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EU competence meaning

Published by a LexisNexis EU Law expert
What does EU competence mean?
EU competence describes the policy areas in which the European Union may legislate or take binding action, and the extent of that power. It is conferred by the member States in the EU Treaties (principle of conferral: Article 5 TEU) and categorised in the TFEU (Articles 2–6) as: exclusive competences (only the EU may act, such as the customs union), shared competences (the EU and Member States may act, but EU action can pre-empt national measures), and supporting, coordinating or supplementing competences (the EU may act without harmonising national law). The exercise of competence is limited by subsidiarity and proportionality, and its boundaries are developed in Court of Justice case law. In practice, the concept is used to assess the validity of EU legislative acts, allocate regulatory responsibility between the EU and Member States, and determine pre-emption of domestic law. In Ireland, EU competence determines whether the EU or the Oireachtas may legislate in a field. In England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, post-Brexit it informs interpretation of retained EU law and, under the Windsor Framework, remains directly relevant to EU rules that apply in Northern Ireland on goods and related areas. Usage is broadly consistent across these jurisdictions.
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CHECKLISTS
2014–2016 UK Corporate Governance Code comparison: archived checklist of audit committee competence, external audit tendering and reporting changes reflecting EU audit reforms

ARCHIVED: This archived checklist outlines the ways in which the 2016 iteration of the UK Corporate Governance Code varied from the 2014 UK Corporate Governance Code. It is not updated and is supplied for background purposes only. Checklist—2014 UKCG Code and 2016 UKCG Code compared In April 2016, the Financial Reporting Council issued a fresh edition of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the 2016 UKCG Code) to incorporate changes arising from Regulation (EU) 537/2014 (EU Audit Regulation), Directive 2014/56/EU (Statutory Audit Amending Directive) and the Statutory Audit Services for Large Companies Market Investigation (Mandatory Use of Competitive Tender Processes and Audit Committee Responsibilities) Order 2014 (Statutory Audit Services Order). The 2016 UKCG Code applied to companies with accounting periods starting on or after 17 June 2016. This table sets out how the 2016 UKCG Code diverged from the text issued in 2014 (the 2014 UKCG Code); differences are shown using italics (inserted wording) and square brackets (removals): Provision 2014 UKCG Code 2016 UKCG Code Preface Language specific to...

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NEWS
UPC long-arm jurisdiction tested: Düsseldorf Local Division asserts power over UK patent acts in Fujifilm v Kodak, raising strategic implications for enforcing European patents in non-UPC EPC states

Fujifilm Corporation v Kodak Holding GmbH and others, UPC_CFI_355/2023 Case background Fujifilm Corporation has brought proceedings against a number of Kodak entities, alleging breaches of multiple European patents covering offset printing technology. Two suits were commenced in the UPC’s Mannheim Local Division, and a further action (ACT_578607/2023; UPC_CFI_355/2023) was lodged with the Düsseldorf Local Division concerning the purported infringement of EP3594009. In that latter matter, Kodak responded with a counterclaim seeking revocation. At the time, the European patent was effective in Germany and the UK, and all litigants were domiciled in Germany, a UPC contracting member state. Decision of the Düsseldorf Local Division Ruling on the dispute, the Düsseldorf Local Division held the European patent invalid under the European Patent Convention (EPC), after refusing Fujifilm’s proposed amendments. It acknowledged it lacked competence to set aside the UK part of the patent—so that portion remains in force—whereas the German part of the patent was revoked...

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NEWS
UK and EU financial services regulatory update: FCA expansion, PRA plan, enforcement, MiFID/MiCA, ESG delays, fund liquidity tools, PISCES sandbox, T+1, digital pound—17 April 2025

In this issue: UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Authorisation, approval and supervision Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Consumer protection Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of capital markets Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Dispute resolution for financial services lawyers Regulation of derivatives Sustainable finance and ESG Investment funds and asset management UK MiFID II EU MiFID II Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Regulation of AI in FS LexTalk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts Intraday news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Latest Q&As No Weekly Highlights on 24 April 2025 UK, EU and international regulators and bodies FCA announces first international presence in US and Asia-Pacific regions The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled its...

