002/72/EC (2010/169/EU), O.J., L 75/25. 2010
78. It remained immaterial for the construction; see infra, text accompanying note 94.
79. See e.g. CONV 636/03, "Final report of the discussion circle on the Court of Justice", at Nos. 20-22. On the drafting history, seeVarju, "The debate on the future of the standing under Article 230(4) TEC in the European Convention", 10 EPL, at 48 et seq. (2004), 43-56
80. Advocating the exercise of judicial discretion in favour of legal protection: Flogatis and Pottakis, "Judicial protection under the Constitution", 1 EuConst (2005), 108-111, at 109; apparently also Barents, "The Court of Justice in the Draft Constitution", 11 MJ, at 134. (2004), 121-141
81. See Joined Cases 16 & 17/62, Confédération nationale des producteurs de fruits et légumes et al v. Council, ECR 471 at 479 1962
82. See Lenaerts, "The rule of law and the coherence of the judicial system of the EU", 44 CML Rev. (2007), 1625-1659, at 1627-1630.
83. The class of non-legislatives acts also covers acts based on the Treaty itself, see supra section 2.1.3.
84. See Joined Cases 205-215/82, Deutsche Milchkontor, ECR 2633, paras. 17 et seq. The duty to employ the State's administrative and judicial apparatus to effectively implement Union law was derived from the principle of sincere cooperation (now Art. 4(3) TEU). 1983
85. The Council started to adopt implementing acts immediately after the Lisbon Treaty's entry into force, see Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1202/2009 of 7 Dec. 2009 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of furfuryl alcohol originating in the People's Republic of China following an expiry review pursuant to Art. 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No. 384/96, O.J., L 323/48. 2009
86. Regulation (EU) No. 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 Feb. 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers, O.J. 2011, L 55/13. For an overview on the contents, see Kröll, "Delegierte Rechtsakte und Durchführungsrechtsakte und das institutionelle Gleichgewicht der Europäischen Union", 66 Zeitschrift für Öffentliches Recht (, at 291-296. 2011), 253-298
87. Council Decision of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (1999/468/EC), O.J. 1999, L 184/23, amended by Council Decision of 17 July 2006 (2006/512/EC), O.J., L 200/11. 2006
88. The first published act is Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 203/2011 of 1 March 2011 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables, O.J., L 57/19. 2011
89. See e.g. Commission Implementing Directive 2011/49/EU of 18 April 2011 amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include pencycuron as active substance and amending Commission Decision 2008/934/EC, O.J., L 103/109. 2011
90. For the opposite view, see e.g. Möstel, "Rechtsetzung der europäischen und nationalen Verwaltungen", DVBL, 1076-1084, at 1081 2011
91. Sydow, "Europäische exekutive Rechtsetzung zwischen Kommission, Komitologieausschüssen, Parlament und Rat", 67 JZ, at 159. (2012), 157-165
92. On the different types of State-addressed decisions adopted by the Commission, see Vogt, Die Entscheidung als Handlungsform des Europäischen Gemeinschaftsrechts (Mohr Siebeck, 2005), at pp. 193-198.
93. See e.g. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1303/2011 of 9 Dec. 2011 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature, O.J., L 330/17 2011.
94. Some commentators doubt that Art. 291 TFEU still covers individual acts, see Stelkens, "Art. 291 AEUV, das Unionsverwaltungsrechts und die Verwaltungsautonomie der Mitgliedstaaten", FÖV Discussion Papers 68 (2011), 32. However, they fail to provide convincing evidence for the implied rupture from past understanding.
95. Understandably, the Commission is downplaying the discretionary character of its implementing powers, see COM()673, at 4 ("purely executive"). 2009
96. See Vírgala Foruria, "Los actos no legislativos en la Constitucion Europea", 6 Revista de Derecho Constitucional Europeo (, at 316. 2006), 279-324
97. della Cananea, "The European Union's mixed administrative proceedings", 68 Law and Contemporary Problems (2004), 197-217
98. Hofmann and Türk, "The development of integrated administration in the EU and its consequences", 13 ELJ (2007), 253-271
99. Kahl, "Der Europäische Verwaltungsverbund", 50 Der Staat (2011), 353-387.
100. As to the institutional preferences and strategies, see Blom-Hansen, "Interests, instruments and institutional preferences in the EU comitology system", 17 ELJ (, at 349-362. 2011), 344-365
101. See Bradley, "The European Parliament and comitology", 3 ELJ (1997), 230-254
102. Bradley, "Delegated legislation and parliamentary supervision in the European Community", in Epiney et al. (Eds.), Die Herausforderung von Grenzen (Nomos, at pp. 288-291 2007), pp. 286-301
103. Hummer, "Die Beteiligung des Europäischen Parlaments an der Komitologie", in Hafner et al. (Eds.), Liber Amoricum Ignaz Seidl-Hohenveldern (Kluwer 299-323, 1998), 285-324, at.
