European Law Law Essay Research Paper Coursework Term Paper

“The discretion given to the Commission to launch an enforcement action against Member States who allegedly do not fulfil their EU obligations is criticized. Some scholars allege that such discretion dilutes the effectiveness of EU law enforcement. Others, such as the European Ombudsman find that the Commission does have a very broad discretion and some of its decisions seemed ‘tantamount to an abdication from its role as guardian of the Treaties.’ (3307/2006/(PB)JMA – European Ombudsman)”
Critically discuss this statement. In your argument, propose a change as to how the Commission should act upon discovering suspected breaches by fully exercising the role as guardian of the Treaties.
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Introduction
European Commission, EC, is an executive branch of the European Union, EU. It has several mandates to ensure the smooth running of the EU by guarding the treaties. The Commission has legislative, executive, and enforcement powers, too (Ludlow, 2018). The European Council, hypothetically, has the upper hand on executive powers compared to the Commission because the council has the mandate to appoint the Commission. The Commission, therefore, has a limit in exercising its executive power ("Infringement procedure," n.d.). On the legislative grounds, the Commission is the only EU branch that proposes and formulates laws. The council and the parliament then pass the legislation. Once passed, the Commission then enforces the laws. This means that the Commission has the mandate to launch a complaint against a member country against the union's laws and agreements. However, there is in-depth criticism against the Commission's mandate to establish complaints against the member states that do not fulfill the union's obligations. Some intellectuals believe that the duty weakens the power of the union's law enforcement. Simultaneously, the European Ombudsman thinks that the Commission's task is limited, and some of its decisions do not bear fruits as a watchdog of the treaty. This essay discusses the discretion given to the Commission and the extent of the discretion's practicality, application, and effectiveness. The paper will then propose changes in how the Commission should discover suspected breaches by fully exercising the role as guardian of the Treaties.
Independent branches make every government or big unions like the European Union, and the Commission is one of the EU's units. The Commission is a vital branch that ensures that all countries adhere to the treaties' provisions that formed the union (De Schutter, 2017). Lisbon's treaty expanded the Commission's functions by snatching the council some of the powers, then bestowing them to the Commission. Its functions are divided into three primary functions: executive powers, legislative mandate, and enforcement discretion.
Executive functions
The union council was responsible for performing executive function before the Lisbon treaty; hence, it had a full organizational mandate. The Lisbon treaty gave the Commission the executive order, though with some boundaries like the power of foreign policy, where the Commission has no jurisdiction. That is the power of the council only. The Commission nonethel...