Back to Square One - the Past, the Present and the Future of the Simmenthal Mandate
European Constitutional Law Network, 8th Annual Conference, October 2010
28 Pages Posted: 19 May 2011
Date Written: October 7, 2010
Abstract
While the doctrine of supremacy of European Union law has not significantly changed since the 1960s, and has been upheld by the Treaty of Lisbon, the mandate of national courts, as defined in the landmark Simmenthal 2 case of the European Court of Justice has undergone an evolution. Today, it can no longer be understood as a mere procedural prong of supremacy, but as a finely knit web of reflexive cooperation of national courts with the ECJ. In this paper in Chapter 2, I will first describe how the Simmenthal mandate softened, primarily by development of doctrines of indirect effect and margin of appreciation. Second, in Chapter 3, I will discuss whether the Simmenthal mandate can be separated from the doctrine of direct effect and what the practical consequences of such separation is. Finally, in Chapter 4, I will try to demonstrate how the Simmenthal mandate affected the European judicial dialogue and possibly triggered a revival of national constitutional review.
Keywords: European Union, supremacy, direct effect, judicial dialogue, preliminary references
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation