rapporteur's recommendations are transferred to a Commissaire du gouvernement, who also makes his own recommendations to the judges. Written evidence is relied upon and oral hearings are extremely short. After the hearing, judges deliberate and issue their judgement, in which they will briefly respond to parties' arguments. Standing requirements in French administrative law are relatively lax. Although merely being a taxpayer is insufficient, those affected in a "special, certain and direct" manner (including moral interests) will have standing. In addition, users of public service can generally challenge decisions on those services. Associations can also have standing in some circumstances. European Union Law The French Constitution specifically authorizes France's participation in the European Union (EU), an economic and political union with many legal powers. The Constitution has also been amended, as required by the Constitutional Council, to allow EU citizens to participate in municipal elections and the monetary union. EU treaties and EU law enacted under the treaties are considered international treaties, and the Constitution gives them superior status compared to domestic legislation. Ordinary civil and administrative courts, not the Constitutional Council, determine the compatibility of French law with EU law. French courts consider the French Constitution itself to be superior to international treaties, including EU treaties and EU law. This is in contrast to EU institutions, which sees EU law as superior to the laws of member states. However, the Constitutional Council would only examine statutes implementing EU directives where it was manifestly contrary to French constitutional principles. The European Union adopts laws on the basis of EU treaties. The Treaties establish the EU's institutions, list their powers and responsibilities, and explain the areas in which the EU can legislate with Directives or Regulations. European Union laws are a body of rules which are transposed either automatically (in the case of a regulation) or by national legislation (in the case of a directive) into French domestic law, whether in civil, criminal, administrative or constitutional law. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the main judicial body of EU laws. The EU's view is that if EU law conflicts with a provision of national law, then EU law has primacy; the view has been gradually accepted by French courts. Judicial institutions French judicial system French courts go by a number of names, including , tribunal, and cour. The Constitutional Council and Council of State are nominally councils but