Gowan represents the latest and most significant judgment of the European Court of Justice dealing with the controversial precautionary principle. This judgment epitomises the EU’s current struggle in reconciling a flexible, precautionary-oriented regulatory approach with a rational,...

On September 9, 2008, the European Court of Justice dismissed the appeals by two Italian companies – FIAMM Spa and Giorgio Fedon & Figli Spa – seeking compensation for damages suffered as a consequence of the US increased custom duties authorised by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) in...

On September 9, 2008, in Joined Cases C-120/06 P and C-121/06 P FIAMM and Giorgio Fedon & Figli v Council and Commission, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed appeals by two Italian companies seeking compensation for damages caused after the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) authorized...

This article, by tackling one of the most controversial issues surrounding the functioning of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), explores whether its scientific opinions and other administrative acts may be challenged before the European courts. The issue as to whether Community courts...

This paper analyses the role that scientific experts and, more in general, scientific expertise play within European risk governance. While the first part of the paper looks at the way in which scientific expertise is integrated in the decision-making process, the second part examines how...

In line with the principle of separation of powers, policy makers and courts have very different jobs. Yet, their respective inputs to the fabrics of government are not totally exclusive but complementary to one another: the output of the former's work, i.e. regulation, is subject to the...

The 2015 reform of the EU’s court system will go down in history as the most radical transformation of the EU judicial architecture since the establishment of the General Court in 1989. It doubles the number of General Court judges but also dissolves the Civil Service Tribunal. This article...

This complaint to the European Ombudsman by Access Info Europe and the HEC-NYU EU Public Interest Clinic alleges maladministration in the selection of judges for the Courts of Justice of the EU (CJEU). The complaint argues that the Council of Europe wrongly refused access to information on...

This article aims at exploring the interactions that may arise from the European institutions' increasing reliance on ex ante evaluation mechanisms of proposed legislation, such as Impact Assessment (IA), and ex post judicial review of adopted legislation. IA, the privileged ex ante evaluation...