Legal System of EE

EE is located in Europe. It is geographically situated in europe between the north atlantic ocean in the west and russia, belarus, and ukraine to the east. The country achieved independence on 7 february 1992 (maastricht treaty signed establishing the european union); 1 november 1993 (maastricht treaty entered into force). The capital is Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg, Frankfurt (Germany).

Government Overview

Government Type: a hybrid and unique intergovernmental and supranational organization National Holiday: Europe Day (also known as Schuman Day), 9 May (1950) Suffrage: 18 years of age (16 years in Austria); universal; voting for the European Parliament occurs in each member state

Legal System

The legal system of EE is described as unique supranational system in which EU treaties and EU law have primacy over member-state law

Constitutional Framework

The constitution has the following history: none; the EU legal order relies primarily on the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) Amendment Process: EU treaties can be amended in several ways:

1) Ordinary Revision Procedure (for key amendments to the treaties); initiated by an EU member state, the European Parliament, or the European Commission; after the proposal is adopted by the European Council, a conference of national government representatives then reviews the proposal; passage requires ratification by all EU member states

2) Simplified Revision Procedure (for amendment of EU internal policies and actions); passage of a proposal requires unanimous European Council vote after European Council consultation with the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Central Bank (if the amendment concerns monetary matters) and requires ratification by all EU member states

3) Passerelle Clause; allows the alteration of a legislative procedure without a formal amendment of the treaties

4) Flexibility Clause; permits the EU to decide in subject areas where EU competences have not been explicitly granted in the treaties but are necessary to the attainment of treaty objectives

Judicial Branch

Highest Court(s): Court of Justice of the European Union, which includes the Court of Justice (informally known as the European Court of Justice or ECJ, includes 11 advocates general) and the General Court (consists of 27 judges, one drawn from each member state; can include additional judges); both the ECJ and the General Court sit in chambers of 3 to 5 judges but may sit in a Grand Chamber of 15 judges in special cases Judge Selection: judges appointed by the common consent of the member states to serve 6-year renewable terms

Legislative Branch

Note: note 1: the European Parliament (EP) President, Roberta METSOLA, was elected in January 2022 and reelected in July 2024 by a majority of EP members (MEPs)

note 2: the EP and the Council of the EU share responsibilities for adopting the bulk of EU legislation; the European Commission proposes legislation, and the two other bodies have to agree for the proposal to become law – except in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy, which is governed by consensus of the EU member-state governments

Citizenship and Suffrage

Suffrage: 18 years of age (16 years in Austria); universal; voting for the European Parliament occurs in each member state

Historical Background

In the aftermath and devastation of the two World Wars, a number of far-sighted European leaders in the late 1940s sought to respond to the overwhelming desire for peace and reconciliation on the continent. In 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed pooling the production of coal and steel in Western Europe, which would bring France and West Germany together and be open to other countries as well.

This article provides a summary of the legal system and governmental structure of EE based on the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook is a public domain publication of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.