The European Court of Justice and its Interlocutors

Member state governments of the European Community began with a fundamental role in making EC policies and standards; but throughout the 1960s and 1970s the European Court of Justice gradually began to expand its role and developed an unprecedented regime comparable to the constitutional order of a federal state. The ECJ permitted itself to decide on matters traditionally considered to be the exclusive competence of member states; including social policy, gender equality and competition policy. Remarkably, the majority of national courts and governments of the member states have conformed to ECJ rulings and have harmoniously surrendered their jurisdiction over key policy areas – deferring to the ECJ’s authority. Consequently, the member states have struggled to enjoy international legal latitude of compliance in their relationship with the ECJ and commentators such as Weiler J.A have labelled the process a “quiet revolution. ”

It is necessary to address the means and opportunities the Court of Justice employed in order to inaugurate itself as a superior court to that of the members’. In pursuance of this objective, it should be borne in mind whether member states desired ECJ supremacy and thus voluntarily handed the ECJ their competences; or whether a “competence creep” materialised, gradually increasing the superiority of the ECJ. The answer is not easily deciphered; ample EU scholars have proposed explanations for the apparent gift of superiority. ‘Neo-functionalists’ notably argue that the early choice of national governments to place determined areas within the power of European institutions produced pressure to extend the powers of these institutions to further policy areas. The phrase ‘functional spill-over’ was coined by ...

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