What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Change 2

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Change 3

Removed:Draft regulation

Added:(8a) The Court of Justice should continue to adjudicate on requests for a preliminary ruling that, although they might be connected to those specific areas, also concern other areas, since the first subparagraph of Article 256(3) TFEU does not provide any possibility of transferring to the General Court jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings in areas other than the specific areas.

Added:(8b) The right to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law is a fundamental right of Union citizens guaranteed by the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter. To ensure that that right is respected, the provisions of the Statute should clearly state that the Court of Justice will retain jurisdiction pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 256(3) TFEU where the request for a preliminary ruling raises independent questions of interpretation of primary law, public international law, general principles of Union law or the Charter, having regard to their horizontal nature, even where the legal framework of the case in the main proceedings falls within one or more of the specific areas referred to in Article 50b(1) of the Statute.

Added:(8c) Following a preliminary analysis, and after hearing the Vice-President of the Court of Justice and the First Advocate General, the President of the Court of Justice should inform the Registry whether the request should be transmitted to the General Court or should be referred to the general meeting of all Judges and Advocate Generals for further analysis.

Added:(8d) In the interest of greater transparency in judicial proceedings, the General Court or the Court of Justice should briefly provide reasons, in its ruling on a preliminary reference, as to why it is competent to hear and determine a question referred for a preliminary ruling, in particular in cases where the preliminary reference raises questions relating to the interpretation of Union primary law, public international law, general principles of Union law or the Charter in the case of the General Court or where the references concern one of the specific areas referred to in Article 50b(1) of the Statute in the case of the Court of Justice. In addition, the Court should publish and regularly update a list of examples illustrating the application of Article 50b of the Statute.

Added:(8e) The General Court should have jurisdiction to hear and determine on requests for a preliminary ruling which, in addition to issues falling within one or more of the specific areas, explicitly or implicitly, raise issues of jurisdiction or admissibility, since the rules governing those issues should from now on be applied by both courts.

Added:(8f) The second paragraph of Article 54 of the Statute provides that, where the General Court finds that it does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action, it is to refer that action to the Court of Justice. The same obligation should apply if the General Court, while examining a request for a preliminary ruling submitted to it, finds that the request does not meet the criteria laid down in Article 50b(1) of the Statute.

Added:(8g) Furthermore, the General Court may, pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 256(3) TFEU, refer to the Court of Justice a case that falls within its jurisdiction but requires a decision of principle likely to affect the unity or consistency of Union law.

Added:(9) In order to provide the national courts and the interested persons referred to in Article 23 of the Statute with the same guarantees as those provided by the Court of Justice, the General Court should adopt procedural rules equivalent to those applied by the Court of Justice when dealing with requests for a preliminary ruling, in particular as regards the designation of an Advocate General. The Advocate General should be elected from among the Judges that do not belong to a chamber that is designated to deal with preliminary references, to serve for a period of at least three years with a possibility of being re-elected.

Added:(10) Having regard to the specific features of preliminary ruling proceedings as compared with direct actions over which the General Court has jurisdiction, it is appropriate to allocate requests for a preliminary ruling to chambers of the General Court designated for that purpose.

Added:(11) In addition, in order to maintain in particular the consistency of preliminary rulings given by the General Court, and in the interests of the proper administration of justice, provision should be made for a formation of the court of an intermediate size between the chambers of five Judges and the Grand Chamber. Given the increased responsibilities, introduced as a result of this Regulation, of the General Court, which will give final judgment in the requests for a preliminary ruling transmitted to it pursuant to the Statute as amended by this Regulation, a Member State or an Union institution should be able to request the convening of such chamber of intermediate size.

Added:(12) The statistics of the Court of Justice also highlight a high number of appeals brought against the decisions of the General Court. With a view to maintaining the efficiency of appeal proceedings and allowing the Court of Justice to focus on the appeals that raise important legal questions, it is appropriate to extend the mechanism for the determination of whether an appeal is allowed to proceed, whilst ensuring that the requirements inherent in effective judicial protection are met.

Added:(13) With this in mind, it is necessary, first, to extend that mechanism to appeals whose subject matter is a decision of the General Court concerning the decision of an independent board of appeal of an office, body or agency of the Union which, on 1 May 2019, had such an independent board of appeal but to which Article 58a of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union does not yet refer. Such appeals concern cases which have already been considered twice, initially by an independent board of appeal, then by the General Court, with the result that the right to effective judicial protection is fully guaranteed.

Added:(14) Second, it is necessary to extend the abovementioned mechanism to disputes relating to the performance of contracts containing an arbitration clause, within the meaning of Article 272 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Those disputes require the General Court merely to apply to the substance of the dispute the national law to which the arbitration clause refers and thus do not raise, in principle, issues that are significant with respect to the unity, consistency or development of Union law.

