... State action, what the areas are in which it shares competence with the Member States, nor whether there are areas in which it simply lacks competence. It was evidently decided - in particular leading up to the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, since this was one of the possibilities mooted during the preceding Intergovernmental Conference - not to attempt to include an express list of competences in the EC Treaty' (Gráinne de Búrca, Reappraising Subsidiarity's Significance after Amsterdam, Harvard Jean Monnet Working Paper 7/99,) The principle of subsidiarity of defined by article 5 (ex Article 3b) of the EC Treaty. Art. 5 EC defines the use of subsidiarity, but the meaning of the word itself is unclear. Subsidiarity only applies to areas outside the exclusive competence of the EC. The first Paragraph of Article 5 EC, states that the Community must act within the limits of its powers, whilst ...

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