Direct effect is the principle that Union law may, if appropriately framed, confer rights on individuals which the courts of member states of the European Union are bound to recognise and enforce.
While the supremacy is an European Union law principle of when there is conflict between European law and domestic law of member states, European law prevails; the norms of national law have to be set aside.
The supremacy of EU law arose after conflicts on national law and EU law. This was a constitutional problem of some magnitude for member states. The original treaty of Rome has always been silent on which law in case of conflict should prevail. In the early days this was a diplomatic omission; it was though not necessary to make the matter explicit, since the extent to which union law might be directly effective …show more content…
On the contrary there are some exceptions to which directives can have direct effect. The case of Van Duyn v Home office the direct effect of a directive was established beyond doubt. CJ held that Mrs Van Duyn was entitled to invoke the directive directly before her national court. It suggested that even if the provision in question was not clear, the matter could be referred to CJ for interpretation under article 267 TFEU. This basically means that directives and decisions may have direct effect depending on the criteria of direct effect. The case of Grad although the directive was not unconditional in that it required action to be taken by state, and gave time limit for implementation, once that limit expired the obligation became