When governments go to Luxembourg …: the influence of governments on the Court of Justice

Article abstract:

The influence of Member States' governments on EU legal developments through mobilisation of the Court is an issue which tends to be neglected by both legal and political scholars. Yet, analysing governments' participation in judicial proceedings, in particular in preliminary ruling proceedings (Article 234 EC), reveals that it has become governments' preferred means to influence the direction of case law. However, due to significant differences in the nature of policies and in the availability of governmental human, material and organisational resources, all governments do not start with the same handicap in this race for influence, with the result that some of them are more influential in the Court than others. Provided that some 'representativity' issues are addressed by participation policies at both EU and national levels, increased governmental participation in proceedings is a welcome development to the extent that it contributes to the quality and legitimacy of decision making by the Court, an aspect which becomes even more important now that the Court is called to perform a mainly constitutional role.