The controversy surrounding the lifting of the European Union's ban on British beef highlighted both the sensitivity and the importance of European Community law in the EU member states. After strenuous efforts and the establishment of a scheme to eradicate BSE, the British were given the go-ahead to sell their beef within the EU again, although the French remained determined to protect their citizens from a possible risk to public health, and have failed to apply the letter of the law.

The European Union acts as a means of solving such disputes; there is no mechanism to do this with many other countries. Yet the sensibilities of each side in these disagreements ensure that the judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – which have established the precedence of EC law over national law in areas where the Union has or shares the decision-making competences with the member states – affect how member states make political and economic decisions, and how their people do business. This is what makes European Law such a fascinating subject.

The European Union has been built on the rule of law. It is law that has generated European integration. The first post-war measure generating EC law was taken at the Treaty of Paris in 1951, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community, signed primarily as a measure to avoid the re-emergence of war. Citizens' rights and laws affecting how business is transacted derive ultimately from the Treaty of Rome; other treaties, such as the Single European Act, Maastricht and Amsterdam are all amendments of this. Consequently, EC law is continually developing as the European Union evolves. At the early stage after the Treaty of Paris, citizens’ rights were linked to European activity; only as the Union has evolved has the political dimension developed. It should also be noted that there is a substantial body of case law, built up by the European Court of Justice.

Although the ECJ was not specifically designed to enforce citizens' rights, the need to 'police' the enforcement of the Treaties and ensure equal treatment for citizens across the EU, combined with the pervasiveness of business in our everyday lives, has led the EU to make important judgements concerning the rights of citizens.

So where has the ECJ made ground-breaking judgments? What has it made member states do? It has ensured the free movement of workers within the European Community through upholding the rights of people living in another member state to the same entitlements as nationals of that member state. It has relied on provisions concerning rights of workers and citizenship to extend rights beyond the scope of economic activities into areas such as social security and education.

It has ensured that the rights of consumers are upheld by exposing member states for failure to implement directives designed to protect them.

It has ensured that member states that fail to fulfil their treaty obligations with regard to the free movement of goods - through, for example, the non-prevention of road blockades are fined.

These rulings have impacted on families, consumers and businesses, often to their advantage. Member states now have to consider their European commitments before generating their own legislation - otherwise they can end up before the ECJ and be found to have contravened European law.

European Rights

The Single Market, although primarily a means of facilitating trade and increasing prosperity among the member states, gave European law a big boost. The single market, one of regulations, rather than fifteen sets amounts to a lessening of bureaucracy rather than imposition of a new layer. Nonetheless, this has created much work for European lawyers! After all, companies need to know that their trading activities are within the law.

The impact of EC Law has been of great significance from the Treaty of Paris and the initial coverage of economic rights to its current state, which also embraces the political. Its continuing development will be of enormous interest.