Abstract
As is well-known, the principal focus of the European Communities, as established in the 1950s, was on matters relating to trade and commerce, including the gradual creation of a common market. It was nevertheless from the start considered important to establish a judicial system, based on a Court of Justice in Luxembourg and drawing upon the possibility of national courts in the then six Member States to request preliminary rulings from the Luxembourg Court. It was, and is, the task of the Court of Justice to ensure that in the interpretation and application of the Treaties, “the law is observed” (Art. 31 of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community of 1951 and Art. 164 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community of 1957).
Prof. Dr. Emeritus, Dr.h.c. mult. Allan Rosas, Ph.D. h.c. University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University; Visiting Professor, College of Europe and University of Helsinki; Chair of the EU Article 255 TFEU Panel; Chair of the Independent Ethical Committee of the European Commission.
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Notes
- 1.
European Court of Justice, 29/69, ECLI:EU:C:1969:57, judgment, 12.11.1969 – Stauder.
- 2.
European Court of Justice, 294/83, ECLI:EU:C:1986:166, judgment, 23.04.1986, para. 23 – Parti écologistes “Les Verts”/Parliament.
- 3.
European Court of Justice, C-157/21, ECLI:EU:C:98, judgment, 16.02.2022, para. 264 – Poland/Parliament and Council. See also C-156/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:97, judgment, 16.02.2022 – Hungary/Parliament and Council.
- 4.
See, for instance, Rosas (2019), p. 1312.
- 5.
European Court of Justice, C-157/21, ECLI:EU:C:98, judgment, 16.02.2022, para. 266 – Poland/Parliament and Council.
- 6.
- 7.
Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 2020/2092 concerns a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the EU budget.
- 8.
Rosas (2019), p. 1312.
- 9.
See, for instance, UN General Assembly A/RES/61/39 The Rule of Law at the National and International Level, second preambular; see also Arajärvi (2021).
- 10.
On the concept of constitutional democracy see Garben et al. (2019).
- 11.
See, in particular, Israel (2014), passim.
- 12.
Rosas (2023).
- 13.
Williams (2021).
- 14.
European Court of Justice, C-791/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:592, judgment, 15.07.2021, para. 56 – Commission/Poland.
- 15.
European Court of Justice, 1/09, ECLI:EU:C:2011:123, Opinion, 8.03.2021, para. 69 – Draft agreement on the creation of a unified patent litigation system.
- 16.
Rosas (2012).
- 17.
European Court of Justice, C-157/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:98, judgment, 16.02.2022, para. 150 – Poland/Parliament and Council.
- 18.
European Court of Justice, C-64/16, ECLI:EU:C:2018:117, judgment, 27.02.2018 – Associaçāo Sindical dos Juízes Portugueses.
- 19.
European Court of Justice, C-157/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:98, judgment, 16.02.2022, para. 198 – Poland/Parliament and Council.
- 20.
European Court of Justice, C-824/18, ECLI:EU:C:2021:153, judgment, 02.03.2021, para. 108 – A.B. and Others.
- 21.
European Court of Justice, C-83/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:393, para. 190 – Asociatia ‘Forumul Judecātorilor.
- 22.
European Court of Justice, C-896/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:311, judgment, 20.04.2021, para. 45 – Repubblika.
- 23.
ECtHR, Reczkowicz v. Poland, Appl. No. 43447/19, judgment, 22.07.2021.
- 24.
European Court of Justice, C-487/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:798, judgment, 6.10.2021, para. 109 – W.Z.
- 25.
European Court of Justice, C-83/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:393, judgment, 18.05.2021, para. 197 – Asociatia ‘Forumul Judecātorilor.
- 26.
European Court of Justice, C-896/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:311, judgment, 20.04.2021 – Repubblika.
- 27.
The Panel is composed of seven members, being judges or former judges of national supreme or similar courts and former members of the European Court of Justice and the General Court. One member is proposed by the European Parliament. The present author is President of the 255 Panel. For candidates who have not earlier been screened by the Panel, its opinion is based not only on written documentation but also an oral hearing with the candidate. See, for instance, the 7th Activity Report of the Panel provided for by Article 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, adopted on 25.02.2022, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
- 28.
European Court of Justice, C-83/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:393, judgment, 18.05.2021 – Asociatia ‘Forumul Judecātorilor.
- 29.
According to Art. 267 para. 1 TFEU, the European Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning: (a) the interpretation of the Treaties; (b) the validity and interpretation of acts of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union. Questions of application rather than interpretation are in principle for the national courts to decide, see, for instance, Rosas and Armati (2018), pp. 282–283.
- 30.
European Court of Justice, C-192/18, ECLI:C:2019:924, judgment, 5.11.2019 – Commission/Poland; European Court of Justice, C-619/18, ECLI:EU:C:219:531, judgment, 24.06.2019 – Commission/Poland.
- 31.
European Court of Justice, C-585/18, C-624/18 and C-625/18, ECLI:EU:2019:982, judgment, 19.11.2019 – A.K. and Others; European Court of Justice, C-558/18 and C-563/18, ECLI:EU:2020:234, judgment, 26.03.2020 – Miasto Lowicz and Others (request for preliminary ruling declared inadmissible); European Court of Justice, C-791/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:596, judgment 15.07.2021 – Commission/Poland.
- 32.
European Court of Justice, C-204/21 R, ECLI:EU:C:593, Order, 14.07.2021 – Commission/Poland; European Court of Justice, C-204/21 R, ECLI:EU:C:2021:834, Order, 06.10.2021 – Commission/Poland; European Court of Justice, C-204/21 R, ECLI:C:2021:878, Order, 27.10.2021 – Commission/Poland.
- 33.
There is already an abundance of literature on the disagreements between the Polish Government, on the one hand, and the European Commission, European Parliament and most other Member States, on the other. Apart from the literature relating to the rule of law crisis listed in note 6 above, see, for instance, Pech (2021).
- 34.
Helsinki Rule of Law Forum, A Declaration on the Rule of Law in the European Union. https://verfassungsblog.de/a-declaration-on-the-rule-of-law-in-the-european-union/, accessed 16.11.2022.
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Rosas, A. (2023). The Rule of Law and Judicial Independence: Recent EU Developments and Case Law of the European Court of Justice. In: Donath, P.B., Heger, A., Malkmus, M., Bayrak, O. (eds) Der Schutz des Individuums durch das Recht. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66978-5_60
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