Glossary of Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union
(Starting with "H")
©
European Communities, 1995-2007
http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/index_en.htm
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Hard
core
"Hard core" refers to a limited group
of countries able and willing to develop 'closer cooperation'.
This concept found practical expression
in the implementation of the Schengen area, which
enabled a group of Member States to progressively
curtail border checks and to establish freedom of
movement for persons. This hard core was initially
set up outside the EU's institutional framework, but
was eventually integrated into the treaties through
its incorporation into the Amsterdam Treaty.
The Amsterdam Treaty formally adopted
the use of the hard core concept through its introduction
of the 'closer cooperation' mechanism. 'Closer cooperation'
enables a certain number of Member States to further
the construction of Europe within the EU's institutional
framework.
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Hierarchy
of Community acts (hierarchy of norms)
A declaration annexed to the Treaty
on European Union states that it might be possible
to review the classification of Community acts with
a view to establishing an appropriate hierarchy between
the different categories of act.
The main purpose of such a hierarchy
would be to enable the lawmaking authority to concentrate
on policy aspects of particular issues rather than
on questions of detail. It would dictate the shape
of the Community decision-making process by ensuring
that instruments of constitutional status were subject
to more restrictive procedures (such as adoption by
unanimous vote, reinforced qualified majority, and
assent) than legislative instruments, which are themselves
subject to less flexible procedures (for example,
the codecision procedure) than implementing instruments
(for instance, the institutionalised delegation of
powers to the Commission).
The subject was addressed in 1990
in the early discussions on the possibility of incorporating
the codecision procedure into the Treaty. The underlying
idea was to avoid an over-rigorous procedure being
applied to certain acts of secondary importance and
thereby prevent the legislative machinery becoming
congested. In 1991, during the negotiations on the
Treaty of Maastricht, the Commission proposed introducing
a hierarchy of norms and a new system for classifying
Community instruments (treaties, laws, secondary or
implementing acts), but failed to overcome the problems
posed by the different national legal traditions.
The European Constitution currently
being ratified provides for simplification of this
hierarchy of norms. It establishes three categories
of instrument, governed by different decision-making
procedures:
- Legislative instruments - European
laws and framework laws
- Non-legislative instruments - European
regulations and decisions
- Non-mandatory instruments - opinions
and recommendations
The Constitution also provides for
general use of the codecision procedure, which would
become the ordinary legislative procedure for adopting
European laws and framework laws.
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High
Representative for the CFSP (Mr/Ms CFSP)
A new position of High Representative
for the common foreign and security policy (CFSP)
was created by the Treaty of Amsterdam (adopted in
1997). The post is held by the Secretary-General of
the Council, whose task is to assist the presidency
of the Union in matters relating to the common foreign
and security policy. The holder of the post is also
known as "Mr/Ms CFSP". The High Representative aims
to allow the Union to express itself with greater
visibility and coherence on the international stage
by giving it a more recognisable face and voice.
The High Representative also helps
in formulating, preparing and implementing policy
decisions by the Council. He or she may conduct political
dialogue with third parties, on the Council's behalf
and at the request of the Presidency.
Responsibility for running the Council's
General Secretariat rests with the Deputy Secretary-General.
The European Constitution, now being
ratified, provides for the High Representative to
be replaced by a minister for foreign affairs. This
post merges the duties of the High Representative
for the CFSP and the Commissioner for External Relations.
The holder will be both a Commission vice-president
and the Council's appointed representative for the
CFSP.
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Human
rights
The case law of the Court of Justice
of the European Union recognises the principles laid
down in the Council of Europe's Convention on Human
Rights (ECHR), signed at Rome on 4 November 1950.
The Constitution currently being ratified
provides that the European Union will have legal personality,
which will enable it to accede to the ECHR.
This respect for human rights was
confirmed by the Member States in the preamble to
the 1986 Single Act and later incorporated into Article
6 of the EU Treaty, which is based on the ECHR and
the shared constitutional traditions of the Member
States.
The guarantee of respect for fundamental
rights has been further strengthened by the Treaty
of Amsterdam, which has extended the jurisdiction
of the Court of Justice to cover respect for the rights
deriving from Article 6 with regard to action by the
Union institutions. At the same time, a new suspension
clause lays down what action is to be taken in cases
where a Member State seriously and persistently breaches
the principles on which the Union is founded.
The European Constitution currently
being ratified incorporates the Charter of Fundamental
Rights proclaimed at the Nice European Council in
December 2000. The Union will thus have a legally
mandatory catalogue of fundamental rights. The Charter
contains additional rights not secured by the ECHR,
in particular social rights for workers, data protection,
bio-ethics and the right to sound administration.
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Humanitarian
aid
The European Union as a whole (the
Commission and the Member States) is currently one
of the largest donors of humanitarian aid in the world.
The humanitarian aid dimension of
the European Union's external action has become very
important in recent years owing to the increase in
the number of crises throughout the world and the
Union's willingness to take on a leading role in international
humanitarian efforts.
Therefore, in 1992, the European Commission's
Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) was established. ECHO's
mandate is to provide emergency assistance and relief
(in the form of goods and services) to victims of
natural or man-made disasters or conflicts outside
the Union. This aid is based on the principles of
non-discrimination, impartiality and humanity. It
is distributed by ECHO's partners, namely non-governmental
organisations, humanitarian agencies of the United
Nations and other international organisations.
The Constitution, now being ratified,
includes a section on humanitarian aid, which thereby
acquires a specific legal basis. The issue's importance
is further underlined by the planned creation of a
European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, which is
aimed at providing a framework for joint contributions
by young Europeans in this area.
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