Delegated and implementing rule making: Proceduralisation and constitutional design

European Law Journal

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 22-41

  Mendes, Joana ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM   (Netherlands)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84871694100     PISSN: 13515993     EISSN: 14680386     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/eulj.12011     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. P. Stancanelli, 'Le système décisionnel de l'Union', in G. Amato, H. Bribosia and B. de Witte (eds), Genèse et Destinée de la Constitution Européenne. Commentaire du Traité établissant une Constitution pour l'Europe à la lumière des travaux préparatoires et perspectives d'avenir (Bruylant, 2007), 485-528, at 490-491
2. Jacqué J.-P.'Introduction: Pouvoir législatif et pouvoir exécutif de l'Union Europénne, J.-B. Auby and J. D. de la Rochère (eds) Droit Administratif Européen (Bruylant, 2007), at 25-48
3. Craig P. The Lisbon Treaty. Law, Politics, and Treaty Reform (Oxford University Press, 2010), at 48-66.
4. The treaties refer both to openness (Arts 10(3) TEU and 298(1) TFEU) and to transparency (Art 15(3), para 3), apparently interchangeably. Transparency is used in this article to refer to access to information and to the ability to observe decision-making procedures (see Art 15(2) and (3) TFEU), while openness is a broader concept that includes both access to information and access to decision-making procedures (arguably, the meaning of Art 298(1) TFEU). D. Curtin and J. Mendes, 'Transparence et participation: des principes démocratiques pour l'administration de l'Union européenne', (2011) n.° 137-138 Revue Française d'Administration Publique 101, at 103 and references therein).
5. No mention is made in the Final Report of Working Group IX on Simplification (Conv 424/02, WG IX 13, hence forth, 'Final Report'). See also G. J. Brandsma and J. Blom-Hansen, The Post-Lisbon Battle over Comitology: Another Round of the Politics of Structural Choice, (2011) EUI Working Paper SPS 2011/03.
6. S. Peers and M. Costa, 'Accountability for Delegated and Implementing Acts after the Treaty of Lisbon', (2012) 18 European Law Journal 427, at 454-455, 459, criticise briefly the transparency of the new system.
7. J. Bast, 'New Categories of Acts after the Lisbon Reform: Dynamics of Parliamentarization in EU Law', (2012) 49 Common Market Law Review 885, at 885.
8. eg K. Lenaerts and M. Desomer, 'Towards a Hierarchy of Legal Acts in the European Union? Simplification of Legal Instruments and Procedures', (2005) 11 European Law Journal 744
9. Hofmann H. 'Legislation, Delegation and Implementation under the Lisbon Treaty: Typology Meets Reality', 2009, 15 European Law Journal 482.
10. Bast J. Legal Instruments and Judicial Protection, A. von Bogdandy and J. Bast (eds), Principles of European Constitutional Law (Hart Publishing,), 345-397, at 388-394; Stancanelli, 2010.
11. Council of the European Union, 'Common Understanding on delegated acts', Brussels, 4 April 2011, 8640/11-PE-L 40, INST 192; Reg No 182/2011, OJ L 55/13, 28.2.2011 (henceforth 'Comitology Regulation').
12. See Christiansen and Dobbels in this issue.
13. Art 11(1) TEU explicitly leaves the institutions the freedom to choose the 'appropriate means' to give effect to that provision.
14. On participation, J. Mendes, 'Participation and the Role of Law after Lisbon: A Legal View on Art 11 TEU', (2011) 48 Common Market Law Review 1849.
15. A. von Bogdandy, 'Founding Principles', in A. von Bogdandy and J. Bast (eds), Principles of European Constitutional Law (Hart Publishing, 2010), at 11-54, in particular at 21-23.
16. Arts 9 TEU ('in all its activities'), 10(3) TEU ('the democratic life of the Union'), 11(1) TEU ('in all areas of Union action'), 15(1) TFEU ('the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies').
17. Commission Communication, 'Implementation of Art 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union', COM (2009) 673 final, Brussels, 9.12.2009, at 6.
18. See Christiansen and Dobbels in this issue.
19. eg Art 10(3)(c) of Dir 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and the Council (labelling of energy consumption), OJ L 153/1, 18.6.2010. An analysis of legislative acts adopted between 1 December 2009 and 15 May 2012, based on a Eur-Lex simple search, indicates that the specification of procedural duties incumbent on the Commission when adopting non-legislative acts may be a rare case.
20. On the difficulties of participation in rule-making procedures, see Mendes infra, 72-76.
21. Formally, legislative acts are only those adopted following a legislative procedure (Art 289(3) TFEU). Art 290(1) TFEU explicitly classifies delegated acts as non-legislative.
22. European Parliament Resolution of 5 May 2010 on the power of legislative delegation 2010/2021(INI), recital B, and the respective Explanatory Statement (in Report on the power of legislative delegation, 2010/2021(INI), Committee on Legal Affairs, A7-0110/2010, 29.3.2010, at 8-9.
23. The Court has, in the past, grounded the exclusion of participation from legislative acts on the basis of their nature (Case T-122/96, Federazione Nazionale del Commercio Oleario (Federolio) v Commission [1997] ECR II-1559, para 75)
24. see J. Mendes, Participation in EU Rulemaking. A Rights-based Approach (Oxford University Press, 2011), at 220-222.
25. Case C-355/10, European Parliament v Commission [2012], myr., para 65, 68. This judgment is arguably relevant for the interpretation of Art 290 (1) TFEU, even though the facts of the case precede the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty. See further para 76-78 that specify 'the characteristics and particularities' relevant in this case.
26. Implementing acts may list the criteria to determine the eligibility for a contribution of the European Regional Development Fund, and therefore impact on citizens via Member States' entitlements (Art 1 and recital 7 of Reg No. 437/2010, of the European Parliament and the Council, amending Art 7(2) of Reg (EC) No 1080/2006, OJ L 132/1, 25.5.2010); list the travel documents that entitle the holder to cross the external borders and that may be endorsed with a visa (Art 2 of Dec 1105/2011/EU of the European Parliament and the Council, OJ L 287/9, 4.11.2011); revise total allowable catches (Art 5(4), (5) of Council Reg (EU) No 44/2012, OJ L 25/55, 27.1.2012); define the method of allocation of quota authorisations on exports (Dec 2012/105/EU of the Council, OJ L 57/1, 29.2.2012). Delegated acts may supplement and amend the information that ought to be provided in food labels and the way such information is provided (Arts 9(3), 12(3), (4), 23(2), 36(4) of Reg No 1169/2011, of the European Parliament and the Council, OJ L 304/18, 22.11.2011); define the conditions under which electrical and electronic equipment may be placed on the market while containing restricted substances (Art 5(1) of Dir 2011/65/EU, of the European Parliament and the Council, OJ L 174/88, 1.7.2011); specify further rules of procedure, beyond the ones established in the legislative act, regarding the imposition of fines or periodic penalty payments applicable in cases of infringement of the rules on credit rating agencies (Art 23e(7) of Reg 513/2011, of the European Parliament and the Council, OJ L 145/30, 31.5.2011); define the conditions under which natural and legal persons can be considered, inter alia, to be bound by the duties of transparency imposed by the EU rules on short selling and credit default swaps in financial markets (Art 3(7)(b) of Reg No 236/2012, OJ L 86/1, 24.3.2012).
27. Jacqué Ritleng, at 573.
28. See below 'functional profile'.
29. See, eg, Case T-18/10, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Others v European Parliament and Council of the European Union [2011] nyr, para 45 and 50 (currently under appeal: Case C-583-11 P, OJ C 58/3, 25.2.2012).
30. On the difficulties of this criterion to solve legal problems, A. Türk, The Concept of Legislation in European Community Law: A Comparative Perspective (Kluwer Law International, 2006), at 184-185.
31. Christiansen and Dobbels in this issue.
32. Case 205 to 215/82, Deutsche Milchkontor GmbH and others v Germany [1983] ECR 2633, para 17.
33. See, eg, Art 126d(8) of Council Reg No 1234/2007, as amended by Reg No 261/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ L 94/38, 30.3.2012.
34. G. Cananea, 'The European Union's Mixed Administrative Proceedings', (2004) 68 Law and Contemporary Problems 197.
35. H. Hofmann, 'Composite Decision Making Procedures in EU Administrative Law', in H. Hofmann and A. Türk (eds), Legal Challenges in EU Administrative Law towards an Integrated Administration (Edward Elgar, 2009), at 168-176.
36. Art 298(2) and Art 197(1) TFEU.
37. B. G. Mattarella, 'The concrete options for a law on administrative procedure bearing on direct EU administration', European Parliament note, Directorate General for Internal Policies, Policy Department C: Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs-Legal Affairs, 2012 (available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/studiesdownload.html?languagedocument=EN&file=73407), at 8.
38. If doubts could remain, the French version of the Treaty confirms that the specification 'when considering and voting a draft legislative act' applies only to the Council ('lorsqu'il délibère et vote', emphasis added). The German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish versions are equivalent to the French. See, however, and significantly, Arts 8 and 9 of the Council's Rules of Procedures (Council Dec No 2009/937/EU of 1 December 2009, OJ L 325/35, 11.12.2009, as amended), defining the cases in which the Council deliberates in public when deciding on non-legislative proposals.
39. Rules 103, para 3, and 87a of the Parliament's Rules of Procedure-7th parliamentary term, July 2012 (available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/00a4c9dab6/Rules-of-procedure.html).
40. On the transparency shortcomings of comitology pre-Lisbon (which embraced the acts now covered by Art 290 TFEU), see G. J. Brandsma, D. Curtin and A. Meijer, 'How Transparent are EU "Comitology" Committees in Practice?' (2008) 14 European Law Journal 819, at 836.
41. On the deliberations of the Parliament in this regard, see Rule 87a of the Parliament's Rules of Procedure
42. Eg Art 7a(5) of the Council Dir 2001/112/EC, idem, among many others.
43. Eg Art 7a(3) of the Council Dir 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption, as amended by Dir 2012/12/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 April 2012, OJ L 115/1, 27.4.2012, among many others.
44. On a related argument, see E. Schmidt-Assmann, 'La legitimación de la Administración como concepto jurídico' (Documentación administrativa, 1993), n 234, 163-229, in particular, at 185-187, 209, 211-212.
45. Also in Mendes, at 1864.