Constitutional Law of the EU Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Constitutional Law of the EU - Essay Example If they fail to do so, the Commission can initiate action under the provisions of Article 169 EC. As such, the Member States have to change their national legislation to accommodate and give effect to Directives2. The Member States have to transpose a Directive into their domestic law. Such incorporation is satisfied if the transposition is done in a clear and precise manner. For instance, if some rights are provided to an individual by a Directive, then subsequent to transposition, that individual should be able to initiate legal action in national courts, duly relying on those rights3. In Plaumann v Commission4, the Commission had restrained the German Government from reducing duty on the import of clementines. The plaintiff, Plaumann, was an importer of clementines. He challenged this decision of the Commission in the ECJ. The Court applied the test of individual concern to this case; and examined whether the plaintiff was affected by the decision. The plaintiff was held to be a member of the class of clementine importers. The Court also examined whether the plaintiff could be differentiated from that class, by virtue of the attributes peculiar to him. It ruled that as Plaumann belonged to that particular class of importers, he was not individually affected by the Commission’s decision. In addition, the Court opined that anyone was free to become an importer5. In the Greenpeace case, both the Court of First Instance and the ECJ refused to admit the plea of the applicants. The latter, residents of the Canary Islands, had requested the Court to annul the decision of the Commission to provide financial aid for the construction of two power plants in these islands. It was held by the CFI and the ECJ that the applicants were not individually concerned. They were residents like any other residents on the Canary Islands, and that their environmental concerns were similar to that of the other residents. Hence, both the