The supremacy of community law

• Author: Alina Kaczorowska
• Position: Professor of EU and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, Barbados
• Pages: 245-259

THE SUPREMACY OF COMMUNITY

LAW

ALINA KACZOROWSKA*

Introduction

Fifty years of European Community (EC) experience has shown the need

for the creation of the six following fundamental principles relating to the

application of EC Law: -

The supremacy of Community Law

The direct effect of Community Law

The direct applicability of Community Law

State liability for breach of EC Law

The recognition of, and the incorporation of, fundamental

human rights

Common principles of Administrative Law

These six principles have, over the years, been incorporated into EC Law

and in many ways they could now be described as its bedrock. The article

intends to indicate how the principles came into being and how they were used

to develop the strength of the European Union. It focuses on the principle of

supremacy of EC Law.1 However, it is impossible to explain the essence of the

principle of supremacy without first examining the principle of direct effect

of Community Law, and accordingly the principle of direct effect is briefly

outlined.2

Professor of EU and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill

Campus, Bridgetown, Barbados.

1 On the principle of supremacy, see:

K..

Alter,

Establishing

the

Supremacy

of

European

Law: the Making of an

International Rule of Law in

Europe

2nd ed. (Oxford: OUR 2003); R. Barents, The Autonomy of Community

Law (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2003); K. Lenacts and T. Corthaut, "Of Birds and Hedges:

the Role of Primacy in Invoking Norms of EU Law", (2006)

31

E.L.

.fev,2$$.

2 On the principle of direct effect, see: S, Predial,

Directives

in EC Law 2nd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 2005); P.

Prescatore. "The Doctrine of Direct Effect: An Infant Disease of Community Law", (1983) 8 E.L.Rev. 155;

R Elefiheriadis, "The Direct Effect of Community

Law.

Conceptual Issues", (1996) 16

Yearbook

of European

Law

205.