EU legislative process

This subtopic contains a range of resources relating to EU legislative process, procedures and principles relevant to the types of legislation which fall under the umbrella of EU law, including:

  1. EU Treaties (and all their amendments)

  2. Regulations

  3. Directives

  4. Decisions

  5. Opinions and Recommendations

  6. Tertiary legislation (including implementing and delegated legislation)

EU law is developed further by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and legal principles developed by it.

The EU is based on the rule of law. Actions taken by the EU are founded on treaties approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU Member States. Under the principle of conferral, if a policy area is not cited in a treaty, the European Commission cannot propose a law in that area as it is not an EU competence.

There are different types of EU legal documents. A treaty is a binding agreement between EU Member States setting out EU objectives, rules for relevant EU institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its Member States. Amendments allow for EU enlargement, and areas of co-operation.

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Public Law case law quarterly—Q2 2025

The Public Law case law quarterly provides details and analysis of notable judgments collated by the Lexis+® UK Public Law team each quarter. Highlights in this edition include analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, which confirmed that ‘sex’ under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) refers to biological sex. This edition also looks at Supreme Court decisions on the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s role in national security appeals, anonymity and freedom of expression in the context of litigation involving NHS Trusts, and statutory interpretation and procedure in a case concerning rights of the public under the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985. Also in this edition, the European Court of Human Rights decision in Green v United Kingdom, which examined the margin of appreciation in the context of parliamentary privilege. Court of Appeal decisions highlighted in this edition concern recognition of non-binary gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, DOLs orders and Article 5 ECHR, Article 14 ECHR challenges to employment legislation, regulatory compliance in planning decisions, and amendments to the Public Order Act 1986. Further analysis considers legitimate expectation from oral statements, extensions of time in judicial review, recusal applications in cases of possible judicial bias, challenges to the removal of VAT exemptions for private school fees, applications to lift the automatic suspension in public procurement challenges, and the consequences of misusing AI in court proceedings.

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