LL5002 Law of the European Union Coursework questions

· ANSWER ONE OF THE FOUR QUESTIONS SET OUT BELOW. Word Limit 1,500 words MAXIMUM (not including footnotes). This coursework assessment represents 40% of your final module mark.

· Latest Submission Date: Monday 20^th January 2013 to the Undergraduate Office (Calcutta House).

Question One

The EU institutions adopt a new Directive, the (fictitious) Transfer of Pensions Directive (TPD). The deadline for implementation passed two months ago.

Article 2 of the Directive provides that: “EU citizens can transfer their pension contributions paid during employment undertaken for periods of more than three months in EU states, other than the EU State of which they are a member. Employers, and public and private pension schemes of EU Member States will recognise such pension payment contributions in their employees’ pension assessments.”

Two years ago the UK Parliament approved a Government proposal to implement the TPD. According to the Government of the time, as Article 2 of the Directive was not clear on the legal right involved, the UK Act was to apply to EU citizens but only for full-time work undertaken in other EU states for periods of more than six months, and, because of the costs involved, would only apply to private pensions.

Under present UK national rules, legal disputes involving pensions are subject to a habitual residency test of living in the UK for at least 5 years and such disputes can only relate to pension disputes during the last 10 years only.

Advise the following parties (Alfredo, Beata and Carlos) as to how they might enforce their EU law rights through private legal actions in the UK courts. All three have worked in other EU countries and paid pension contributions there.

1. Alfredo, an Italian national, works as a translator for a Borough Council in London.

1. Beata, a Polish national, works for the Rail Passengers’ Network, a for-profit company set up to monitor rail users’ experiences of railway journeys. The UK Transport minister is involved in the selection of the company’s Executive Board and the company is given the exclusive right to use passenger information acquired by UK governments over the years to assist its marketing campaigns.

1. Carlos, a Spanish national, works in a private Spanish language school.

Note: Do NOT discuss EU or UK employment law or tort law. Rely on what you have learned during THIS module!

Question Two

The preliminary ruling procedure under Article 267 TFEU is the legal fulcrum around which EU law revolves. It is deceptive in its apparent simplicity, yet the Luxembourg court’s interpretation and use of the provision reveals a complex development that has described the legal relationship between the ECJ and national courts as well as giving expression to the key principles that govern the provision’s use.

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