QD- ISSN 1831-8444 A G-10-003- 2009 EN -C REPORT L L ANNUA COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Annual Report 2009 NION U UROPEAN UROPEAN E E OF THE THE OF E C COURT OF JUSTI OF COURT EN HOW TO OBTAIN EU PUBLICATIONS Free publications: • via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu); • at the European Commission’s representations or delegations. You can obtain their contact details on the Internet (http://ec.europa.eu) or by sending a fax to +352 2929-42758. Priced publications: • via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu). Priced subscriptions (e.g. annual series of the Official Journal of the European Union and reports of cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union): • via one of the sales agents of the Publications Office of the European Union (http://publications.europa.eu/others/agents/index_en.htm). COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Synopsis of the work of the Court of Justice, the General Court and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal Luxembourg 2010 http://www.curia.europa.eu Court of Justice 2925 LUXEMBOURG Tel. +352 4303-1 General Court 2925 LUXEMBOURG Tel. +352 4303-1 European Union Civil Service Tribunal 2925 LUXEMBOURG Tel. +352 4303-1 The Court of Justice on the Internet: http://www.curia.europa.eu The Annual Report is also available on CD-ROM from the Press and Information Service Tel. +352 4303-2035 Completed on: 1 January 2010 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The photographs may be reproduced only in the context of this publication. For any other use, authorisation must be sought from the Publications Office of the European Union. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2010 ISBN 978-92-829-0945-4 doi:10.2862/15976 © European Union, 2010 Printed in Luxembourg Printed on elemental chlorine-free bleached PaPer (ECF) Contents Court of Justice Contents Page Foreword �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Chapter I The Court of Justice A — The Court of Justice in 2009: changes and proceedings .................................................. 9 B — Composition of the Court of Justice ....................................................................................... 53 1. Members of the Court of Justice ........................................................................................ 55 2. Change in the composition of the Court of Justice in 2009 .................................... 71 3. Order of precedence .............................................................................................................. 73 4. Former Members of the Court of Justice ........................................................................ 75 C — Statistics concerning the judicial activity of the Court of Justice ................................ 79 Chapter II The General Court A — Proceedings of the General Court in 2009 ........................................................................ 111 B — Composition of the General Court ....................................................................................... 145 1. Members of the General Court ........................................................................................ 147 2. Change in the composition of the General Court in 2009 .................................... 157 3. Order of precedence ........................................................................................................... 159 4. Former Members of the General Court ........................................................................ 161 C — Statistics concerning the judicial activity of the General Court ................................ 163 Annual Report 2009 3 Court of Justice Contents Chapter III The Civil Service Tribunal A — Proceedings of the Civil Service Tribunal in 2009 ........................................................... 187 B — Composition of the Civil Service Tribunal ......................................................................... 197 1. Members of the Civil Service Tribunal .......................................................................... 199 2. Change in the composition of the Civil Service Tribunal in 2009 ....................... 203 3. Order of precedence ........................................................................................................... 205 4. Former Member of the Civil Service Tribunal ............................................................. 207 C — Statistics concerning the judicial activity .......................................................................... 209 Chapter IV Meetings and visits A — Official visits and events at the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal ................................................................................................. 223 B — Study visits .................................................................................................................................... 225 C — Formal sittings ............................................................................................................................. 229 D — Visits and participation in official functions ..................................................................... 231 Abridged organisational chart ............................................................................................................ 236 4 Annual Report 2009 Foreword Court of Justice Foreword The year which has just passed ended with a major event. On 1 December 2009 the Treaty of Lis- bon entered into force after a long and complex ratification procedure. This Treaty, which is de- signed to endow the European Union with more effective legislative and administrative structures enhancing its ability to meet the challenges of the beginning of the 21st century, brings important changes to most of the fields of activity of the Court of Justice. Apart from the consequences re- sulting from the European Union’s acquisition of legal personality and from the abandonment of its three-pillar structure, the Treaty of Lisbon introduces reforms relating both to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice and to the procedures before the three courts of which it is composed. The past year also saw a partial replacement of the membership of the Court, four of whose mem- bers departed. The governments of the Member States were again concerned, in this partial re- newal, to make the appointments without delay and to safeguard the stability of the institution as far as possible, thereby enabling it to continue smoothly in the performance of its task. The Court cannot but welcome this. Finally, 2009 was also marked by a very sad event, the death of Advocate General Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer. The impact of his death continues to be strongly felt, if only because we are deliberating, and will continue to deliberate over the coming months, in cases which have had the benefit of his opinions. His thinking accompanies us in our work in a very concrete manner. This Annual Report provides a full record of changes affecting the institution and its work in 2009. As is the case every year, a substantial part of the Annual Report is devoted to brief but exhaustive accounts of the main judicial activity of the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal. Separate statistics for each court supplement and illustrate the analysis. V. Skouris President of the Court of Justice Annual Report 2009 5 Chapter I The Court of Justice Proceedings Court of Justice A — The Court of Justice in 2009: changes and proceedings By Mr Vassilios Skouris, President of the Court of Justice This first part of the Annual Report gives an overview of the activity of the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2009. It describes, first, how the institution evolved during the past year, with the emphasis on the institutional changes affecting the Court of Justice and developments relating to its internal organisation and working methods (section 1). It includes, second, an analysis of the statistics in relation to developments in the Court of Justice’s workload and the average duration of proceedings (section 2). It presents, third, as each year, the main developments in the case-law, arranged by subject matter (section 3). 1.1. The major event bringing change to the Court of Justice as an institution in 2009 was incon- testably the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. This Treaty has made a number of amendments to the provisions of the EU Treaty and the EC Treaty concerning the Court of Justice. Some of these amendments flow from the abandonment of the three-pillar structure of the European Union, from the resulting disappearance of the European Community and from the legal personality which the European Union henceforth enjoys. Other amendments are more specific and concern the Court of Justice directly. Mentioning only the most important amendments, first, the judicial institution of the European Union has, since 1 December 2009, been called the Court of Justice of the European Union. As be- fore, it is composed of three courts, but henceforth called: the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal. The creation of further specialised tribunals remains possible but, following the entry into force of the Treaty of