ABSTRACT
Since the fi rst European Community (the ECSC) was created, the Member States have delegated various powers to a number of Institutions that have organised the ‘running’ of the Communities on their behalf. Together, these Institutions fulfi l the main functions of government of the Union, taking decisions, creating laws and spending money on a joint (Union) basis – but only in areas in which they have been provided with the authority to do so. (This is known as the principle of ‘conferral’ which is now set out in Art 4 TEU. The areas in which the Union may involve itself are detailed in Arts 3 to 6 TFEU.) The Member States still retain power to create and amend constitutional and substantive rules of the EU, as has been done through a variety of Treaties, already discussed in Chapter 2, and of course the Member States continue to be solely responsible in areas that lie outside the competence of the EU.
