The Question of Competence in the European Union

The classic debate surrounding the prolific role of the European Union in defining spheres of competence and power relationships has long divided scholarly opinion. However, in recent years, the long-standing acquiescence to the broad powers of the Union has given way to the emerging perception of a competence problem in Europe. For a long period it was taken for granted that the European Community could act whenever its action was justified on the basis of the widely interpreted objectives of the Treaties. However this context has since changed. There is a widespread perception of a competence problem in Europe and the overabundance of provisions limiting the Union's competences is one of the most obvious marks left by the Lisbon Treaty. This book discusses the extent to which the parameters of power throughout the Union and its Member States have been recast by the recent implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and doctrines developed by the European Court of Justice. Comprised of contributions from a vast array of leading practitioners and academics in the field of EU Law, this volume assesses the debate surrounding the political identity of the European Union, and further illustrates the relevance of the Federal theory of sharing competences for the development of EU Law. Finally, the question of new potential limits to Union's competence is addressed. If anything, this broad reflection on the notion of competence in the EU law context is a way of opening up the question of the nature and contours of the political identity of the European Union.

Table of Contents:
Loïc Azoulai: On the Concepts of Competence and Federal Order of Competences in the EU Legal Order Part I: The Reference to Federalism 1: Olivier Beaud: The Allocation of Competences in a Federation 2: Guillaume Tusseau: Theoretical Deflation: The EU Order of Competences and Power-Conferring Norms Theory Part II: The Allocation of Competences in EU Practice 3: Marise Cremona: Allocation of Competences in the field of External Relations 4: Roland Bieber: Allocation of Economic Policy Competences in the EU 5: Giorgio Monti: Legislative and Executive Competences in Competition Law 6: Hans-W. Micklitz: The Forgotten Dimension of Private Law Part. III: The ECJ and the Question of Competence 7: Christiaan Timmermans: ECJ doctrines on Competences 8: Lena Boucon: EU Law and Retained Powers of Member States 9: Edouard Dubout: The Protection of Fundamental Rights and the Allocation of Competences in the EU: A Clash of Constitutional Logics Part. IV: Political and Legal Limits to EU Competences 10: Robert Schütze: Limits to Union's "Internal Market" Competence(s): Constitutional Comparisons 11: Xavier Groussot & Sanja Bogojevic: Subsidiarity as a Procedural Safeguard to Federalism 12: François-Xavier Millet: The Respect for National Constitutional Identity in the European Legal Space: An Approach to Federalism as Constitutionalism

About the Author :
Loïc Azoulai holds the chair of European Law at the European University Institute. He is codirector of the Academy of European Law and of the Centre for Judicial Cooperation both hosted at the European University Institute. He is on leave from University of Panthéon-Assas Paris II where he is a Professor of Public Law. He has published on a wide range of questions related to European Union Law.