A3-0228/93

Resolution on the role of the Court of Justice in the development of the European Community's constitutional system

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Medina Ortega, Mrs Vayssade, Mr Janssen van Raay and Mrs Salema on the role of the Court of Justice in developing the EC's institutional system (B3-2116/90),

-having regard to its draft Treaty establishing the European Union of 14 February 1984 and the specific proposals it put to the Intergovernmental Conferences on Economic and Monetary Union and Political Union held on 22 November 1990,

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union of 7 February 1992,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Institutional Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights (A3-0228/93),

A.whereas the Court of Justice of the European Communities has played an important role in the process of European integration and proved its value as a constitutional court; whereas its function as a constitutional court is exercised - irrespective of the class of action - by means of decisions on legal questions in the following areas:

(a)delimiting competences between the Member States and the Community or between the institutions and the Community and clarifying their respective institutional rights and obligations;

(b)determining whether secondary Community legislation and proposals for international agreements are consistent with Community law;

(c)protecting fundamental rights and developing general legal principles,

B.whereas the case law on the precedence of Community law, the protection of fundamental rights, the direct applicability of Community law, the comprehensive nature of the system of legal protection, the balance between the institutions and on the duty of genuine cooperation of the Community and the Member States is very important,

C.whereas the principles laid down in this case law must be reflected in a future constitution of the European Union,

D.whereas the preliminary reference procedure is very important for ensuring uniformity in the interpretation and application of Community law,

E.whereas the procedure for establishing that a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty is an important Community instrument for ensuring that Community law is implemented and applied in Member States,

F.whereas the continuous increase in the number of cases pending before the Court of Justice makes it increasingly difficult for this court to deliver its judgments rapidly,

G.whereas the creation of the Court of First Instance by the Single European Act was a significant step towards reform of the European Communities' judicial structure,

H.whereas the development of the Court of First Instance is very important for the legal protection of individuals and undertakings, as well as for lightening the workload of the Court of Justice, which will be in a better position to devote itself to its constitutional duties,

I.whereas Parliament's opportunities to participate in proceedings before the jurisdictional bodies of the Community must be extended to reflect its role as co-legislator,

1.Considers the following improvements to the system of legal protection and to judicial proceedings to be essential:

(a)in future, the Court of Justice should primarily settle constitutional disputes in all spheres of activity of the Union, maintain the uniformity of the law by answering fundamental questions referred for a preliminary ruling and hear appeals against judgments of the Court of First Instance,

(b)with the constitutional system as it currently stands, references for preliminary rulings must continue to be the sole province of the Court of Justice,

(c)the right of the national courts to refer cases for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EC Treaty must remain unrestricted; any attempt by the Member States to limit this right to courts of last instance must be rejected,

(d)the European Parliament must be given the same rights as the other institutions in the preliminary reference procedure,

(e)in order to lighten the workload of the Court of Justice

-the preliminary reference procedure should be speeded up, particularly by consistently using of the system of chambers (Article 165 of the EC Treaty),

-the Court of First Instance should, without delay, be granted the competences which may already may be conferred on it under the current version of Article 168a of the EC Treaty,

(f)the Court of First Instance should have jurisdiction in all actions to establish a Member State's failure to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty (Article 168a of the EC Treaty),

(g)the Court of First Instance should also have jurisdiction in all actions brought by natural or legal persons in so far as such actions have not been allotted to the Court of Justice,

(h)the Court of Justice should in future have the option of rejecting as clearly unfounded appeals against judgments of the Court of First Instance, without an oral procedure or explanatory statement, by a unanimous decision,

(i)in view of its growing importance, the Court of First Instance should in future be called 'the Court of the European Union' and be granted greater autonomy in matters concerning its organization and budget,

(j)as regards the right of internal organization of the Community courts, general principles such as the election and composition of the courts should be regulated by the treaties, with other matters being laid down in a Community legal act adopted under the co-decision procedure,

(k)judges at the European Court of Justice should be elected by the European Parliament and the Council, by a uniform procedure which has yet to be laid down, for a single term of office of 9 years,

(l)the European Parliament should be granted the same rights in applications for annulment as the privileged applicants referred to in Article 173, second paragraph of the EC Treaty,

(m)the European Parliament should be able to bring an action before the Court of Justice if an agreement between the Member States, e.g. in the field of the common foreign and security policy or of justice and home affairs, is incompatible with the Community treaties,

(n)in order to preserve the balance between the institutions, the European Parliament should be granted the right to apply to the Court of Justice under Article 228 of the EC Treaty for an opinion as to whether an agreement is compatible with the Treaty and the Court of Justice should involve it in all proceedings of this kind,

(o)in addition to the system of penalties laid down in the Treaty on European Union, the system of legal protection should, on the basis of the case law of the Court of Justice, be developed for the benefit of individuals where Member States have acted in breach of the treaties, in order to ensure that Community law is fully effective and recognized;

(p)in the interest of compliance with their judgments in the Member States the Community's jurisdictional bodies should be staffed to ensure that their judgments are available in all the official languages within a reasonable period of being handed down,

2.Calls on the Commission to submit to Parliament and the Council proposals for improving the system of legal protection and judicial procedures in accordance with the aims listed above;

3.Reserves to itself the right to draw up proposals for changes to the treaties with a view to achieving these aims and to submit the proposals to a future intergovernmental conference;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the report of its committee to the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance, the Commission, the Council and the parliaments of the Member States.