The upcoming reform of the judicial system of the European Union

Abstract

The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has requested a modification of its Statute to address the challenges arising from an increasing workload. The aim is to redefine the competence of the EU courts in order to enable them to continue to fulfill, within a reasonable time, the mission assigned to them by the drafters of the Treaties in Article 19(1) of the EU Treaty. (“TEU”), namely, ensuring that “the law is respected in the interpretation and application of the Treaties.” The reform specifically provides for a partial transfer of interpretative powers to the General Court (“TG”), combined with the power of the CJEU to deal with matters of particular relevance. Furthermore, the possibility of bringing an appeal to the CJEU will be limited if the appeal boards of the EU agencies have already carried out a legal review in the first instance. A number of safeguards will avoid a situation where the sharing of the workload between two different courts could have a negative effect on the uniformity and consistency of case law.