Added:(14a) As the institution that, in accordance with Article 10(2) of the Treaty on European Union, directly represents the citizens at Union level the European Parliament should be included in the list of parties that can, under Article 23 of the Statute, submit statements of case or written observations to the Court of Justice in preliminary ruling proceedings, irrespective of whether an act it has adopted is in dispute.

Added:(14b) This Regulation entails a significant change to the Union’s judicial framework therefore its implementation should be closely monitored. To that end, the Court of Justice should submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, in a timely manner, a report on the transfer to the General Court of jurisdiction for preliminary rulings in specific areas and on the extension of the initial admission mechanism for appeals. The Court should, in particular, provide information that allows for an assessment of the extent to which the stated objectives 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.

Added:(14c) The implementation of this reform, and reflections on how to further improve the judicial system of the Union, in particular preliminary rulings, should be discussed by the European Parliament together with the Court of Justice with the assistance of experts in the form of a structured dialogue at least once a year. Issues such as gender equality, sustainability and digitalisation in the Court of Justice could also be addressed during that dialogue.

Added:(14d) When exercising the right of legislative initiative, the Commission carries out broad consultations so as to enable citizens’ and stakeholders’ participation and enhance democratic legitimacy. The same should apply to the Court of Justice when exercising that right. A public consultation of two months should thus be held by the Court of Justice prior to the adoption of draft regulations amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Added:(14e) Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union should therefore be amended accordingly,

Added:HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Added:The following Article is inserted in the Statute:

Added:‘Article 20a

Added:Any citizen of the Union, and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State, shall have a right to access, upon request, documents of the Court in accordance with arrangements set out in the Rules of Procedure.

Added:The President shall refuse access to a document, either of his or her own motion or at the request of a party or any other person concerned, where disclosure would undermine protection of the public interest, or the privacy or the integrity of an individual.

Added:The President shall also refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of commercial interests or the Court’s decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.’

Added:In Article 23, the first and the second paragraphs are replaced by the following:

Added:‘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 Commission and to the institution, body, office or agency of the Union which adopted the act the validity or interpretation of which is in dispute.

Added:Within two months of this notification, the parties, the Member States, the Commission, the European Parliament and, where appropriate, the institution, body, office or agency which adopted the act the validity or interpretation of which is in dispute, shall be entitled to submit statements of case or written observations to the Court.’

Added:The following Article is inserted in the Statute:

Added:‘Article 49a

Added:1. The General Court shall be assisted by one or more Advocate Generals in dealing with requests for a preliminary ruling transmitted to it in accordance with Article 50b.

Added:2. The Judges of the General Court shall elect, in accordance with its Rules of Procedure and only from the Judges among their number who do not belong to a Chamber which is designated to deal with requests for a preliminary ruling transmitted to the General Court, the Judges that are to perform the duties of an Advocate General.

Added:3. The Judges elected to perform the duties referred to in paragraph 2 shall be elected for a term of three years. They may be re-elected once.’

Added:Article 50 of Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘the Statute’) is replaced by the following:

Added:‘The General Court shall sit in chambers of three or five Judges. The Judges shall elect the Presidents of the chambers from among their number. The Presidents of the chambers of five Judges shall be elected for three years. They may be re-elected once.

Added: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.

Added: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.’

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 if a Member State or an institution of the Union that is a party to the proceedings so requests.

Added:The following Article is inserted in the Statute:

Added:‘Article 50b

Added:1. 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:

Added:– the common system of value added tax;

Added:– excise duties;

Added:– the Customs Code ▌;

Added:– the tariff classification of goods under the Combined Nomenclature;

Added:– compensation and assistance to passengers;

Added:– the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

Added:1a. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, 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.

Added:2. 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, in accordance with the detailed rules set out in its Rules of Procedure, that the request for a preliminary ruling comes exclusively within one or within several of the areas to which paragraph 1 refers, the Court of Justice shall transmit that request to the General Court within one month of the notification of the request.

Added:3. The requests for a preliminary ruling transmitted to the General Court shall be assigned, in accordance with the detailed rules set out in its Rules of Procedure, to chambers designated for that purpose. In those cases, an Advocate General shall be designated from among the Advocate Generals elected in accordance with Article 49a.

Added:The second paragraph of Article 54 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘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 to the General Court, whereupon that Court may not decline jurisdiction.’

Added:‘1. An appeal brought against a decision of the General Court concerning a decision of an independent board of appeal of one of the following offices, bodies and agencies of the Union shall not proceed unless the Court of Justice first decides that it should be allowed to do so:

Added:(a) the European Union Intellectual Property Office;

Added:(b) the Community Plant Variety Office;

Added:(c) the European Chemicals Agency;

Added:(d) the European Union Aviation Safety Agency;

Added:(e) the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators;

Added:(f) the Single Resolution Board;