ABSTRACT
The EU legal system is structured and hierarchical. The sources of EU law and their hierarchy are as follows: 1. Primary sources. These are:
■ The founding Treaties: the EEC and the EA Treaties as amended by subsequent Treaties. After the entry into force of the ToL, the EU is founded on the TEU and the TFEU;
■ Protocols and Annexes attached to these Treaties which form an integral part of them;
■ Acts of accession of new Member States;
■ Acts adopted by the Council, or the Council and the EP for the adoption of which approval by the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements is necessary (e.g. see Articles 311 and 223(1) TFEU); and,
■ The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 6(1) TEU) (see Chapter 8).
