Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2019 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union

• CELEX: Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2019
• Articles: 4

Article 1

Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘the Statute’) is amended as follows:

(1)

Article 23 is amended as follows:

(a)

the first and the second paragraphs are replaced by the following:

‘In the cases governed by Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the decision of the court or tribunal of a Member State which suspends its proceedings and refers a case to the Court of Justice shall be notified to the Court by the court or tribunal concerned. The decision shall then be notified by the Registrar of the Court to the parties, to the Member States, to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the Commission and to the European Central Bank, as well as to the institution, body, office or agency of the Union which adopted the act the validity or interpretation of which is in dispute.

Within two months of this notification, the parties, the Member States, the Commission and, where they consider they have a particular interest in the issues raised by the request for a preliminary ruling, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Central Bank shall be entitled to submit statements of case or written observations to the Court of Justice. Where appropriate, the institution, body, office or agency which has adopted the act the validity or interpretation of which is in dispute shall also be entitled to submit statements of case or written observations.’

;

(b)

the following paragraph is added:

‘Statements of case or written observations submitted by an interested person pursuant to this Article shall be published on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union within a reasonable time after the closing of the case, unless that person raises objections to the publication of that person’s own written submissions.’

;

(2)

the following Article is inserted:

‘Article 49a

The General Court shall be assisted by one or more Advocates General in dealing with requests for a preliminary ruling transmitted to it in accordance with Article 50b.

The Judges of the General Court shall elect from among their number, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, the Members that are to perform the duties of Advocate General. In the period during which those Members perform the duties of Advocate General, they shall not sit as Judges in requests for a preliminary ruling.

For each request for a preliminary ruling, the Advocate General shall be selected from among the Judges elected to perform that duty who belong to a chamber other than the chamber to which the request in question has been assigned.

The Judges elected to perform the duties referred to in the second paragraph shall be elected for a term of three years. They may be re-elected once.’

;

(3)

Article 50 is amended as follows:

(a)

the second and third paragraphs are replaced by the following:

‘The General Court may also sit in a Grand Chamber, in a chamber of an intermediate size between the chambers of five Judges and the Grand Chamber, or be constituted by a single Judge.

The Rules of Procedure shall govern the composition of the chambers and the circumstances in which and conditions under which the General Court shall sit in its different formations.’

;

(b)

the following paragraph is added:

‘The General Court, where seised pursuant to Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, shall sit in a chamber of intermediate size when a Member State or an institution of the Union that is a party to the proceedings so requests.’

;

(4)

the following Article is inserted:

‘Article 50b

The General Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine requests for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union that come exclusively within one or several of the following specific areas:

(a)

the common system of value added tax;

(b)

excise duties;

(c)

the Customs Code;

(d)

the tariff classification of goods under the Combined Nomenclature;

(e)

compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding or of delay or cancellation of transport services;

(f)

the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

Notwithstanding the first paragraph, the Court of Justice shall retain jurisdiction to hear and determine requests for a preliminary ruling that raise independent questions relating to the interpretation of primary law, public international law, general principles of Union law or the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Every request for a preliminary ruling made under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union shall be submitted to the Court of Justice. After verifying, as quickly as possible and in accordance with the detailed rules set out in its Rules of Procedure, that the request for a preliminary ruling falls exclusively within one or more of the areas to which the first paragraph of this Article refers, the Court of Justice shall transfer that request to the General Court.

The requests for a preliminary ruling that the General Court hears and determines under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union shall be assigned to chambers designated for that purpose in accordance with the detailed rules set out in its Rules of Procedure.’

;

(5)

in Article 54, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Where the General Court finds that it does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action or a request for a preliminary ruling in respect of which the Court of Justice has jurisdiction, it shall refer that action or request to the Court of Justice. Likewise, where the Court of Justice finds that an action or a request for a preliminary ruling falls within the jurisdiction of the General Court, it shall refer that action or request to the General Court, whereupon that Court may not decline jurisdiction.’

