In the negotiations for the Treaty on European Union,1 “subsidiarity” assumed central importance. This was the first time that the term was expressly incorporated with general effect into the Treaty.2 The principal provision3 is Article 3b, which reads:
The Community shall act within the limits of the powers conferred upon it by this Treaty and of the objectives assigned to it therein.
In areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Community shall take action, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, only4 if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community.
Any action by the Community shall not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives of this Treaty.