The Gazette 1972

European Communities Bill, 1972 Explanatory Memorandum

secondary legislation of the Communities will have the effect and application in the State required by the treaties. Section 3 confers power on a Minister to make regu- lations to enable Section 2 to have full effect. Minis- terial regulations will be required mainly in order to implement in the State the provisions of the treaties and of the secondary legislation of the Communities which are not directly applicable. They will also be required to enable certain directly applicable provisions of the treaties and of the secondary legislation to have full effect in the State. The regulations may contain inci- dental, supplementary and consequential provisions, in- cluding provisions for repeal, amendment or application of other law. Section 4 gives statutory effect to regulations made under Section 3. Provision is included for such regula- tions ceasing to have effect unless they are confirmed by Act of the Oireachtas passed not later than the end of the year following that in which they are made. The section also provides for the summoning of Dail Eireann at the request of a majority of the members if, when such regulations are made and before they are confirmed or cease to have effect, the Dail stands There are two Appendices to this Memorandum. Appendix I contains a list of the secondary legislation of the Communities as at 31 May 1972 which will come into force in Ireland on or after the date of accession. Appendix II contains a list of the principal Irish enact- ments which will be affected by Community law. This list is a comprehensive one but it does not purport to be exhaustive. It is to be noted that Part 2 of the British European Communities Act 1972 has not been re-enacted in the Irish Bill and consequently no provision appears to have been made for listing specified repeals or to even- tually apply the European Community's common cus- toms tarriff in Ireland, or to set up the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce, or to finance the Sugar Board under new arrangements, or to bring Company Law in Ireland in conformity with Community arrange- ments, or to provide for compatibility in restrictive trade practices. It is not made a criminal offence to give false evidence on oath before the European Court of Justice or to disclose EURATOM classified informa- tion to unauthorised persons. Under Section 2 of the Bill, not only the treaties governing the European Communities which are fully listed in Section 1, but also the Acts adopted by the Institutions of the Community, shall be binding on the State as part of the domestic law of Ireland. These Acts comprise directives, regulations, recommendations and decisions and can be described as the secondary legislation of the Communities. These regulations, direc- tves, : ecommendations and decisions, are set out in full in Appendix I to the Explanatory Memorandum under the following headings . (A) BUDGETARY POLICIES (1) European Communities—1 Regulation of 1971. (2) European Coal and Steel Community—11 Deci- sions. (3) European Communities—2 Decisions. - 2 5 2 adjourned for more than ten days. Section 5 provides for short title.

The purpose of the Bill is to make provision so as to enable Ireland to fulfil the obligations which will arise from her membership of the European Communities, namely, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). It is proposed to achieve this by giving in the State the effect and application required by the treaties governing the European Communities to the provisions of the treaties and of the acts adopted by the institutions of the Communities (i.e. Secondary legislation) and by authorising the making of Minis- terial regulations to enable, where this is not otherwise achieved, the provisions of the treaties and of the acts to be fully effective in the State. Section 1 gives the definition of "the European Com- munities" and of "the treaties governing the European Communities". The latter definition consists of a listing of the treaties which established the three Communities and of the treaties and other acts amending and supple- menting them, together with the Treaty of Accession of Ireland (and the other applicant countries) to the Euro- pean Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community and the Council Decision concern- ing accession to the European Coal and Steel Com- munity. The listing is completed so as to include any treaties or other acts amending or supplementing those listed which have entered into force before the date of accession (1 January 1973). Any such treaty or act entering into force between the date of signature of the Treaty of Accession (22 January 1972) and the date of accession will not be included in the definition of "the treaties governing the European Communities" unless the Government make an order, to be approved in draft by both Houses of the Oireachtas. Section 2 provides that the treaties governing the European Communities and the acts adopted by the institutions of the Communities shall, with effect from 1 January 1973, be binding on the State and shall be part of the domestic law of the State under the condi- tions laid down in the treaties. This provision follows from Article 2 of the Act concerning the Conditions of Accession and the Adjustments to the Treaties which is annexed to the Treaty of Accession and which states as follows : From the date of accession, the provisions of the original Treaties and the acts adopted by the insti- tutions of the Communities shall be binding on the new member States and shall apply in these States under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and in this Act. The provisions of the treaties and of the acts of the institutions fall into two categories, namely, those which are directly applicable in member States and those which are not directly applicable and which require implementing measures by member States. Insofar as secondary legislation is concerned, that which is direct- ly applicable is comprised mainly of regulations in the case of the EEC and EURATOM and decisions in the case of the ECSC and that which is not directly appli- cable is comprised mainly of directives and decisions in the case of the EEC and EURATOM and recommen- dations in the case of the ECSC. By virtue of Section 2, the provisions of the treaties and of existing and future