The Politics of the Preliminary Ruling Procedure

Abstract

The preliminary ruling procedure has been central to the construction of the European Union legal order as we know it today. The preliminary questions provided by national courts allowed the CJEU to push legal integration much further than member states’ governments would ever be willing to go on their own. Yet, the CJEU’s ability to shape EU law ultimately depends on the willingness of national courts to refer preliminary questions. This panel looks at judicial participation (and passiveness) in the preliminary ruling procedure, seeking to analyse mutual dependence between the CJEU domestic courts, divergences in national court’s acceptance of the procedure, and their motives behind nurturing or withdrawing from the interaction with the Luxembourg Court.

Title	Details
Developing EU law through preliminary rulings: The role of national courts	View Paper Details
Prescriptive clarity and EU legal integration: National judges’ motivations for (not) engaging in the preliminary ruling procedure	View Paper Details
A Strasbourg story of swords and shields: National courts’ motives to request an advisory opinion from the ECtHR under Protocol 16	View Paper Details
Constitutional Courts and Preliminary References to the CJEU: Beyond Impressions	View Paper Details
The Diverging Motives for National Courts (not) to Refer Preliminary Questions	View Paper Details