Commercial Law of the European Union

"Chapter 1 The Political Institutions of the European Union (p. 1-2)

[1.05] Introduction

The European Union (EU) is an economic trading bloc comprising 27 nations. The Member States are (in order of accession): Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria and Romania. Given its membership, the EU is one of the world’s most important trading entities.

European Union Law is of considerable interest to international trade lawyers and businesspeople in non-member States such as the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. First, the EU is a major trading and investment partner. Secondly, the EU is one of the great powers in the world’s economic affairs. Thirdly, the future regional development of other regions of the world will at some stage need a reference point.

The EU is a viable model of regional economic integration. It is a fallacy to assume that lawyers and businesspeople who have not been trained in EU law would be able to deal ef?ciently with the avalanche of complex legal acts adopted by the European Union. While it is practically impossible to keep up with all of the legislation and case law issued by EU legislators and the European Court of Justice, an understanding of the EU legal system as a whole substantially facilitates the work of lawyers and businesspeople involved in trade with the European Union. This book thus gives an account of the most important areas of European Union business law. It has been written from the viewpoint of legal practitioners, businesspeople and law students from non-member States.

[1.10] Outline of This Chapter

This chapter discusses the development of the EU, the trading relationship between the EU and a number of common law nations, the EU’s political institutions and the legal acts which they may adopt. In subsequent chapters, speci?c trade-related topics will be discussed in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the EU’s legal system so far as it is relevant to the development of trading opportunities."