Benchmarking for a more balanced legislation: the example of copyright law

Abstract

In this paper Dr Ana Ramalho explores the legislative process in the European Union through the example of copyright law. The powers of the EU to enact legislation in a given area are dependent upon a competence norm that grants it legitimacy to act. This flows from the principle of conferral, enshrined in Article 5(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). In the field of copyright, law-making powers have been mostly derived from Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which ties law-making powers to the need to build an internal market. The trigger for EU action is the difference between EU Member States in many fundamental aspects of their copyright regimes (as, eg, the scope of the rights granted), which thus act as barriers to the cross-border trade of copyright goods and services. This justification for legislative intervention is often mentioned (and explained) in the legislative proposals drafted by the EU Commission.