The Legal System of the EU

The Legal System of the EU - 2009

Conceived as a result of the training needs’ assessment developed by the EIR at the end of 2007, “The Legal System of the EU” programme is one of the specialized courses which brought diversity to EIR’s offer of professional training. 

The commitment to the obligations comprised in the Community legal system represents a direct consequence of Romania’s accession to the EU. This is why, a thorough knowledge of the Community aquis, of the legal EU instruments and of the Community institutions with responsibilities in this domain, but also of the convergence points existent between the national and the European legislation  are themes of interest for the specialists in the field of European affairs. “The Legal System of the EU” training course aims to respond to the civil service need to understand the sources of Community law and the influence exerted by the European jurisdiction in a synthetic and systematized setting. 

Beneficiaries

Considering the beneficiaries’ experience and the institutions represented by them, the two training sessions of “the Legal System of the EU” programme were characterized by diversity. Thus, even though the vast majority of the beneficiaries represented the central public administration authorities, employees of the Ilfov County Council and of the Institution of the Prefect from Ilfov, Dolj and Sălaj counties were also present. Furthermore, the group of course participants was completed by representatives of the business environment and of the academia. 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development, the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Protection, the Ministry of Administration and Interior, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Chamber of Deputies, the National Environmental Protection Agency, the National Agency of Civil Servants, the National Council for Combating Discrimination or the National Institute for Statistics are only a few of the central public administration authorities which were represented at “the Legal System of the EU” training course. 

The two training sessions organized in 2009 gathered a total number of 72 participants.

Objectives

“The Legal System of the EU”  is a training course intended for the civil servants with responsabilities in harmonizing the Romanian legislation with the Community one,  in enforcing the European law, or in identifying the sources and the instruments of Community law. As a result of the training sessions, the course participants were able to identify the Community aquis, to assimilate the means to enforce the international and the European regulations in Romania and to understand the influence of the European jurisdictions on the  Legal System of the EU.

Timetable

As a training programme offered by the European Institute of Romania for the second time in 2009, “the Legal system of the EU” comprised two sessions developed during 4 days. The sessions of the training course took place between the 23rd and 24th of April and, respectively, the 2nd - 3rd of July 2009, each session including 16 hours of class.

In order to justify the issuing of the participation certificates, each module ended with a test meant to assess the knowledge gained by the course participants.

Details about the content of the programme 

“The Legal System of the EU” training course addressed the following themes:

- Domestic law, international law, Community law

- EU institutions and their legal acts 

- Sources of Community law and their intensity

- Effects of Community law  

- Communityaquis

- Community constitutional law

- The influence of the European jurisdiction on the legal system of the EU

Similarly to the “Justice and Home Affairs” training programme, the modules of the “Legal System of the EU” course were presented by one of the most reliable collaborators of the EIR, prof.dr. Simina-Elena Tănăsescu, academician, vice-dean of the Law Faculty of the Bucharest University and an experienced trainer in constitutional and European law. 

With regards to the training methods, each course module was divided into presentations and workshops sessions, which encouraged the debate, the critical and analytical spirit and the team-work.

Participants’ feed-back

“The Legal System of the EU” training programme was assessed by the course beneficiaries. They were asked to fill in, anonymously, a form that included both closed questions which required the participants to give grades for the general level of the course and of its modules, and opened questions regarding the most useful or, respectively, the most redundant three themes addressed during the course. Also, the opened questions asked for additional comments and suggestions. 

The two training sessions of “The Legal System of the EU” training programme benefitted from the participants’ appreciation. The percentage of the beneficiaries who assessed the course and, respectively, the modules of the programme as excellent (65%) stands as a proof of the positive assessment.

From the participants’ perspective, the themes which brought added-value to the course were: the competencies of the European Court of Justice, the case-law interpretation, the clarification of the link between the national, international and Community law, and of the differences existent between theory and practice as regards Community law.

Thus, “The Legal System of the EU” training course participants’ comments were generally appreciative: 

- an extremely useful course (because of the themes addressed)

- the course clarified notions regarding the national, international and Community law, the way to comprise the Community law into the internal legislation and the case law mechanism

- Mrs. Simina Tănăsescu is an excellent trainer and a very good teacher. I would like to meet her again.

- given its scheduled time of 2 days, the level of the course exceeded participants’ expectations. Thus, the training programme can be appreciated as “excellent” 

- the course offered advanced knowledge in the field of law, and the teaching method was an excellent one.

-exceptional! I was impressed by everything! My words can only express praise

-the course was presented in an accessible and very suggestive manner, which facilitated a thorough understanding even for the participants who lacked previous legal education

Nonetheless, the course beneficiaries also made a series of useful suggestions, such as:

- all the relevant elements were addressed in a relatively short time. We ask for more courses to offer us new information and to help us improve our knowledge of the European legislation

-keep organizing training courses presented by professor Simina Tănăsescu.

-I am interested in a course on the elaboration and the editing of a legal document before this is being published in the MO (Romania) and the JO (EU)

Organizers 

“The legal system of the EU” course was organized by the EIR at its headquarters in Bucharest, 7-9 Regina Elisabeta Bldv.,  in the conference hall. 

The project coordinator was Laurenţia Mariana Mereuţă, laurentia.mereuta@ier.ro