Lenz hits out at moves to limit powers of ECJ

Date: 23/11/1995

EU governments should “resist the temptation” to limit the powers of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) at next year's Intergovernmental Conference, one of its advocates-general has insisted.

In a robust defence of its work, Advocate-General Carl Otto Lenz also insisted that the Court must “not let itself be impressed by unjustified criticism”.

As the UK steps up its campaign for new limits on the powers of the ECJ, with Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind calling for reforms which would include giving member states the right to appeal against its rulings, Lenz's remarks are being seen as a sign that the Court is preparing to fight back.

The advocate-general rejected the arguments of those who claim that the Court itself has become a driving force behind moves towards closer European union, instead of merely upholding existing EU law.

He pointed out that the ECJ could choose neither the timing nor the fields of its activities, saying that was a fact which “those who define the Court as a motor of integration forget”.

Lenz also stressed that the Court was in direct contact with EU citizens and had always taken its duty to protect rights seriously, thus putting “life into Community treaties”.