The EU treaties were built for post-war peace, but a modern permacrisis is testing their limits. Learn how these legal foundations shape European life.
The EU treaties created a separate legal order where law serves as a substitute for war, turning dusty documents into a shield for the people through the principle of direct effect.
I want you to create a lesson based on EU publications about the EU treaties
Primary legislation refers to the founding treaties, such as the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). These act as the "constitutional" framework of the Union, established directly by member states. Secondary legislation consists of the specific laws created by EU institutions based on the authority given to them by the treaties. This includes regulations, which apply immediately to all member states, and directives, which set goals that national governments must translate into their own local laws.
The Institutional Triangle describes the power-sharing relationship between the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union. The Commission acts as the executive branch and has the "right of initiative" to propose new laws. The Parliament, representing EU citizens, and the Council, representing national ministers, must then debate and agree on these proposals through the "Ordinary Legislative Procedure." For a law to pass, both the Parliament and the Council generally must reach an agreement, ensuring a balance between European and national interests.
Subsidiarity is a fundamental legal principle designed to ensure that decisions are made as close to the citizen as possible. Under this rule, the EU should only act if a goal cannot be sufficiently achieved by member states at the national, regional, or local level. The Lisbon Treaty even includes an "early warning system" that allows national parliaments to issue "yellow" or "orange" cards to the European Commission if they believe a proposed EU law oversteps this boundary and interferes with national sovereignty.
Established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, European Citizenship moved the EU beyond a purely economic market. It grants individuals rights that are independent of their status as workers, including the right to move and reside freely within the Union, the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal and European elections in their country of residence, and the right to petition the European Parliament. Furthermore, the "direct effect" doctrine allows citizens to invoke EU treaty rights directly in national courts if their government fails to follow Union rules.
Article 7 is a sanction mechanism designed to protect the core values of the EU, such as democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It is considered a "nuclear option" because it allows the Union to suspend certain rights of a member state, including its voting rights in the Council, if that state is found to be seriously and persistently breaching EU values. However, because the final stage of the process usually requires a unanimous vote from all other member states, it is historically difficult to trigger and enforce.
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