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Publishers Abstract:
Minimum harmonisation occurs where Community legislation lays down a 'floor' of common rules leaving Member states free to retain or introduce measures that result in more stringent standards; this freedom extends up to the 'the ceiling' made up by the provisions of the Treaty. The difference between implementation of the 'floor' and recourse to the upward-flexibility option lies in the fact that while the former is a manifestation of the legislative action that Member states undertake as 'agents of the Community', the latter is an expression of a power that national authorities retain in the context of their own regulatory policies. The analysis concluded that consistent interpretation applies to upwardly-flexible legislation, and that Community concepts bind national legislatures in exercising the discretion flowing from a minimum harmonisation clause. It has also confirmed that the absorption of measures implementing the minimum standards of a directive into non-severable stricter national legislation causes the latter to become automatically reviewable under Community law.
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