18 October 2006 Michel Petite 1 The Legal Service of the European Commission

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 2 Human Resources Chart

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 3 The Legal Service: Caracteristics Internal and horizontal Service Directly under the President’s authority Mission is twofold: 1.Legal advise 2.Legal representative of the Commission

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 4 The Legal Service: Legal Advice –The LS gives its opinions on all draft proposals (about opinions in 2005). –A positive opinion is necessary for the adoption of a Commission decision. –The « College » may not take into account the LS opinion (political reasons). –A negative opinion will push the Directorates general to find a solution. –As a general rule, the legal advice is not made public.

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 5 The Legal Service: Functions 2.Legal representative of the Commission: The LS is the only entity authorized to represent the Commission before the Community Courts (Court of Justice, Court of First Instance, Civil Service Tribunal) and the national and international Courts (World Trade Organisation).

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 6 Community litigation before the Court of Justice the Court of First Instance and the Civil Service Tribunal

18 October 2006 Michel Petite new cases 468 before the Court of Justice, – 218 preliminary rulings – 66 appeals 447 before the Court of First Instance (70 cases transferred to the Civil Service Tribunal) 5 EFTA cases 1950 pending cases (average) Global number of cases in 2005

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 8 Community litigation New cases in 2005 by area 920 cases divided as :

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 9 Infringements of Community Law by Member States

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 10 The infringement “cascade” Pending at 31/12/2005 :3567 Among the alleged infringements registered (2653 new registrations in 2005) ~ 60 % letters of formal notices ~ 40 % reasoned opinion ~ 10 % referrals to the Court

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 11 Pending infringements at 31/12/2005 by Member State

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 12 Pending infringements at 31/12/2005 by area

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 13 Preliminary rulings

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 14 Preliminary rulings by Member State (1952 – 2005)

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 15 Preliminary rulings / Trends by area (1/1/ /12/2005) AGRICULTURESOCIAL POLICY TAXATIONFREE MOVEMENT OF SERVICES FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODSINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 16 Direct cases

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 17 Won / Lost – Global STATISTICS PRODUCED BY THE LS LITIGATION DATABASE: JUDGEMENT IN 2005/COMMISSION LITIGANT COURT OF JUSTICE =402 AFF., CFI = 128 AFF. COURT OF JUSTICECFI 83 % WON 7% LOST 4 % OTHER 6 % PARTIALLY WON 20 % LOST 74 % WON 6 % PARTIALLY WON

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 18 Litigation WTO (Dispute Settlement)  Pending cases44  Commission as complaining party 15  Commission as responding party 19  Commission as third party 10  New cases registered in  Reports during

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 19 Number of cases initiated / defended by Member State Complaining Responding

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 20 Dispute Settlement Activity (from 1995 until october 2005)

18 October 2006 Michel Petite 21 WTO Cases involving EC OFFENSIVE CASESDEFENSIVE CASES SOLVED WITHOUT PANEL RULING EC LOSTEC WON