;

(6)

Article 58a is replaced by the following:

‘Article 58a

An appeal brought against a decision of the General Court concerning a decision of an independent board of appeal of one of the following bodies, offices and agencies of the Union shall not proceed unless the Court of Justice first decides that it should be allowed to do so:

(a)

the European Union Intellectual Property Office;

(b)

the Community Plant Variety Office;

(c)

the European Chemicals Agency;

(d)

the European Union Aviation Safety Agency;

(e)

the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators;

(f)

the Single Resolution Board;

(g)

the European Banking Authority;

(h)

the European Securities and Markets Authority;

(i)

the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority;

(j)

the European Union Agency for Railways.

The procedure referred to in the first paragraph shall also apply to appeals brought against:

(a)

decisions of the General Court concerning a decision of an independent board of appeal, set up after 1 May 2019 within any other body, office or agency of the Union, which has to be seised before an action can be brought before the General Court;

(b)

decisions of the General Court relating to the performance of a contract containing an arbitration clause, within the meaning of Article 272 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

An appeal shall be allowed to proceed, wholly or in part, in accordance with the detailed rules set out in the Rules of Procedure, where it raises an issue that is significant with respect to the unity, consistency or development of Union law.

The decision as to whether the appeal should be allowed to proceed or not shall be reasoned, and it shall be published.’

;

(7)

the following Article is inserted in Title V of the Statute:

‘Article 62d

Before submitting a request or a proposal for the amendment of this Statute, the Court of Justice or the Commission, as appropriate, shall consult widely.’.

Article 2

1.   Requests for a preliminary ruling made under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and pending before the Court of Justice on the first day of the month following the date of entry into force of this Regulation shall be dealt with by the Court of Justice.

2.   Appeals against decisions of the General Court concerning a decision of a board of appeal of one of the bodies, offices or agencies of the Union referred to in Article 58a, first paragraph, points (e) to (j), of the Statute, and against decisions referred to in Article 58a, second paragraph, point (b), of the Statute, of which the Court of Justice is seised on the date of entry into force of this Regulation, are not covered by the mechanism for the determination of whether an appeal is allowed to proceed.

Article 3

1.   By 2 September 2025, the Court of Justice shall publish and regularly update a list of examples of the application of Article 50b of the Statute.

2.   By 2 September 2028, the Court of Justice shall present a report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the reform of the Statute introduced by this Regulation.

In that report, the Court shall set out at least:

(a)

the number of requests for a preliminary ruling received under Article 267 TFEU;

(b)

the number of requests for a preliminary ruling in each of the specific areas indicated in Article 50b, first paragraph, of the Statute;

(c)

the number of requests for a preliminary ruling examined by the General Court and the specific areas referred to in Article 50b, first paragraph, of the Statute to which they related, and, where appropriate, the number of cases referred by the General Court to the Court of Justice as well as the number of decisions of the General Court that were subject to the review procedure laid down in Article 62 of the Statute;

(d)

the number and nature of the requests for a preliminary ruling that were not transmitted to the General Court despite the fact that the legal framework of the case in the main proceedings came within one or several of the specific areas referred to in Article 50b, first paragraph, of the Statute;

(e)

the average length of time spent on dealing with requests for preliminary rulings under Article 50b of the Statute at both the Court of Justice and the General Court, on the verification procedure laid down in Article 50b, third paragraph, of the Statute, and on the review procedure laid down in Article 62 of the Statute;

(f)

the number and nature of the cases that were subject to the mechanism for the determination of whether an appeal is allowed to proceed;

(g)

information allowing an assessment of the extent to which the objectives laid down in this Regulation were achieved, having regard to the speed with which cases were dealt with and the efficiency of the examination of the most complex or sensitive appeals and requests for a preliminary ruling, in particular through increased exchanges with referring courts or tribunals under Article 101 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice;

(h)

information on the application of Article 23, fifth paragraph, of the Statute, in particular on the written submissions published and objections raised.

The report shall be accompanied, where appropriate, by a request for a legislative act to amend the Statute, in particular with a view to amending the list of specific areas laid down in Article 50b, first paragraph, of the Statute.

Article 4

This Regulation shall enter into force on the first day of the month following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .