European Constitutional Law Problem Question
At the outset, Freda has relied upon her understanding of the E.U.’s Fossil Fuels Directive of 2009 to compensate her installation of solar powered electricity generating system at the cost of £10,000. However, based on the British Parliament’s Solar Power Act 2011 provision which requires that she must live in ‘an urban area with a population of 10,000 or more people’, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive declined her receipt for the installation. Consequently, Freda’s circumstances expose conflict in the legal relationship between the U.K. and the E.U. on the implementation of an E.U. directive.
The European Communities Act of 1972 served to make all European Community Treaties directly applicable in the British legal system.1 This is best captured in Lord Denning’s description of the Act: ‘any rights or obligations created by the Treaty… legal effect in England without more ado’.2
It is in this context that E.U. law has traditionally always taking precedence over domestic law. This notion of the supremacy isn’t specified in any of the Treaties, but rather it emerged as a legal principle from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its 1964 landmark ruling on the Falminio Costa v ENEL case3. The court held that due to the particular nature of Community (now Union) legal order that domestic provisions of Member States must give way to European law. The Court also upheld the precedence of secondary legislation, which would encompass the E.U.’s Fossil Fuels Directive, on similar grounds.4
Furthermore, national powers have been further restricted by the subsequent ECJ ruling on the 1978 Simmenthal II case in which Member States were duty-bound to avoid adopting any national measure which conflicts with Union law. The Court specified that:
“every national court must, in a case within its jurisdiction, apply Community law in its entirety and protect rights which the latter confers on individuals and must accordingly set aside any provision of national law which
The European Communities Act of 1972 served to make all European Community Treaties directly applicable in the British legal system.1 This is best captured in Lord Denning’s description of the Act: ‘any rights or obligations created by the Treaty… legal effect in England without more ado’.2
It is in this context that E.U. law has traditionally always taking precedence over domestic law. This notion of the supremacy isn’t specified in any of the Treaties, but rather it emerged as a legal principle from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its 1964 landmark ruling on the Falminio Costa v ENEL case3. The court held that due to the particular nature of Community (now Union) legal order that domestic provisions of Member States must give way to European law. The Court also upheld the precedence of secondary legislation, which would encompass the E.U.’s Fossil Fuels Directive, on similar grounds.4
Furthermore, national powers have been further restricted by the subsequent ECJ ruling on the 1978 Simmenthal II case in which Member States were duty-bound to avoid adopting any national measure which conflicts with Union law. The Court specified that:
“every national court must, in a case within its jurisdiction, apply Community law in its entirety and protect rights which the latter confers on individuals and must accordingly set aside any provision of national law which