Acquis communautaire
- (Photo: European Commission)
The full acquis is difficult to define. Around 17,000 different legal acts can be found in Celex. The acquis includes all treaties, all legislation valid today, all EU Court verdicts, all types of decisions from the second (Foreign and Security Policy) and third pillars (Justice and Home Affairs), as well as soft law.
The concept of the acquis communautaire includes the primacy of EU law and other principles developed by the Court, partly through legal activism. Member States are bound to accept future majority decisions and verdicts from the EU Court.
The acquis is important in connection with enlargement; acceding countries must accept the full acquis. This principle is now included in the EU Constitution.
The acquis concept is crucial to understanding the EU and the ongoing enlargement and constitutional processes.
Notes
- The Danish Parliament has been told that there were around 26,000 documents sent to the applicant countries for approval.
- Commissioner Günter Verheugen, responsible for enlargement until November 2004, has said there are over 20,000 acts.
Links
http://www.europarl.eu.int/factsheets/1_2_1_en.htm
