Constitutional Law of the EU Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Constitutional Law of the EU - Essay Example As such, Lord Denning stated that EC law was directly applicable at national level under domestic law. However, the term â€Å"directly applicable† has created ambiguity and the principles of direct effect and indirect effect will determine whether the Council Directive relating to pension funds (the Directive) is directly applicable under UK law4. If a provision of EC law is directly applicable, section 2(1) of the ECA asserts that â€Å"all such rights, powers, liabilities, obligations and restrictions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ shall be recognised and available in law, and be enforced, allowed and followed accordingly.† The current scenario is concerned with the failure to implement the Directive and this analysis will review whether Adil can enforce the rights he would have had if the Directive had been implemented under the doctrine of direct effect, or alternatively, what his rights are against the state for damage suffered as a result of failure to implement the Directive. The specific nature of directives lies in the type of obligations they impose5. Ultimately Member States have discretion as to how to implement a directive, however they must comply with the positive obligation to implement the directive in the first place6. Problems have arisen as to whether Directives themselves can be invoked by individuals in national courts as giving rise to individual rights7, further compounded by the question as to whether a Member State can be liable for damage resulting from its failure to implement a directive, which is pertinent to Adil’s position. In order to be directly effective, a provision of EC law must constitute a complete legal obligation capable of enforcement as such by a court8. Moreover, in the case of Francovich v Italian Republic9, it was asserted that the pre-requisite for direct effect was that the relevant provision of EC law had to be sufficiently precise