1. Business environment in the EU Prepared by Dr. Endre Domonkos (PhD)
1st Semester, Academic Year 2016/2017 1

2. I. The European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) of the European Union has its seat in Luxembourg.
Its establishment was related to the creation of Community law.
Main tasks of the European Court of Justice:
The European Court of Justice is the only forum that has jurisdiction to interpret EU law and to verify the legality of acts adopted by the EU institutions. 2

3. II. The structure of the European Court of Justice
The ECJ comprises one judge from each Member State (altogether 28 judges).
The judges hold office for a renewable term of six years.
The Court of Justice may sit in plenary session or in chambers of three of five judges.
Advocates General (9 persons):
The General Court (formerly Court of Instance) is composed of at least one judge from each Member State. 3

4. III. The procedures of the European Court of Justice
The procedures of the European Court of Justice are the followings:
1. Proceeding for failure an obligation:
2. Proceeding for annulment:
3. Proceeding for failure to act:
4. Actions for damages:
5. Request for an opinion:
6. Preliminary rulings: 4 4

5. IV. Commencement of proceedings before the Court and the written procedure I.
In references for preliminary rulings:
The role of the Registry
Deadline for submitting written observations to the Court of Justice: 2 months.
In direct actions:
The role of the Registrar
The tasks of the Judge-Rapporteur and the Advocate General. 5

6. V. Preparatory inquiries and the report for the hearing
In all proceedings, once the written procedure is closed, the parties are asked to state, within one month, whether and why they wish a hearing to be held.
The Court decides, after reading the report of the Judge- Rapporteur and hearing the views of the Advocate General, whether any preparatory inquiries are needed.
The taks of the Judge-Rapporteur
The report is made public in the language of the case at the hearing. 6

7. VI. The public hearing and the Advocate General’s opinion
The case is argued at a public hearing, before the bench and the Advocate General.
The Judges and the Advocate General may put to the parties any questions they consider appropriate.
Some weeks later, the Advocate General delivers his or her Opinion before the Court of Justice, again in open court.
This marks the end of the oral stage of the proceedings. 7

8. VII. Judgements
The Judges deliberate on the basis of a draft judgment drawn up by the Judge-Rapporteur.
Each Judge of the formation concerned may propose changes.
Decisions of the Court of Justice are taken by majority.
Judgments and the Opinions of the Advocates General are available on the CURIA Internet site on the day they are delivered. 8

9. VIII. Special forms of procedure
The simplified procedure:
The expedited procedure:
It enables the Court to give its rulings quickly in very urgent cases by reducing the time-limits as far as possible and giving such cases absolute priority.
Applications for interim measures: 9

10. IX. The cost of proceedings
There are no court fees for proceedings before the Court of Justice.
On the other hand, the Court does not meet the fees and expenses of the lawyer entitled to practice before a court of a Member State by whom the parties must be represented.
However, a party unable to meet all or part of the costs of the proceedings may, without having to instruct a lawyer, apply for legal aid.
The application must be accompanied by all necessary evidence establishing that party's lack of means. 10

11. X. Language arrangements
In direct actions, the language used in the application (which may be one of the 24 official languages of the European Union) will be the ‘language of the case', that is to say the language in which the proceedings will be conducted.
With references for preliminary rulings, the language of the case is that of the national court which made the reference to the Court of Justice.
The Judges deliberate, without interpreters, in a common language which, traditionally, is French. 11

12. XI. The General Court and its jurisdiction
The General Court is made up of at least one judge from each Member State (28 judges in 2014).
They are appointed for a term of office of six years, which is renewable.
They appoint their President, for a period of three years, from amongst themselves.
They appoint a Registrar for a term of office of six years.
The General Court sits in Chambers of five or three Judges or, in some cases, as a single Judge. 12

13. XII. The procedure of the General Court I.
The General Court has its own Rules of Procedure.
In general, the proceedings include a written phase and an oral phase.
An application, drawn up by a lawyer or agent and sent to the Registry, opens the proceedings.
The role of the Registrar:
The task of the intervener: 13

14. XII. The procedure of the General Court II.
In some cases, the intervener may also submit its observations at the oral phase.
During the oral phase a public hearing is held.
When the lawyers are heard, the Judges can put questions to the parties' representatives.
The role of the Judge-Rapporteur:
The procedure before the General Court is free of court fees. 14

15. XIII. Interim proceedings and expedited procedure
An action brought before the General Court does not suspend the operation of the contested act.
Interim measures are granted only if three conditions are met:
Expedited procedure: 15

16. XIV. The European Union Civil Service Tribunal
The European Union Civil Service Tribunal is composed of seven Judges appointed by the Council for a period of six years which may be renewed.
The Judges of the Tribunal elect their President from among their number for a term of three years which may be renewed.
The Tribunal sits in Chambers of three Judges.
It may sit in a Chamber of five Judges or as a single Judge.
The Judges appoint a Registrar for a term of six years. 16

17. XV. The Jurisdiction of the Civil Service Tribunal
Within the European Union's judicial institution, it is the Civil Service Tribunal whose special field is disputes involving the European Union civil service.
It has jurisdiction to hear and determine at first instance disputes between the European Union and its servants.
The decisions given by the Tribunal may, within two months, be subject to an appeal, limited to questions of law, to the General Court. 17

18. XVI. The procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal
As a rule, the proceedings include a written phase and an oral phase.
The written phase:
The oral phase:
It’s important to note that during the oral phase a public hearing is usually held.
All the stages of the procedure the Tribunal endeavours to facilitate an amicable settlement of the dispute. 18

19. XVII. Proceeding for interim measures and language arrangements
Proceedings for interim measures
Interim measures are granted only if three conditions are met:
The language used for the application, which may be one of the 24 official languages of the European Union, will be the language of the case.
The judges deliberate without interpreters in a common language, French. 19

20. XVIII. Internal Market Problem Solving System (SOLVIT network)
SOLVIT is an on-line problem solving network in which EU Member States work together to solve without legal proceedings problems caused by the misapplication of Internal Market law by public authorities.
SOLVIT Centres can help with handling complaints from both citizens and businesses.
Using SOLVIT is free of charge.
SOLVIT has been working since July 2002. 20

21. XIX. How the SOLVIT network works?
With EU enlargement on 1 May 2004, the number of centres in the SOLVIT network went up to 28 (now there are 31 centres in the SOLVIT network) 
This problem-solving network is free of charge and takes an informal, customer-oriented approach.
A solution can then be found within a ten-week deadline.
The solutions proposed are not binding.
The Member State concerned is responsible for settling the dispute. 21

22. XX. How the SOLVIT network works?22

23. XXI. Where SOLVIT can help?
SOLVIT deals with cross-border problems between a business or a citizen on the one hand and a national public authority on the other, where there is possible misapplication of EU law.
The policy areas SOLVIT has mostly dealt with so far are:
However, since SOLVIT is an informal approach to problem solving it should not be used in situations where legal proceedings are already underway.
The Commission and the SOLVIT centres have developed common quality standards. 23

24. Literature
- European Commission SOLVIT homepage. In:
- Homepage of the European Court of Justice. In: Downloaded 24 July 2014.
- Horváth Zoltán (2011): Handbook on the European Union. Fourth edition in English, hvgorac, pp 24

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