104. See the explanatory memorandum to its proposal for a Comitology Regulation, COM(final, at 3. 2010)83
105. Möllers and vonAchenbach, "Die Mitwirkung des Europäischen Parlaments an der abgeleiteten Rechtsetzung der Europäischen Kommission nach dem Lissabonner Vertrag", 46 EuR, at 42-43. (2011), 39-60
106. See e.g. Vos, "The fall of the committees?", in de Zwaan et al. (Eds.), The European Union: An Ongoing Process of Integration (T.M.C. Asser Press, at pp. 117-119, 2004), pp. 111-121
107. Joerges, "'Good governance' through comitology?", in Joerges and Vos (Eds.), EU Commitees: Social Regulation, Law and Politics (Nomos, 1999), pp. 311-338
108. Joerges and Neyer, "From intergovernmental bargaining to deliberative political processes", 3 ELJ (1997), 273-299, at 298.
109. See e.g. Weiler, Haltern and Mayer, "European democracy and its critique", 18 West European Politics (1995), 4-39, at 9
110. According to the last sentence of Art. 290(2)TFEU, the Council decides by a qualified majority, the Parliament by a majority of its component members. Given that the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission, the special majority definition ofArt. 238(2)TFEU applies. Regarding transitional provisions on calculating the majority, see Art. 3(3)(3) of Protocol No. 36 to the Lisbon Treaty.
111. See Council Doc. 8753/11. The first draft of the standard wording for the articles of a basic act was annexed to COM(2009)673 of 9 Dec. 2009. On the legal instrument, see in detail von Alemann, Die Handlungsform der interinstitutionellen Vereinbarung (Springer, 2006).
112. The first published example of a legislative act providing a delegation is Regulation (EU) No. 438/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No. 998/2003 on the animal health requirements applicable to the non-commercial movement of pet animals, O.J., L 132/3. 2010
113. See "Statement by the Commission", O.J., L 55/19. 2011
114. See e.g. Art. 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No. 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 Oct. 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market, O.J. 2010, L 295/23 (determining a period of 7 years subject to automatic renewal).
115. At the end of 2011, a search in the Eur-Lex database scored seven hits. The first was Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 1059/2010 of 28 Sept. 2010 supplementing Directive 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to energy labelling of household dishwashers, O.J., L 314/1. 2010
116. See Schusterschitz and Kotz, "The Comitology Reform of 2006", 3 EuConst (2007), 68-90
117. On the role of the concept for developing a non-delegation doctrine in EU law, see Rieckhoff, DerVorbehalt des Gesetzes im Europarecht (Mohr Siebeck, 2007), at pp. 175-196. On the relevance of this notion in EC law, see Türk, The Concept of Legislation in European Community Law (Kluwer, 2006), at pp. 227 et seq.
118. Curtin, Executive Power of the European Union (OUP, 2009), at p. 122.
119. Garzón Clariana, "Los actos delegados en el sistema de fuentes de derecho de la Unión Europea", 37 Revista de Derecho Communitario Europeo 756 (2010), 721-760, at
120. The standard clause reads: "It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level."
121. for a defence of the Commission's new autonomy, see Garzón Clariana, "Les actes délégués dans le système des sources du droit de l'Union Européenne", 12 ERA Forum (, opposing "les nostalgiques de la comitology" (at 131). 2011), 105-134
122. On the construction of the term "amend", see infra in this section.
123. For a forceful critique, see e.g. Ross, Theorie der Rechtsquellen (1929, repr. Scientia Verlag, 1989), at pp. 371-422.
124. See e.g. Driessen, "Delegated legislation after the Treaty of Lisbon", 35 EL Rev., at 842-843 2010), 837-848
125. Weiß, Der Europäische Verwaltungsverbund (Mohr Siebeck, 2010), at pp. 59-60.
126. See generally, Öhlinger, Der Stufenbau der Rechtsordnung (Manz, 1975)
127. Jakab, "Probleme der Stufenbaulehre", 91 Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie (2005), 333-365
128. This phenomenon is not purely transitional; see Art. TFEU. 43(3)
129. See e.g. Commission Implementing Decision of 27 June amending Part A of Annex XI to Council Directive 2003/85/EC as regards the list of national laboratories authorized to handle live foot-and-mouth disease virus (2011/378/EU), O.J. 2011, L 168/16. 2011
130. von Achenbach, Das Mitentscheidungsverfahren des Art. 294 AEUV als demokratisches Gesetzgebungsverfahren der Europäischen Union, Diss. Universität Heidelberg on file with the author, ch. 1, III. 4. b. 2010