Daily Archives: May 1, 1995


Medium Hard Law – Still No Horizontal Direct Effect of European Community Directives After Faccini Dori

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 469 (1995) Gerrit Betlem. Researcher at the Center for Enforcement of European Law/NISER, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. What is the law when a private party seeks to invoke, against another private individual, the right to cancel a contract derived from an EC Directive which has not been implemented into domestic law within the required time limits? In short, that is the central question not only of this article but also of a dispute between a consumer and a trader involving a contract negotiated away from business premises. In terms of Community law, the case raises […]


The Free Circulation of Goods: The Keck and Mithouard Decision and the New Directions in the Case Law

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 436 (1995) René Joliet. Late Professeur Extraordinaire at the Université de Liège and Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities. TRIBUTE René Joliet, Judge at the European Court of Justice, died on July 15, 1995, at the age of 57 years. Judge Joliet, a 1960 graduate in law of the University of Liège, conducted advanced research in economics and trade regulation in both Germany and the United States. He earned from the Northwestern University in Chicago both the Master’s Degree in Law (1966) and a doctorate in Juridical Science (1968). From 1974, René Joliet was a […]


Dimensions of European Union Law: A Symposium

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 379 (1995) EUROPEAN LAW: THINKING ABOUT IT AND TEACHING IT – AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM David J. Gerber. Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law. Professor Gerber was chair of the comparative law section of the Association of American Law Schools 1994-1995, and in that capacity he organized the symposium from which these papers were developed. The papers in the symposium section of this volume of the Columbia Journal of European Law are based on talks delivered in January, 1995, at a symposium on the “Dimensions of European Union law” that I organized for […]


Language, Culture and Politics in the Life of the European Court of Justice

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 397 (1995) Giuseppe Federico Mancini. Judge, Court of Justice of the European Communities.  David T. Keeling. Legal secretary, Court of Justice of the European Communities. Amongst the judicial organs presently in operation in the western world the Court of Justice of the European Communities is unique in many respects: the native tongues of its 15 judges are 11 in number; of the States from which they originate seven are monarchies and eight are republics; ten have a unitary structure, while five are divided into regions with varying degrees of autonomy; seven have some form of […]


Regulatory Decisionmaking in the European Commission

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 415 (1995) George A. Bermann. Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law, New York, New York. As an institution variously described as the “motor”‘ or “engine” of European integration and as the European Union’s “executive branch,”‘ the Commission of the European Communities finds itself at the center of Community decisionmaking. Yet its decisional processes are still quite poorly understood, at least in the United States.” The relatively poor grasp of Commission decisionmaking is certainly not due to any general lack of interest in procedure within the American audience. The problem lies […]


Case Law: Case C-68/93, Fiona Shevill and Others v. Presse Alliance S.A., 1995 E.C.R. 1-415. Brussels Convention Article 5(3), Defamation by a Newspaper; Jurisdiction; Place Where the Harmful Event Occurred

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 497 (1995) Marta Pertegás Sender. Assistant, Center for International and Foreign Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The case law section has been prepared in cooperation with the Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Preliminary Remarks: the Brussels Convention as Framework A necessary component of the internal market within the European Union is adequate legal protection, when necessary by judicial means, for the citizens. This is the underlying justification of the Convention of September 27, 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, (hereinafter referred to as the Brussels Convention). The […]


Case Law: Case C-65/93, European Parliament v. Council of the European Union, 1995 E.C.R. 1-643 (Extension of System of Generalized Tariff Preferences) Case C-417/93, European Parliament v. Council of the European Union, 1995 E.C.R. 1-1185 (Technical Assistance to the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union and to Mongolia) Case C-21/94, European Parliament v. Council of the European Union, 1995 E.C.R. 1-1827 (Directive 93/89/EEC on Road Charges) The Council’s Obligation to Consult the European Parliament

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 504 (1995) Piet Van Nuffel. Fellow of the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The European Parliament in defense of its prerogatives From the time the European Court of Justice recognized the right of the European Parliament under Article 173 of the EEC Treaty – now codified in Article 173 of the EC Treaty – to bring an annulment action for the purpose of safeguarding its prerogatives,1 the Parliament has brought actions in every instance where it felt its prerogatives to be harmed. So far, two major kinds […]


Case Law: Case C-434/93, Ahmet Bozkurt v. Staatssecretaris van Justitie, 1995 E.C.R. 1-1475

Petra Foubert. Assistant at the Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Association Agreement between the EEC and Turkey; Freedom of movement for workers; Permanent incapacity for work of an international truck-driver; Right to remain. Facts and procedure Ahmet Bozkurt is a Turkish national and was from at least 1979 employed as an international truck-driver on routes to the Middle East by a Dutch company, his contract of employment was concluded under Netherlands law and drawn up in Dutch. In the periods between his journeys and during his periods of leave he resided in the Netherlands. According to the Netherlands […]


Case Law: Case C-470/93, Verein gegen Unwesen in Handel und Gewerbe KöLn eV v. Mars GmbH, 1995 E.C.R. 1-1923

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 523 (1995) Elke Ballon. Assistant, Study Center for Consumer Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Advocate. Free Movement of Goods; Measures Having an Effect Equivalent to Quantitative Restrictions; Presentation of a Product Likely to Restrict Freedom to Fix Retail Prices and Mislead the Consumer Facts and Procedure Mars GmbH, a German company belonging to the American group Mars Inc., marketed ice-cream bars of the Mars, Snickers, Bounty and Milky Way brands in Germany. These ice-cream bars were imported from France, where they were produced and packaged by McLean, another company belonging to the Mars group. As part […]


Case Law: Case C-156/93, European Parliament v. Commission of the European Communities, 1995 E.C.R. 1-2019

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 530 (1995) Piet Van Nuffel. Fellow of the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Legislation on organic production of agricultural products; Respective powers of the Council and the Commission; Prerogatives of the European Parliament Facts and procedure Environmental concerns taking root in ever larger parts of the consumer population, there is an increasing demand for organically produced agricultural products and foodstuffs. Organic farming constitutes a specific form of production entailing significant restrictions on the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Some Member States have laid down rules to ensure […]


Leg. Dev.: Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 549 (1995) Christopher W. Kirkham. J.D./M.I.A. candidate, Columbia University School of Law and School of Int’l and Public Affairs. Determined to strengthen European policies against trade in pirated and counterfeit goods, the Council has adopted Council Regulation 3295/94 of December 22, 1994 laying down measures to prohibit the release for free circulation, export, re-export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods (1994 O.J. (L 341)). The Regulation, adopted under Article 113 of the EC Treaty, is intended to improve the system established under Regulation 3842/86, a measure aimed particularly at trade […]


Research Guide for United States Users to Materials From the Court of Justice of the European Communities

1 Colum. J. Eur. L. 559 (1995) Jochen Streil. Head, Legal Data-Processing Service of the Court of Justice. Jacqueline Suter. Administrator, Research and Documentation Division of the Court of Justice. The purpose of this Research Guide for United States users1 is to describe the materials published by the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. Its emphasis is on: (I) judgments, orders and opinions, (II) other publications and (III) databases. JUDGMENTS, ORDERS AND OPINIONS A. Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance The Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice […]