In recent years the European Union has enjoyed a significant increase in its profile at both national and international levels. This book explains how the legal rules which underpin the process of integration in the European Union have been shaped in order to give effect to the Union's objectives. It is accordingly suitable as an introductory text designed to expose the reader to the basic constitutional and substantive principles of European Union law. Union law exerts an increasingly profound impact on domestic law and this book will equip a lawyer unfamiliar with the principles of Union law with an awareness of when and why Union law is of relevance in domestic litigation.
The evolution of Union law continues apace. Increasingly its law has developed as an instrument of market integration and of market regulation. However recent years have witnessed controversy concerning the appropriate allocation of responsibilities between the Union's own institutions and national authorities. This book provides a fully up-to-date assessment of the changing shape of the European Union and its legal structure.