€UROPROJE(C)TS: #COP21: Competences of the EU

04/12/2015

#COP21: Competences of the EU

As COP21 will take place from 30 November to 11 December 2015, I will write some posts to help you to better understand its stakes and the role of the European Union in tackling global warming. Let’s focus on the competences of the EU before moving on to EU policy for climate and environment.

The competences of the EU are assigned by the Member States through the treaties. The European institutions (mainly the “institutional triangle” formed by the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament) implement the EU policies thanks to legislative acts (regulations, directives, decisions, etc.).

The EU has competence in some specific areas which are organised in three different categories:

Exclusive competences: Only the EU can act in the following areas:

customs, competition, currency, fishery and international agreements;

Shared competences: Member States remain competent if the EU doesn’t act in these fields:

internal market, social policy, cohesion, agriculture, environment, consumers, transports, energy, research, development and humanitarian aid;

Supporting competences: The EU intervenes only to support Member States which remain competent in these areas:

health, industry, culture, tourism, education and training, youth, sport, civil protection, administrative cooperation.

When the EU intervenes, three main principles have to be respected:

Principle of conferral: Member States assign competences to the EU;
Principle of subsidiarity: The EU can act in shared competences only when its action is considered as more efficient than that of Member States;
Principle of proportionality: Means used by the EU to reach an objective should be for that limited purpose.