European Business Law, the fourth volume in our series, shows how the European authorities simultaneously abolish all restrictions on access to and exercise of economic activities and support the growth of domestic markets, through the harmonization the internal legislation or the enactment of genuinely unified regulations.

European Business Law

By virtue of the principle of precedence, European rules (treaties, regulations, Directives) always prevail over the divergent domestic rules, regardless of the latter's place in the hierarchy of rules. The law stemming from the Treaties, an independent source of law, cannot be overridden before courts by domestic provisions, however framed, without the legal basis of the Union itself being called …

Principle

By virtue of the principle of precedence, European rules (treaties, regulations, Directives) always prevail over the divergent domestic rules, regardless of the latter's place in the hierarchy of rules. The law stemming from the Treaties, an independent source of law, cannot be overridden before courts by domestic provisions, however framed, without the legal basis of the Union itself being called into question .

Rules of European law which are a direct source of rights and duties for all those affected by them  must be uniformly applied in all the Member States from the date of their entry into force and for as long as they stay in force . In effect, the proper functioning of the European system and the achievement of the aims of the Treaty mean that the national rules applying that Treaty do not differ from one Member State to another . The application of national law may not prejudice the full and uniform application of EU law or the effect of measures taken or to be taken to enforce it . Therefore, in order to apply European law, the national court having jurisdiction must have the possibility of setting aside internal provisions which might prevent European rules from having full force and effect and from being uniformly applied . 

Case 6/64 Costa v E.N.E.L. [1964] ECR 1194, LawLex200500005402JBJ; Case 90/63 Commission of the EEC v Luxembourg and Belgium [1964] ECR 625, LawLex200900001941JBJ; Case 106/77, Amministrazione delle finanze dello Stato v Simmenthal [1978] ECR 629, LawLex200700001337JBJ: any recognition that national legislative measures which are incompatible with the provisions of EU law or which encroach upon the field within which the Union exercises its legislative power had any legal effect would amount to a corresponding denial of the effectiveness of obligations undertaken unconditionally and irrevocably by Member States pursuant to the Treaty, and would thus imperil the very foundations of the Union.

Case 106/77, Amministrazione delle finanze dello Stato v Simmenthal [1978] ECR 629, LawLex200700001337JBJ.

Case C-143/88 Zuckerfabrik Süderdithmarschen and Zuckerfabrik Soest v Hauptzollamt Itzehoe and Hauptzollamt Paderborn [1991] ECR I-415, LawLex200900000552JBJ: the uniform application of EU law, which is a fundamental requirement of the EU legal order, implies that the suspension of enforcement of administrative measures based on EU regulation must be subject to uniform conditions of granting in all Member States.

Case 14/68 Walt Wilhelm and others v Bundeskartellamt [1969] ECR 1, LawLex200400002688JBJ; Case C-143/88 Zuckerfabrik Süderdithmarschen and Zuckerfabrik Soest v Hauptzollamt Itzehoe and Hauptzollamt Paderborn [1991] ECR I-415, LawLex200900000552JBJ: the interim legal protection which EU law ensures for individuals before national courts must remain the same, irrespective of whether they contest the compatibility of national legal provisions with EU law or the validity of secondary EU law, in view of the fact that the dispute in both cases is based on EU law itself.

Case 14/68 Walt Wilhelm and others v Bundeskartellamt [1969] ECR 1, LawLex200400002688JBJ: national authorities may take action against an agreement in accordance with their national law, even when an examination of the agreement from the point of view of its compatibility with EU law is pending before the Commission, subject however to the condition that the application of national law may not prejudice the full and uniform application of EU law or the effects of enforcement acts; C-316/05 Nokia [2006] ECR I-12083, LawLex200900001467JBJ: by virtue of the principle of uniform application, the fact that national law includes a general prohibition of the infringement of EU trademarks and provides for the possibility of penalizing further infringement or threatened infringement, whether intentional or due to gross negligence, does not constitute a special reason for a EU trademark court not to issue an order prohibiting the defendant from proceeding with those acts.

European Business Law

161. Principle

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

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161. Principle

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise