CONSTITUTIONAL MIXITY OF EC AND EU LAW, ECJ C-91/05, COMMISSION V. COUNCIL

Abstract

The paper analyzes the constitutional overlap and mixity of competences that the EC and the EU had after the Maastricht Treaty until the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. The unclear or vague line of division of competences often led in practice to disputes between EC and EU authorities, which is also qualified as a theft of competences by the EU, especially in the regulation of certain issues from the common foreign and security policy (the second pillar) and judicial cooperation in criminal cases (the third pillar). Therefore, before the Court of Justice, the question of a clear delimitation of the aforementioned competences was raised as one of the basic ones in order to preserve and retain the achieved acquis communautaire. The author writes about the position of the Court, commenting on its decision in the ECOWAS case.