MATTHEWS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT 5 13. Relevant EC legislation becomes part of Gibraltar law in the same way as in other parts of the Union: regulations are directly applicable, and directives and other legal acts of the EC which call for domestic legislation are transposed by domestic primary or secondary legislation. 14. Although Gibraltar is not part of the United Kingdom in domestic terms, by virtue of a declaration made by the United Kingdom government at the time of the entry into force of the British Nationality Act 1981, the term “nationals” and derivatives used in the EC Treaty are to be understood as referring, inter alia, to British citizens and to British Dependent Territories citizens who acquire their citizenship from a connection with Gibraltar. C. The European Community and the European Parliament 15. The powers of the European Community are divided amongst the institutions set up by the EC Treaty, including the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission (“the European Commission”) and the Court of Justice. 16. Before 1 November 1993, the date of the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union of 7 February 1992 (“the Maastricht Treaty”), Article 137 of the EEC Treaty referred to the “advisory and supervisory powers” of the European Parliament. Since 1 November 1993, the words “advisory and supervisory powers” have been removed and the role of the European Parliament has been expressed by Article 137 to be to “exercise the powers conferred upon it by [the] Treaty”. The principal powers of the European Parliament under the EC Treaty may now be summarised as follows: Article 138b provides that the European Parliament shall “participate in the process leading up to the adoption of Community acts by exercising its powers under the procedures laid down in Articles 189b and 189c and by giving its assent or delivering advisory opinions”. Further, the second paragraph of Article 138b empowers the European Parliament to request the European Commission to submit any appropriate proposal on matters on which it considers that a Community act is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaty. The reference in the first paragraph of Article 138b to “assent” refers to a procedure whereby the EC Treaty (for example, in Articles 8a(2) and 130d) provides for adoption of provisions by the Council on a proposal from the European Commission and after obtaining the assent of the European Parliament. The procedure is called the “assent procedure”.