Reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice adopted

The Council gave its final green light to the reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, aimed at ensuring more effective administration of justice by the Court of Justice and the General Court.

The reform has been undertaken in the context of a steady increase in the number of cases brought before the Court of Justice. It takes advantage of the capacities of the General Court to deal with additional workload as a result of a previous reform, which led to an increase of the number of judges at the General Court.

Main changes

The amendments to Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice adopted today transfer jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice to the General Court in the following specific areas:

• the common system of value added tax
• excise duties
• the customs code
• the tariff classification of goods under the combined nomenclature
• compensation and assistance for passengers whose transport services are delayed or cancelled or who are denied boarding
• the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading

The Court of Justice will retain competence over requests for a preliminary ruling that raise questions of principle, such as interpretation of the Treaties or the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The reform will also extend the current filtering mechanism for appeals against decisions of the General Court when they concern a decision of an Union body, office or agency with an independent board of appeal. Under that mechanism, if a case has been considered by an independent board of appeal and then by the General Court, it will be allowed to proceed to the Court of Justice only if it raises an issue that is significant with respect to the unity, consistency or development of EU law.

In addition, the reform will increase the transparency of proceedings concerning requests for preliminary rulings. It provides that written observations submitted by an interested person pursuant to the Article 23 of the Protocol No 3 will be made public on the Court’s website within a reasonable time after the closing of the proceedings, unless that person raises objections to the publication of its own written submissions.

Next steps

In order for the transfer of jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings to the General Court to be workable in practice, it is necessary to modify the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and of the General Court. To this effect, both courts have submitted to the Council for its approval draft amendments of their respective Rules of Procedure, which are currently being examined.

The publication of the Regulation amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice and of the amended Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and of the General Court will be coordinated, so that all three texts will enter into force at the same time.

Background

The Court of Justice submitted a proposal to amend Protocol No 3 on its Statute in December 2022. The changes were agreed under the ordinary legislative procedure in negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on 7 December 2023, with the participation of the Court of Justice and the Commission.