The impact of Community law on the domestic legal systems of the Member States. Business law

Summary:

The institutions of the European Union regularly make the headlines when they create or apply EU law in circumstances which touch on national political sensitivities. The European Commission's alleged attempt to lay off large sections of the fishing community, the Council of Minister's embargo on British beef exports, the European Court of Justice's decision to abolish nationality restrictions on players in football teams: these examples, and others like them, are trumpeted by the (mostly) tabloid press as instances of perceived interference from an unknown bureaucracy at the expense of national sovereignty. Leaving aside the issue of the accuracy of such allegations, the reality is that the application of EU law, away from the glare of the headlines, has had a considerable impact on the day-to-day activities and behaviour of industry, consumers and citizens.

This publication seeks to demonstrate how EU law has (sometimes unexpectedly) impacted litigation in the national courts of each of the 15 EU Member States in the field of business law. It is intended to serve as a reminder to practitioners of the importance of Lord Denning's 1974 admonition and its heightened relevance in today's more complex and mature EU legal environment.