Blogpost 48/2023 Safeguarding fundamental rights as an executing authority in surrender procedures concerning a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) has been possible since the rulings of the European Court of Justice (the Court) in Aranyosi and Caldararu. The two-step test developed in this case, comprising an abstract test assessing whether a real risk of generalised or systemic deficiencies exists and a concrete test assessing whether this real risk exists for the specific person involved, was further expanded from application in cases regarding potential violations of Article 4 Charter of Fundame ..read more

Blogpost 47/2023 ‘An “emulsified high fat offal tube” on account of it not containing enough meat’ were the words of the Rt. Hon. James Hacker in the 1980s British sitcom Yes, Minister to describe a sausage, when complaining about EU regulations on food labelling. These days, one might replace ‘enough’ with ‘any’. Giving the situation a modern twist, the French and Italian Governments have introduced legislation on banning names of meat products from a number of products, which are in fact plant-based meat substitutes. And all of this in the name of consumer protection and cultural heritage. T ..read more

Blogpost 46/2023 Note that the author of this post was the co-organizer of the conference discussed below. The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) has only just taken effect, but the agreement already is under attack at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).  On 7 September 2023, French parliamentarian Philippe Latombe brought before the General Court a direct action for annulment of the European Commission adequacy decision relating to the DPF.  The CJEU rejected Mr. Latombe’s request for interim measures that would have precluded application of the DPF, but it has yet ..read more

Blogpost 45/2023 In case T‑557/20 Single Resolution Board v. EDPS, the General Court had to settle an issue related to the extent of the definition of ‘personal data’ under Article 3 (1) of Regulation 2018/1725 (hereafter ‘EUDPR’). This case takes place in the context of the adoption of a resolution scheme, involving the Single Resolution Board (SRB), in its capacity of Banking Union resolution authority, and a Spanish bank called Banco Popular. During the process of resolution, the SRB invited the shareholders to submit comments in order to assess whether they should be given compensation. To ..read more

Blogpost 44/2023 It is well-established in the Court’s case-law that the interpretation of a provision of EU law rests on three pillars: Its wording, its context and the wider objective pursued by the rules of which it forms a part (see, for example, C-336/03 easyCar, para 21). However, it is not always clear how they interact, and in particular how priority must be given if the latter two conflict with the former. By looking at two specific cases, namely C-238/22 LATAM and C-180/22 Mensing II, it can be illustrated how this might sometimes lead to unforeseeable results, and potentially irrati ..read more

Blogpost 43/2023 Fortunately, for most of us, the Covid-19 pandemic seems like a distant memory from a gloomy but thankfully bygone time. An especially traumatizing part of these memories certainly are the unprecedented restrictions of freedom of movement during the first wave of the pandemic. Whereas the balancing of fundamental rights against the effective combatting of threats is a standard judicial exercise in the fight against crime and terrorism, its application to a situation of a global pandemic is uncharted territory for the Court. In this context, Covid-related cases dealing with tra ..read more

Blogpost 42/2023 In Case C‑873/19 Deutsche Umwelthilfe, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice interpreted Article 9 (3) of the Aarhus Convention so as to provide access to justice before national courts for environmental organizations challenging approval of cars fitted with defeat devices. The case is particularly noteworthy for the way the Court approaches the legal effects of international law in the EU’s legal order and the fairly receptive interpretation of the Aarhus Convention (even though it reiterated its stance that Article 9 (3) does not have direct effect). It is also an import ..read more

Blogpost 41/2023 On Sunday, Poland held the ‘most consequential elections since 1989’. Arguably, these elections did not only decide on the next Polish government. Rather, the elections also appeared to be a possibly final vote on European values, and whether the Polish government adheres to them. While at the time of writing, it seems like the opposition led by Donald Tusk can declare victory, the European Union will pay a close look not only at the elections but also at their aftermath. This is because, as many authors have described in detail (see for example here and here), the PiS governm ..read more

Blogpost 40/2023 “The obligation to observe the law takes precedence over the strict terms of the written law. Whenever required in the interests of judicial protection, the Court is prepared to correct or complete rules which limit its powers in the name of the principle which defines its mission”. Advocate General F. Mancini in Case 294/93 Les Verts In memory of the late Professor John Usher Faced with the unprecedented and persistent backlash against its own authority coming from Poland, the Court of Justice finds itself in a delicate position: it is trapped between what is now clearly a co ..read more

Blogpost 39/2023 On July 4th 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed in its first judgement on the use of facial recognition (FR) in law enforcement. The Court ruled that Russia breached Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention by using the technology to find and arrest a peaceful demonstrator. The decision reignites the European debate on FR. For the European Parliament and several NGOs, the use of FR in public is incompatible with EU values and should be banned (Reclaim your Face, 2023; AlgorithmWatch, 2023; European Parliament, 2023). However, the reasoning of the ECtHR does not ..read more