Page 212 - Секретаријат за законодавство

Atomic Energy Community and European Economic Community) has
been called the law of the European Communities.

Following the adoption of the Treaty of Maastricht the legislation ad-
opted under the Þrst pillar (the European Community) was referred to
as the Law of the European Community or EC Law in distinction to
the legislation adopted by inter-governmental cooperation within the
second and third pillar (Law of the European Union).
The structure of three pillars and the distinction between EC law and
EU law was abolished by the Lisbon Treaty which gave the European
Union a legal personality.

The Treaty of Lisbon is an international agreement which amends the
two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union.
The Lisbon Treaty was signed by the EU member states on 13 De-
cember 2007, and entered into force on 1 December 2009. It amends
the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty) and the Treaty
establishing the European Community which is now the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The EU legal personality
replaced that of the European Community and the European Union
became the legal successor of the European Community.

Today, after entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the terms Law of
the European Community and Acquis Communautaire ceased to exist
and the common term EU law or Law of the European Union or EU
Acquis or just Acquis is used.

This difference is very easily noticed in the title of each legally bind-
ing act adopted on the EU level. Before November 1993 the legal acts
have numerical mark ending with the acronym - EEC (European Eco-
nomic Community). Since Maastricht Treaty entered into force until
the Lisbon Treaty entered in to force in December 2009, the acronym
EC was used (the European Community). Following the Lisbon Trea-
ty, now the acronym used is EU. 1

1 E.g. Council Directive 86/653/EEC of 18 December 1986 on the coordination of
the laws of the Member States relating to self-employed commercial agents; Direc-
tive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying
down a procedure for the provision of information in the Þeld of technical standards
and regulations; Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Coun-
cil of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings;

7