AUTHORITY OF THE EU COURT OF JUSTICE MORE IMPORTANT THAN LEGAL SECURITY – MOX PLANT JUDGMENT Cover Image

АУТОРИТЕТ СУДА ЕУ ИСПРЕД ПРАВНЕ СИГУРНОСТИ – ПРЕСУДА MOX
AUTHORITY OF THE EU COURT OF JUSTICE MORE IMPORTANT THAN LEGAL SECURITY – MOX PLANT JUDGMENT

Author(s): Maja Lukić
Subject(s): International Law, EU-Legislation
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Београду
Keywords: MOX Plant; Implied powers; External competence; Duty of cooperation; UNCLOS;

Summary/Abstract: The focus of this paper is on the judgment of the Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) of 2006 in a case instituted by the European Commission against Ireland over the arbitration that Ireland had initiated against the United Kingdom in relation to the MOX plant in Sellafield, UK, and its manifold importance for interpretation and development of the EU law. As it is shown, the Commission claimed that Ireland, by having instituted arbitral proceedings pursuant to UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), breached exclusive competence of CJEU for disputes involving EU, that it has thus submitted a dispute involving EU law to a non-competent authority and infringed upon autonomy of EU law, as well as that it has breached duty of cooperation with EU institutions. The analysis of the problem presented is reflected in several aspects: firstly, the judgment upheld the claims of the Commission, and in doing so broadened exclusive jurisdiction of CJEU for adjudicating disputes involving EU law: mere accession of EU to a mixed agreement subsumes the subject matter of that agreement under the concept of EU law; secondly, the judgment for the first time explicitly affirmed exclusive jurisdiction of the CJEU over disputes involving EU in a particular case; finally, the duty of cooperation was interpreted as limiting the power of member states to independently from the EU institutions pursue their rights and obligations under international law.

  • Issue Year: 61/2013
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 223-248
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: Serbian