The European Court of Justice as an Actor of European Integration
The European Court of Justice as an actor of European Integration
Context
The European Court of Justice is the institution of the European Union which encompasses the whole judiciary. It is seated in Luxembourg and is was established in 1952 as the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Communities for the interpretation of the Treaty of Rome. Indeed, its main function is to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties. Since its establishment, the Court has extended its power and its importance thereby promoting the integration process of the European Community from every side. The Court’s case law proves its extensive interpretation of the Treaty of Rome, thus creating two of the most important legal principles of the Community: the principle of direct effect and the principle of supremacy. Without this two instruments the integration of the Community would not be as developed as it is today. My intention in this essay is to analyze the progressive steps of the influential work of the Court and the consequences of it as part of the current process of integration among member states. This paper will try to describe the Court’s structure as well as its role and aim as an actor within the Community; it will also delineate the concepts of integration and integration through law in an European Context. Finally, the most important decisions of the Court will be examined as what they have done for the integration project of the European Community. In writing this essay I used mostly the material that I found available in the library of the University of Lapland and which I searched myself. Since I am an exchange student, I read the books in english language, which I mentioned in the reference at the end of this paper. I found in this material a lot of informations I needed to deepen this topic of which I have already learned during the the course of European Law kept by professor Kiikeri Markku. I also searched for
Context
The European Court of Justice is the institution of the European Union which encompasses the whole judiciary. It is seated in Luxembourg and is was established in 1952 as the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Communities for the interpretation of the Treaty of Rome. Indeed, its main function is to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties. Since its establishment, the Court has extended its power and its importance thereby promoting the integration process of the European Community from every side. The Court’s case law proves its extensive interpretation of the Treaty of Rome, thus creating two of the most important legal principles of the Community: the principle of direct effect and the principle of supremacy. Without this two instruments the integration of the Community would not be as developed as it is today. My intention in this essay is to analyze the progressive steps of the influential work of the Court and the consequences of it as part of the current process of integration among member states. This paper will try to describe the Court’s structure as well as its role and aim as an actor within the Community; it will also delineate the concepts of integration and integration through law in an European Context. Finally, the most important decisions of the Court will be examined as what they have done for the integration project of the European Community. In writing this essay I used mostly the material that I found available in the library of the University of Lapland and which I searched myself. Since I am an exchange student, I read the books in english language, which I mentioned in the reference at the end of this paper. I found in this material a lot of informations I needed to deepen this topic of which I have already learned during the the course of European Law kept by professor Kiikeri Markku. I also searched for
References: Arnull, A. 2006. The European Union and its Court of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press Bomberg, E., Peterson, J., Stubb, A., 2008. The European Union: How does it work? Oxford: Oxford University Press de Búrca, G & Weiler, J.H.H. 2001. The European Court of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press Dehousse, R. 1998. The European Court of Justice. St. Martin ́s Press Inc: New York Josselin, J-M & Marciano, A. How the Court made a federation out of EU, 2006: Springer Science + Business Media: http://chomikuj.pl/labero/Unia+nigdy+ci*c4*99+nie+zdradzi/How+the+court+made+a+federation+of+the+EU,415906493.pdf Stone Sweet, A. 2004. The Judicial Construction of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press Stone Sweet, A., Sandholtz, W., Fligstein, N., 2001. The Institutionalization of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press Vauchez, A. 2008. Intergration- through- law: Contribution to a Socio- history of EU Commonsense. Florence: EUI Working Paper RSCAS 2008/10: http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/8307/RSCAS_2008_10.pdf?sequence=1 Wiener, A & Diez, T., 2004. European Integration Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press EURLex case 41-74 Van Duyn v. Home Office: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServdo?uri=CELEX:61974J0041:EN:HTML EURLex case 26-62. NV Algemene Transport – en Expeditie Onderneming Van Gend & Loos v Netherlands Inland Revenue Administration: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61962J0026:EN:HTML EURLex case 6-64. Flaminio Costa v E.N.E.L.: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:61964J0006:EN:HTML 13