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The recent judgment of the Court of Justice CJEU) in the so-called Achmea case[1], has given rise to a lot of comments. Now we also dispose of the reaction of the Netherlands government to the case, which can be characterized as quite radical: in the end, all intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs) should be terminated.… » read more
Posted by ACELG
March 14, 2018
After last week’s Achmea ruling of the Court of Justice (CJEU) Member States can no longer legally go ahead with ratifying CETA – the mixed Free Trade Agreement that the EU and its Member States agreed with Canada. Achmea casts serious doubts on the legality of CETA’s investment chapter, which allows investors from one Party… » read more
Posted by ACELG
October 3, 2017
The duty of solidarity between EU Member States Although the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) long ago characterised the deliberate refusal of a Member State to implement EU law as a ‘failure in the duty of solidarity’ that ‘strikes at the fundamental basis’ of the EU legal order (Case 39/72, para.… » read more
Posted by ACELG
June 13, 2017
In the long-awaited Opinion 2/15, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) declared that “the objective of sustainable development henceforth forms an integral part of the common commercial policy” (CCP) (para. 147). Next to the Court’s findings on other elements of the CCP or the state of EU legislation capable of enhancing the Union’s… » read more
Posted by ACELG
June 16, 2016
Current EU-Turkish relations are all but tranquil. Controversial issues like the ‘refugee deal’, the visa waiver roadmap and the promise of revitalized accession negotiations continue to be front page news. Not surprisingly, they eclipse developments in the EU-Turkey Association, the institutionalized international regime established as long ago as 1963 that is intended to foster cooperation… » read more
Posted by ACELG
On 5 April 2016 the CJEU delivered its judgment in Joined Cases Aranyosi and Căldăraru, which brings much needed developments in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ), more specifically the interplay between the principles of mutual trust and recognition, on the one hand, and the protection of fundamental rights, on the other. Advocate… » read more
Posted by ACELG
May 9, 2016
On 4 May the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has rendered three important judgments in the field of tobacco control, each confirming the validity of the EU Tobacco Products Directive. This blog discusses the findings in one of these judgments, (Case C-477/14 Pillbox 38 v The Secretary of State for Health) concerning the newly introduced… » read more
Posted by ACELG
April 22, 2016
Yesterday, a challenge of conditionality did not find favour in the European Court. ‘Conditionality’ is another term for a ‘macro-economic adjustment programme’ that EU Member States have to accept when they receive financial assistance to face down financial stability threats. Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus have seen far-reaching policy prescription imposed upon them by (formally:… » read more
Posted by ACELG
February 26, 2016
Ever since the 2008 CJEU Decision in Metock ruling that non-EU migrants were allowed to live with an EU national in a host state also in cases where they had no prior lawful residence in a Member State, several Member States have expressed their concern about the presumed frequent use of free movement to regularize… » read more
Posted by ACELG
February 24, 2016
Regional entities are the foster children of EU law, even more so than individual persons. While the position of the latter has improved over time, and the CJEU is clearly interested in bringing them within the ambit of EU law, regions are still damned to a will-o’-wisp existence on the plane of EU law –… » read more
Posted by ACELG
November 27, 2015
Recent legal development, involving opinion 2/13 on the accession of the EU to the ECHR, have put the relation between the EU and its Member States’ legal systems centre stage again. As important as the discussions around human rights are, there are many more, smaller pieces to this puzzle. Indeed, it is time we learn… » read more
Posted by ACELG
On 6 November 2015 Judge and Professor Sacha Prechal from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a presentation on the concept of ‘mutual trust’ before the CJEU at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. According to her the biggest challenge for the principle of mutual trust lies in providing limitations to it without upsetting… » read more
Posted by ACELG
October 27, 2015
By Tomi Tuominen The European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered its judgment in the much followed case Gauweiler in last June, where it found the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Outright Monetary Transactions programme (OMT) to be legal in light of the Treaties and the Statute of the ECB. Although the outcome of the case and… » read more
Posted by ACELG
September 24, 2015
A little while ago, the judgement in case C-355/10 (Schengen Borders Code (SBC)) received much attention. In this judgement the Court appeared to find an act’s interference with human rights to be an objective factor determining whether it regulated ‘essential elements’ – something that non-legislative acts must not do under Union law. Last week’s judgement… » read more
Posted by ACELG
July 24, 2015
By Eljalill Tauschinsky On July 6, Austria has gone to Court over EU funding for a nuclear power plant in Britain. According to the Austrian public media, Austria argues that nuclear power is a bad policy choice, inherently unsafe and not future-worthy. The case argued before the Court will likely be… » read more
