Therefore, there is no legal problem as regards the principle of conferral.

The limits of Union competences are governed by the principle of conferral.

The principle of conferral is a fundamental principle of European Union law.

Article 5 sets out the principles of conferral, subsidiarity and proportionality with respect to the limits of its powers.

The Treaty on European Union describes this Principle of conferral as follows:

The institutions, in accordance with the so-called 'principle of conferral of competences', can only exercise those competences which have been effectively, clearly and expressly assigned to them by the Treaties.

Under the terms of the principle of conferral, acts must have a legal basis in the EC Treaty corresponding to the field in which the Community authorities wish to take action.

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.

The TCE would have specified that the EU is a union of member states, and that all its competences (areas of responsibility) are voluntarily conferred on it by its member states according to the principle of conferral.

MONITORING AND FLEXIBILITY Article I-11 states that the exercise of the Union's competences is governed not only by the principle of conferral but also by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

A link to a legal base is also necessary to define the source of the EU's power to act, and this is consistent with the principle of conferral.