European Union Law

Citation

Schütze, R. (2025). European Union Law (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Chapter Summary

The contents list twenty-one numbered entries: nineteen chapters in three parts, an epilogue on Brexit and an appendix on how to study EU law. The text runs to about 980 pages before the index. The publisher describes a distinctive three-part structure that examines the Union's constitutional foundations, its legal powers and its substantive law, written in an engaging style, with numerous diagrams and tables to clarify concepts and processes. Only chapter titles and page starts for the parts are available, so the summaries below describe scope from the titles.

Part 1, Constitutional Foundations (Chapters 1–6; pp. 1–238)

The first part, of about 240 pages, covers the Union as a constitutional order. Chapter 1, "Constitutional History: From Paris to Lisbon", traces the Treaties. Chapter 2, "Constitutional Nature: A Federation of States", takes up what kind of entity the Union is. Chapters 3 and 4, "Governmental Structure: Union Institutions I" and "II", deal with the institutions. Chapters 5 and 6, "European Law I: Nature – Direct Effect" and "European Law II: Nature – Primacy/Pre-emption", examine how Union law operates in national legal orders.

Part 2, Governmental Powers (Chapters 7–12; pp. 239–522)

The second part, of about 280 pages, follows the Union's powers by function. Chapter 7 is "Legislative Powers: Competences and Procedures", Chapter 8 is "External Powers: Competences and Procedures" and Chapter 9 is "Executive Powers: Competences and Procedures". Chapters 10 and 11, "Judicial Powers I: (Centralised) European Procedures" and "Judicial Powers II: (Decentralised) National Procedures", cover the Court of Justice and national courts. Chapter 12, "Limiting Powers: EU Fundamental Rights", completes the part by considering limits on the Union's power.

Part 3, Substantive Policies (Chapters 13–19; pp. 523–924)

The third part, of about 400 pages, is the largest. It starts with the free movement of goods in two chapters, "Free Movement: Goods I – Negative Integration" and "Goods II – Positive Integration" (Chapters 13–14), followed by "Free Movement: Persons – Workers and Beyond" (Chapter 15) and "Free Movement: Services and Capital" (Chapter 16). Chapter 17, "EU Competition Law: Private Undertakings", deals with competition rules. Chapters 18 and 19, "EU Internal Policies: An Overview" and "EU External Policies: An Overview", give overviews of the Union's other policies.

Chapter 20 and the Appendix (pp. 925–980)

Chapter 20, "Epilogue: Brexit and The Union – Past, Present, Future" (about forty pages), looks at the United Kingdom's departure and the Union's prospects. Chapter 21, "Appendix: How to Study European Union Law" (about fifteen pages), is described by the publisher as a practical appendix that helps students find and read primary and secondary legal sources.

Key Concepts

Part 1: Constitutional Foundations

• Constitutional nature of the Union: the Union as a federation of states (Chapter 2).
• Union institutions: the governmental structure (Chapters 3 and 4).
• Direct effect: the first aspect of the nature of European law (Chapter 5).
• Primacy and pre-emption: the second aspect of its nature (Chapter 6).

Part 2: Governmental Powers

• Competences and procedures: how legislative, external and executive powers are allocated and exercised (Chapters 7–9).
• Centralised and decentralised judicial procedures: proceedings before the European courts and before national courts (Chapters 10 and 11).
• EU fundamental rights as limits on power: Chapter 12.

Part 3: Substantive Policies

• Negative and positive integration: the two approaches to the free movement of goods (Chapters 13 and 14).
• Free movement of persons, services and capital: Chapters 15 and 16.
• Competition law: the rules for private undertakings (Chapter 17).
• Brexit: the subject of the epilogue (Chapter 20).

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear architecture. The three parts answer three questions in turn: what kind of order the Union is, what powers it has and how they are used, and what its policies require.
• Powers organised by function. Treating legislative, external, executive and judicial powers in separate chapters is a distinctive way of presenting the Union's institutions and procedures.
• Visual and practical support. The publisher points to numerous diagrams and tables and to an appendix on finding and reading legal sources, which helps students who are new to reading Treaty articles and case law.
• Single-author coherence. Written by one author, a Professor of European and Comparative Law at Durham University and LUISS and a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the book can maintain one line of argument across its parts.

Limitations

• Length. The text runs to about 980 pages before the index, which is more than a single module is likely to need.
• Policy coverage by overview. Beyond goods, persons, services and capital and competition law, the contents list two overview chapters, one on internal and one on external policies, in place of separate chapters on other policy fields. Courses that study specific policy areas in depth may need other materials.
• Substantive law comes late. The internal-market chapters begin at page 523, after two long parts on the constitutional order and powers. Courses that open with the free movement of goods will need to jump ahead, and students reading in order must carry a large body of institutional law before reaching the substantive law.

Where It Fits in the Course

Schütze is the single-author counterpart to Barnard and Peers's edited European Union Law. It organises the material by constitutional foundations, powers and policies, whereas Barnard and Peers is arranged by topic and has separate chapters on specialised policy areas such as health law, consumer law and criminal law. Foster's EU Law Directions is the introductory option for students meeting the subject for the first time, and Horspool, Humphreys and Wells-Greco's European Union Law is a concise Core Text.

Craig and de Búrca's EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials adds extracts of judgments and scholarship. Lenaerts and Van Nuffel's European Union Constitutional Law is a systematic treatise on the Union's constitutional and institutional law, and covers ground that overlaps with Schütze's first two parts.

How to Use This Book

The publisher presents the book as a comprehensive and critical textbook and a thorough, modern guide to the study of European law. It will suit a student willing to read a long, argued text with its own structure.

A practical plan:

• Start with the appendix. Chapter 21, "How to Study European Union Law", is short, and shows how to find and read Treaty provisions, legislation, case law and commentary.
• Core: Part 1 on the constitutional foundations, especially Chapters 5 and 6 on direct effect and primacy, then Chapters 7 and 12 on legislative powers and fundamental rights. Courses that begin with the internal market can take Chapters 13 to 17 early.
• By syllabus: Chapters 8 to 11 on external powers, executive powers and the two judicial procedures, and Chapters 18 and 19 on the other policies, can be read as the course requires. The epilogue on Brexit can be left until last.
• Practice: use the diagrams and tables to review institutions and procedures, and read the Treaty and case references against the text.