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- They must contain explicit obligation for a Member State; and
- They must be unconditional or the condition must be satisÞed.

Where a directive cannot be directly applicable and as a result a provision
of a national legal act applies, that provision is to be interpreted “in spirit
of the directive” (doctrine of loyal interpretation).

Accordingly, in addition to the principle of direct effect of regulations,
directives and decisions, the principle of indirect effect is established by
the development of the EU law with the European Court of Justice rulings.
The principle of indirect effect is a principle of the EU law also known
as principle of consistent interpretation. Implementation of the EU law is
not supported only by the European Court of Justice and administrative
bodies that ensure direct effect, supremacy, or precedence to this law over
national laws of the Member States. Namely, it is necessary that above re-
quirements are fulÞlled so that directives can have direct effect. However,
if those requirements are not satisÞed, it is established that national courts
of the Member States have an obligation to interpret national law in the
light of the Community law) with the intention that those legal acts have
certain effect (case 14/83 Von Colson, 1984). As a result, this principle is
called principle of consistent interpretation or indirect effect of the EU law.
This principle, in fact, opens the possibility to observe the “prohibition” of
horizontal direct effect as well as to confer effect to the provisions that are
not sufÞciently precise and conditional to have direct effect.

4. THE PRINCIPLES OF CONFERRAL, SUBSIDIARITY AND
PROPORTIONALITY

The Article 5 of the Treaty of the European Union prescribes the limits of
the EU competences which are governed by three main principles: princi-
ple of conferral, principle of subsidiarity and principle of proportionality.

Under the principle of conferral, the Union shall act only within the limits
of the competences conferred upon it by the Member States in the Treaties
to attain the objectives set out therein. Competences not conferred upon
the Union in the Treaties remain with the Member States. The division of
competence, as explained before, has been clearly prescribed in the TFEU.
Under the principle of subsidiarity, the EU can act only if and in so far as
the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufÞciently achieved by

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