enforcing application of EU law Flashcards
what is an action for annulment
legal procedure brought before the Court of Justice to review the legality of acts adopted by the European institutions, bodies, offices or organisations
what kind of acts can action for annulment be brought against
- all legal acts regardless of form
- acts adopted by council, commission, central bank, parliament etc
what is excluded from action for annulment
review of opinions and recommendations
what are grounds of action for annulment
- lack of competence
- infringement of essential procedural requirements
- infringement of treaties
- misuse of power
what are the two lack of competences for action for annulment
- breach of principle of conferral
- overstepping into powers of another eu institution
preferential plaintiffs? why?
member States, the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council
- they may bring an action for annulment before the CJEU without having to demonstrate any interest in taking action.
non preferential plaintifs in action for annulment
individuals
- have to demonstrate interest in action
Codorniu v Council
had been using trade mark for long time – follows that had established interest in action
how much time to bring action for annulment
2 months
what happens if action for annulment is well founded
CJEU may annul the act in its entirety or certain provisions only. The annulled act or provisions shall therefore no longer have legal effect. Moreover, the institution, body, office or organisation which adopted the act is required to fill the resulting legal void in accordance with the judgment delivered by the CJEU
what is action for infringement
Commission may take legal action – an infringement procedure – against an EU country that fails to implement EU law
what happens in an action for infringement
Court of Justice, which in certain cases, can impose financial penalties
what is a preliminary ruling
decision of the European Court of Justice on the interpretation of European Union law, given in response to a request from a court
two types of preliminary ruling
interpretation, validity
binding effect of preliminary ruling
general finding force in EU. obliges to all states and judges in EU
- guarantees uniform application
discretionary preliminary ruling
Those judges who are not supreme court (their rulings may be revised by superior judge) have right to pose a preliminary ruling before the court of justice if they consider it a necessary step
- most judges can interpret EU law by themselves
compulsory preliminary ruling
where question is raised in the supreme court of member states, those which rulings are not susceptible to being revised by superior court, these courts have to pose preliminary ruling
most judges can interpret eu law by themselves, except…
court of justice recognized that national judges cannot by themselves decide that a norm by the EU is invalid
- judges of EU are authorized to recognize that a norm of EU is valid, but not the other side. CANNOT by themselves, without having asked the EU, decide that EU law is invalid
- power to conclude invalidity of EU law belongs exclusively to the court of justice
