The effect of the membership of the European community upon the national legal systems

Abstract

As Malta is bracing herself up for the membership of the European Community it seems timely to reflect upon the effects of the membership on the national legal systems. Politicians and economists face a challenge of this new venture in their own fields but lawyers, apart from the challenge, have to prepare themselves for a mighty shock to the national system. The waves of this shock will reverberate throughout the whole system for membership means more than a new political alignment or adjustments of economic policy or trade rules. It is so because the EC is a '' new legal order in International Law embracing not only the member states but also their citizens" (Case 26 / 62: Van Gcnd v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen (1963) ECR 1 at 29). It has been established by law and it is governed by law, hence the tendency towards a legalistic bureaucracy in the management of its affairs.