European Civil Procedure and the Dialogue between National Courts and the European Court of Justice

Abstract

This paper focuses on the dialogue between the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and the national courts in the application and development of European civil procedure. It questions the role of the preliminary reference procedure in the discourse with the national courts. It considers to what extent the reference procedure may fill the European legislative deficit and bridge the divergences of national civil justice systems and practice, and how the dialogue between the CJEU and the national courts can be improved. The paper discusses the legislative disparities in the area of European civil procedure and the impact on court practice, zooms in on the dialogue between the national courts and the CJEU and on measures to improve the dialogue, and evaluates this within the broader challenges of European civil procedure.

Keywords: European civil justice, judicial cooperation, Court of Justice, interjudicial dialogue, preliminary reference procedure

JEL Classification: K40, K42, K49