The Specificity of European Union’s Legal System – Aspects Related to the Principles of Primacy and Direct Effect
The Specificity of European Union’s Legal System – Aspects Related to the Principles of Primacy and Direct Effect

Summary/Abstract: The main mechanism for the creation of the norms of international law is the development of multilateral treaties, respecting the fundamental principle known as “pactasuntservanda”. There is no dispute that the European Union (EU) law has its origins in international public law. However, even if the EU acts and institutions invariably proclaim the establishment of the internal market – an area of free movement of persons, goods, services and capital – and notwithstanding the gradual strengthening of the elements that demonstrate political and not just economic integration between the Member States, the EU is, strictly speaking, a sui generis international organization. Consequently, EU as organization and its legal system have numerous important specificities. The objective of this paper is to analyse two of those specificities that may be considered as fundamental: its aptitude to prime over the national legal norms of the Member States (Chapter 1 – the principle of primacy) and its general ability to produce a direct effect for physical and legal persons in Member States’ domestic legal systems (Chapter 2 – the principle of direct effect).

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