PURPOSE : to amend the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice

LEGISLATIVE ACT : Council Decision 2005/696/EC, Euratom amending the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice, in order to lay down the conditions and limits for the review by the Court of Justice of decisions given by the Court of First Instance

CONTENT : This Council Decision gives effect to certain provisions of the Nice Treaty which affect the European Court of Justice.

Article 225 of the EC Treaty as amended by the Treaty of Nice provides that decisions given by the Court of First Instance hearing and determining actions or proceedings brought against decisions of the judicial panels set up under Article 225a and decisions given on questions referred for a preliminary ruling may exceptionally be subject to review by the Court of Justice, under the conditions and within the limits laid down by the Statute, where there is a serious risk of the unity or consistency of Community law being affected.

Article 62 of the new Statute of the Court of Justice, annexed to the Treaty of Nice, also provides that the proposal for review of the decision of the Court of First Instance may be made by the First Advocate General where he or she considers that the condition laid down in Article 225 is satisfied, namely, that there is a serious risk of the unity or consistency of Community law's being affected.

This Decision amends the Statute to give effect to both the detailed procedural rules for the conduct of the review procedure and the effects of that procedure on the substance of the action and the interests of the parties.

ENTRY INTO FORCE : 11/10/2005.

Decision 2005/696
OJ L 266 11.10.2005, p. 0060-0061

The European Commission has delivered its opinion on the request to amend the Statute of the Court of Justice, presented by the Court of Justice in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 245 of the EC Treaty, to lay down the conditions and limits for review by the Court of Justice of decisions delivered by the Court of First Instance under Article 225(2) and (3) of the EC Treaty.

The Commission considers that the provisions relating to the review procedure should:

a) establish the suspensory nature of the request for review and of the decision to invoke the review procedure;

b) stipulate that the decisions of the Court of First Instance under Article 225(2) and (3) of the Treaty will be considered as final judgments:

- after the one‑month period referred to in the second paragraph of Article 62 of the Statute, provided that the First Advocate General has not proposed a review of the decision, and

- where the First Advocate General has proposed a review, at the end of the second one‑month period referred to in the second paragraph of Article 62 of the Statute, where the Court has decided not to open the review procedure;

c) establish an emergency procedure;

d) establish an appropriate time limit for the handing down of the judgment to be notified to the parties or to the national court.

The Commission considers that, in line with Declaration No 14 of the Treaty of Nice, it would be useful to establish an evaluation mechanism for the review procedure.

SEC(2005)0207
EUR-Lex

T5-0072/2004
OJ C 097 22.04.2004, p. 0031-0082 E

T5-0072/2004

A5-0049/2004

A5-0049/2004

12464/2003

12464/2003