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EU Law, Courts and Litigants: Litigation and Governance in a Supranational Polity

Civil Society
European Politics
European Union
Governance
Interest Groups
Courts
P099
Chris Hilson
University of Reading
Chris Hilson
University of Reading

Building: Maths, Floor: 3, Room: 325

Friday 09:00 - 10:40 BST (05/09/2014)

Abstract

The panel seeks to open up a debate about EU governance and litigation in the light of the research on the ‘constitutionalization’ of the EU legal order. Fifty years after van Gend en Loos we still have little data on the wider universe of EU litigation (that is the litigation of EU law in front of national courts); the literature focuses mainly on positive cases of legal integration in the framework of small-n studies focusing disproportionately on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) under the preliminary reference procedure. In this context, theories about judicial empowerment, interest group politics and transnational legal spillovers through EU litigation have become a constituent part of our understanding of the dynamics of legal integration. Many of the assumption made in the literature about national courts and litigants are, however, not based on generalisable empirical data. Notwithstanding this lack of data, research on the consequences of EU litigation for governance at the (supra) national level (e.g. Stone Sweet’s ‘Judicialization’ or Kelemen's ‘Eurolegalism’) is flourishing. Noting that we need to improve our conceptualization of and information on processes sustaining or impeding EU litigation, this panel invites papers on: the mechanisms and consequences of EU litigation, EU law-based legal mobilization and litigation, national courts/litigants and the ‘decentralised enforcement’ of EU law, EU/national policy-making and litigation. It particularly encourages analyses with a comparative focus (across policy areas and countries) going beyond the ECJ and the preliminary reference procedure to include litigation before (lower) national courts. It invites both qualitative and quantitative approaches to studying this topic.

Title Details
The Constitutional Governance of Judges in the EU View Paper Details
On the Decentralised Enforcement of EU Law: Variation in Litigation of EU Directives View Paper Details
Gambling for Europe? Analysing National Courts’ Decisions Under Political and Institutional Constraints View Paper Details
European Engagement of National Courts: A View From Central Europe Ten Years After Enlargement View Paper Details