7. National Actions
An Introduction to European Law (3rd edn)
Robert Schutze
EUROPEAN LAW
p.152 7. National Actions 9 Robert Schutze, Professor of European and Comparative Law, Durham University and LUISS (Rome)
https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198858942.003.0007 Published in print: 30 July 2020 Published online: September 2020
Abstract
decentralized enforcement of European law by national courts is rooted in Article 4(3) TEU: the duty of 'sincere cooperation'. What does this mean; and to what extent does it limit the procedural autonomy of the Member States? The chapter explores two specific constitutional principles that the European Court has derived from the general duty of sincere cooperation: the principle of equivalence and the principle of effectiveness. Both principles have led to a significant judicial harmonization of national procedural laws. The chapter then considers the State liability principle, and looks at the procedural bridge that exists between national courts and the European Court of Justice. From the very beginning, the European Treaties contained a
mechanism for the interpretative assistance of national courts: the preliminary reference procedure.
Keywords: European law, national courts, sincere cooperation, European Court, principle of equivalence, principle of
Introduction
National Remedies: Equivalence and Effectiveness
(a) The Equivalence Principle
(b)The Effectiveness Principle
2.
State Liability: The Francovich Doctrine
(a)The Birth of the Francovich Doctrine
(b)The Three Conditions for State Liability
3. Preliminary Rulings I: General Aspects
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7. National Actions
(a) The Jurisdiction of the European Court
(b)The Legal Nature of Preliminary Rulings
4.
Preliminary Rulings II: Special Aspects
(a)Who': National Courts and Tribunals
(b) What: Necessary Questions
(c)The Obligation to Refer and Acte Clair Conclusion Introduction
National courts are the principal judicial enforcers of European law. Ever since Van Gend en Loos the Court has maintained that it is the task of the national courts to protect the rights of individuals under [Union] law and to give full effect to [Union] law provisions." Indeed, whenever European law is directly effective, national courts must apply it; and wherever a Union norm comes into conflict with national law, each national court must disapply the latter. The Union legal order thereby insists that nothing within the national judicial system must prevent national courts from exercising their functions as 'guardians' of the p.153 European judicial order. In Simmenthal,3 the Court thusheld that each national court must be able to disapply national law--even where the national judicial system traditionally reserved that power to a
central constitutional court:
[E]very national court must, in a case within its jurisdiction, apply [Union] law in its entirety and protect rights which the latter confers on individuals and must accordingly set aside any provision of national law which may conflict with it, whether prior or subsequent to the [Union] rule. Accordingly any provision of a national legal system and any legislative, adminis