Action Programmes

Action Programmes in Europe

Resolutions, Declarations and Action Programmes

Content about Action Programmes from the publication “The ABC of European Union law” (2010, European Union) by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt.

Alongside the legal acts provided for in the Treaties, the Union institutions also have available a variety of other forms of action for forming and shaping the EU legal order. The most important of these are resolutions, declarations and action programmes.

Context of Action Programmes in the European Union

Resolutions: These may be issued by the European Council, the Council and the European Parliament. They set out jointly held views and intentions regarding the overall process of integration and specific tasks within and outside the EU. Resolutions relating to the internal working of the EU are concerned, for example, with basic questions regarding political union, regional policy, energy policy and economic and monetary union (particularly the European Monetary System). The primary significance of these resolutions is that they help to give the future work of the Council a political direction. As manifestations of a commonly held political will, resolutions make it considerably easier to achieve a consensus in the Council, in addition to which they guarantee at least a minimum degree of correlation between decisionmaking hierarchies in the Community and the Member States. Any assessment of their legal significance must also take account of these functions, i.e. they should remain a flexible instrument and not be tied down by too many legal requirements and obligations.

More about Action Programmes in the European Union

Declarations: There are two different kinds of declaration. If a declaration is concerned with the further development of the Union, such as the Declaration on the EU, the Declaration on Democracy and the Declaration on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, it is more or less equivalent to a resolution. Declarations of this type are mainly used to reach a wide audience or a specific group of addressees. The other type of declaration is issued in the context of the Council’s decision-making process and sets out the views of all or individual Council members regarding the interpretation of the Council’s decisions. Interpretative declarations of this kind are standard practice in the Council and are an essential means of achieving compromises. Their legal significance should be assessed under the basic principles of interpretation, according to which the key factor when interpreting the meaning of a legal provision should in all cases be the underlying intention of its originator. This principle is only valid, however, if the declaration receives the necessary public attention; this is because, for example, secondary Union legislation granting direct rights to individuals cannot be restricted by secondary agreements that have not been made public.

Other Aspects

Action programmes: These programmes are drawn up by the Council and the Commission on their own initiative or at the instigation of the European Council and serve to put into practice the legislative programmes and general objectives laid down in the Treaties. If a programme is specifically provided for in the Treaties, the Union institutions are bound by those provisions when planning it. In the Union, these programmes are published in the form of White Papers. On the other hand, other programmes are in practice merely regarded as general guidelines with no legally binding effect. They are, however, an indication of the Union institutions’ intended actions. Such programmes are published in the Union as Green Papers.


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