TTIP’s judicature in the light of Opinion 2/13

Summary:

The adjudication of disputes by a TTIP-established tribunal immediately brings to the fore implications from Opinion 2/13 by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). However, general proposition remains that no TTIP tribunal can obstruct the autonomy of EU law. Opinion 2/13 establishes the substance of EU legal autonomy, whose ‘characteristics include those relating to the constitutional structure of the EU, which is seen in the principle of conferral of powers referred to in Articles 4(1) TEU and 5(1) and (2) TEU, and in the institutional framework established in Articles 13 TEU to 19 TEU’.

These TTIP’s adjudicative structures will therefore be examined in the light of these bases. The most important part of the analysis on the TTIP in the view of Opinion 2/13 thus relates to the scope and structure of the jurisdiction of its adjudicative mechanisms. Given that the establishment of tribunals relates to rule on measures impacting EU companies and/or citizens, these two bodies must be assessed for their potential impact on EU legal autonomy. Opinion 2/13 forms the cornerstone decision from which to build an examination of this relationship.