law of the european union

: Direct Effect Language Answer : The principle of direct effect is not found in the EC Treaty but has been created and developed by the ECJ in a series of judgments . It has greatly increased the impact of European Community law within the Member States . Direct effect means that , subject to certain conditions EC law creates rights and obligations which individuals may rely on and enforce in their national courts . In to advise Jim and Bob it is necessary to discuss that whether Directive 2003 /32 /EC has direct effect or not , if

it has not direct effect whether they can rely on the principle of indirect effect . Here it needs to consider vertical and horizontal direct effect because Bob , a refuse collector for Waste Co (a private waste disposal firm

The first case in which the ECJ expounded this principle is Case 26 /62 Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen . The question referred by the national court was whether an Article of the EC Treaty (Article 12 which prohibited any increase in customs duties on goods between Member States ) conferred a right on an individual trader to challenge such an increase in duty in the national court . The Court held that the EC Treaty was not merely an international agreement binding national governments : it introduced a `new legal , with its own institutions and legislative powers , which conferred rights and obligations on individual citizens as well as on governments . An individual could plead an article of the Treaty in the national court provided certain conditions were met

1 ) the provision must be clear and precise

2 ) it must be unconditional and

3 ) its operation must not depend upon further action by national or EC authorities

More controversial was whether a Directive could have direct effect Directives are meant to be implemented , that is brought into effect by national legislation within a certain time period . Art 249 provides a Directive is to be binding , as to the result to be achieved , upon each Member State to which it is addressed

The plain interpretation of these words is that a Directive is addressed to the Member States . To say that it confers rights on individuals would be to blur the distinction between Directives , which require national implementing measures , and Regulations , which do not . It was thought that Directives could never fulfil the Van Gend conditions for direct effect because , by their nature , they require `further implementing measures . However , in Case 41 /74 Van Duyn v Home Office , the Court held that Ms Van Duyn could rely on a clause in a Directive which the UK had not introduced into national law . In Case 43 /75 Defrenne v SABENA it was held that Ms Defrenne could bring an action against her employer for breach of a Treaty Article requiring equal pay for men and women

Vertical but not horizontal direct effect The Court later added to the reasoning used in Van Duyn , basing the direct effect of Directives...