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Banking supervision glossary

Union law

The founding Treaties of the European Union (primary legislation) and the provisions of instruments enacted by the Union institutions by virtue of them (secondary legislation). In a broader sense, Union law encompasses all the rules of the Union legal order, including general principles of law, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, law flowing from the Union's external relations and supplementary law contained in conventions and similar agreements concluded between the Member States to give effect to Treaty provisions. All these rules of law form part of what is known as the acquis communautaire.