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NEWS
EU law weekly round-up: Commission infringement actions; competition damages; FSR wind probe; GDPR Brazil adequacy; Visa Strategy; MiCA; carbon removals—5 February 2026

In this issue: EU fundamentals Competition and state aid Corporate Data protection and cybersecurity Free movement, immigration and employment Financial services Environment Insurance and reinsurance IP Life sciences International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers EU fundamentals European Commission releases January 2026 infringement package The European Commission has unveiled the January 2026 infringement package, identifying the Member States it is proceeding against for shortcomings in meeting obligations under EU law. This round features letters of formal notice to several Member States for not notifying complete transposition measures for multiple directives, including on financial services contracts concluded at a distance—Directive (EU) 2023/2673, on credit agreements for consumers—Directive (EU) 2023/2225, and on crypto‑asset tax transparency—Directive (EU) 2023/2226. It also covers failures to communicate national implementing measures for Directive (EU) 2023/2123, which aligns exchanges of information on terrorist offences with data protection rules, among other concerns. The...

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PRACTICE NOTES
West Tankers: practical impact under Brussels I (recast)—no court anti-suit injunctions; tribunals’ power to award damages for breach of arbitration agreements; recognition of anti-suit awards

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and not kept up to date. Practical implications of West Tankers In short, the current position arising from the West Tankers saga (so far) is: Any EU Member State court seised of proceedings must rule on its own jurisdiction to determine the dispute. Under Brussels I and Brussels I (recast), courts of another Member State cannot remove that competence from it. An arbitral tribunal has jurisdiction to award damages for breach of an obligation to arbitrate. Where jurisdiction is disputed (as it often is), consider advising clients to obtain a standalone final award addressing jurisdiction at the outset, and then seek to have it recognised and enforced by the court (the application would be made under the procedure set out in CPR 62). This should prevent a conflicting court judgment taking precedence, on the basis of issue estoppel. Thereafter, the parties can proceed to the liability and quantum issues within the arbitration. West Tankers—the...

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PRACTICE NOTES
UK Listing Rules reform 2024: commercial companies, shell and international secondary listings; categories, eligibility, significant and related-party transactions, sponsor regime and transitional mapping

This fundamentals note reviews the wide-ranging overhaul of the UK listing regime that came into force on 29 July 2024. It also outlines the core provisions affecting companies seeking, or already holding, a listing as described in the UK Listing Rules sourcebook, including: Equity shares (commercial companies) International commercial companies secondary listing Shell companies Transition category What is the background to the UK listing regime reforms? Post-Brexit, with scope to depart from EU capital markets rules, the government announced an independent review of the UK listing regime in November 2020. Led by Lord Hill, a former EU financial services commissioner, the review aimed to make the UK more attractive for IPOs and improve capital raising on UK markets. The UK Listing Review Report, released in March 2021, set out a series of recommendations for both the government and the FCA. It noted a decline in London IPO activity in recent years—between 2015 and 2020 London accounted for just 5% of...

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PRACTICE NOTES
EU GDPR in the UK (2018–2020): archived article-by-article navigator mapping to DPA 2018, ICO and EDPB guidance

ARCHIVED: This retired Practice Note outlines details about the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the GDPR), as it operated in the UK before 11 pm on 31 December 2020. From that point, it is retained strictly for background purposes only and is no longer updated or maintained. For advice on the amendments to UK data protection law introduced by the replacement UK GDPR from that date, consult Practice Notes: The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)—Navigator and Brexit—implications for data protection [Archived]. Brexit On 31 January 2020, the UK left the EU and entered an implementation period up to 11 pm on 31 December 2020, during which it remained bound by EU law for the entire duration of that period. Throughout that time, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the GDPR), continued to apply in the UK, and the UK was broadly regarded as an EU (and EEA) state for EEA and UK...

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