TY - UNPB

T1 - Fundamental Rights Complaints in the Preliminary Reference Procedure

AU - López Zurita, Lucía

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The procedure for a preliminary ruling is central in the ‘complete system of protection’ offered by the Union to its citizens. Since Article 263 TFEU grants only a very reduced standing to ‘non-privileged applicants’, Article 267 TFEU became the main way for individuals to bring their claims against the EU before the European Court of Justice. Yet, claims for breaches of fundamental rights by the Union are not at all common in the procedure for a preliminary ruling. This chapter investigates the (real) use and (realistic) potential of Article 267 TFEU as a means for the protection of fundamental rights against breaches by the EU institutions. The chapter maps all instances in which individuals used the procedure for a preliminary ruling to bring a claim against the Union for breaches of their fundamental rights since the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Using this mapping exercise, the chapter identifies how individuals raise this type of claim discusses the accessibility of the procedure for individual applicants, and assesses the shortcomings of the procedure as a means to redress breaches of fundamental rights by the Union. It argues that these shortcomings have to do with the structure and design of the procedure itself.

AB - The procedure for a preliminary ruling is central in the ‘complete system of protection’ offered by the Union to its citizens. Since Article 263 TFEU grants only a very reduced standing to ‘non-privileged applicants’, Article 267 TFEU became the main way for individuals to bring their claims against the EU before the European Court of Justice. Yet, claims for breaches of fundamental rights by the Union are not at all common in the procedure for a preliminary ruling. This chapter investigates the (real) use and (realistic) potential of Article 267 TFEU as a means for the protection of fundamental rights against breaches by the EU institutions. The chapter maps all instances in which individuals used the procedure for a preliminary ruling to bring a claim against the Union for breaches of their fundamental rights since the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Using this mapping exercise, the chapter identifies how individuals raise this type of claim discusses the accessibility of the procedure for individual applicants, and assesses the shortcomings of the procedure as a means to redress breaches of fundamental rights by the Union. It argues that these shortcomings have to do with the structure and design of the procedure itself.

U2 - 10.31235/osf.io/dzwp9 License

DO - 10.31235/osf.io/dzwp9 License

M3 - Preprint

T3 - MOBILE Working Paper Series

SP - 1

EP - 28

BT - Fundamental Rights Complaints in the Preliminary Reference Procedure

PB - University of Copenhagen

ER -