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IJJ IJJ 55 X; !o EF ö t! t! t! t! qlql oo I ti.l i4s[ii4s[i lll COURTOF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEANCOMMUNITIES ANNT]ALREPORT 200r Synopsisof the Wbrk of the Coufi of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the EuropeanCommunities Luxembourg 2002 http: I lwww.curia.eu.int Court of Justice of the European Communities L-2925 Luxembourg Telephone: (352) 4303-I Telex (Registry):2510 CURIA LU Telegraphic address:CURIA Fax: (352) 4303-2600 Fax (Pressand Infomation Division): (352) 4303-2500 Court of First Instance of the European Communities L-2925 Luxembourg Telephone: (352) 4303-l Fax: (352) 4303-2100 Completed on 15 January 2002 A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessedthrough the Europa server (http:lleuropa.eu.int). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002 rssN 1680-8304 @ European Communities, 2002 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium Table of Contents page Foreword,by Mr G.C. Rodriguezlglesias, President of the CourtofJustice ......7 Chapter I The Court of Justiceof the EuropeanCommunities A - Proceedingsof the Courtof Justicein 2001,by Mr G.C. RodriguezIglesias, President oftheCourtofJustice ....., 11 B - Compositionof the Courtof Justice 57 1. The Membersof the Courtof Justice 59 2. Orderof precedence 67 3. FormersMembers of the Courtof Justice 69 ChapterII Courtof FirstInstance of theEuropean Communities A - Proceedingsof the Courtof First Instancein 2001, by Mr Bo Vesterdorf,President of the Court of First Instance 75 B - Compositionof the Courtof First Instance 135 1. The Membersof the Court of First Instance 137 2. Changesin the compositionof the Court of First Instance . 143 3. Order of precedence. 145 4. Former Membersof the Court of First Instance 147 ChapterIII Meetingsand Meetings visitsvisitsand A - Official visits and functionsat the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instancein 2001 151 B StudyVisits to the Court of Justiceand the Court of First Instancein 2001 r57 C Formal sitting in 200I 159 D - Visits andparticipation in official functions in 2001 I6L Chapter tV Tablesand Tables statisticsstatisticsand A - Proceedingsof the Court of Justice 165 1. Synopsisof thejudgments delivered by the Court of Justicein 2001 167 2. Synopsisof the othersdecisions of the Court of Justice which appearedin the 'Proceedings'in 2001 229 3. Statisticsof judicial activityof the Court of Justice 237 B - Proceedingsof the Court of First Instance 265 1. Synopsisof thejudgments delivered by the Court of First Instancein 2001 267 2. Synopsisof the othersdecisions of the Courtof First Instancewhich appearedin the 'Proceedings'in 2001 297 3. Statisticsof judicial activityof the Court of First Instance 299 ChapterV GeneralInformntionInformntion General A- Publicationsanddatabases... 32t B - AbridgedOrganisational Chart of the Court of Justiceand the Court of First Instance 333 FOREWORD by Mr G.C. RodriguezIglesias, President of the Courtof Justice This annualreport contains, as is customary,figures showing the scaleof the activity of both courtsand an analysisof their decisionswhich brings to light the wide rangeof issuesdealt with. The mere numberof the casesdecided over the past year cannotprovide an accuratemeasure of the level of judicial activity sincethose cases, and their degreeof complexity,differed so much; eachcase had to be dealt with in an appropriatemanner, at greateror lesserlength and in varyingdepth. Nonethe less,that figure is deservingof theclosest attention, inasmuch as a comparison with the numberof casesbrought makesit possibleto measurethe impact which the year gone by has had on the number of pending casesand, therefore,on the durationofproceedings. The statisticsset out at the end of the report showthat the level of activity of both courtswas consistently high in 2001, substantiallycomparable to that of the previousyear. The numberof casesbrought to a close was 434 at the court of Justiceand 340 at the court of First Instance,while new cases brought numbered504 and 345 respectively. The averageduration of proceedingswas broadlyconstant for the two years. Apart from figures, this report containsa sunrmaryof the most important developmentsin the case-law,demonstrating the rangeof mattersdealt with in the variousfields of Communitvlaw. With regard to its administrativefunctioning, the Court of Justicehas, in particular,been mindful of mattersrelating to its translationservice, which mustwork smoothlyif proceedingsare to be conductedat a reasonablespeed and case-lawis to be rapidly availableto the public. The court has thus consideredthe consequbncesfor translationof the forthcomingenlargement andthe difficulties which will arisefrom the increasein languagecombinations and the foreseeablegrowth in the numberof cases. Thoseconcerns have led the Court to embarkupon a vast computerproject designed to put in place a multilingualtool, adaptedto judicial work, integratingall the stagesin the life of documents,from inception to publication. This ambitiousproject, a prototypeof which has atreadybeen developed to the satisfactionof users, shouldbe broughtto a conclusionin 2002. In addition,the Court, mindful of the institutionalframework within which it works, beganin 2001, in conjunctionwith the Court of First Instance,to addressthe future entry into force of the Treaty of Nice. Their reflections have related in particular to the sharingbetween them of jurisdiction over direct actionsand to the settingup of a judicial panel for casesbrought by EuropeanUnion officials. It is in that context,looking towardsthe future, that the Court embarkson the year of its 50th anniversary. Chapter I The Courtof Justice of the EuropeünCommunities A- Proceedings of the Court of Justice in 200I" by Mr G.C. RodriguezIglesias, President of the Court of Justice 1. This part of the annualreport is intendedto give a clearpicture of the activity of the Court of Justiceof the EuropeanCommunities over the year which hasjust ended.It doesnot cover Opinionsof the AdvocatesGeneral, which areof undeniableimportance for a detailedunderstanding of the issues at stakein certaincases but would increaseconsiderably the lengthof a report which mustprovide a brief descriptionof the cases. Apart from a rapid statisticalappraisal (section 2) anda surveyof application of the new proceduralinstruments in the courseof the year (section3), this part of the report summarisesthe main developmentsin the case-lawin 2001,, which are arransedas follows: jurisdictionof the Court and procedure(section 4); generalprinciples and constitutionaland institutionalcases (section 5); free moVementof goods (section6); freedomto provide services(section 7); right of establishment (section8); competitionrules (section 9); Stateaid (section10); harmonisation oflaws (section11); social law (sectionI2);law concerningexternal relations (section13); environmental law (section14); transportpolicy (section 15); tax law (section16); commonagricultural policy (section17); andlaw relatingto Communityofficials (section 18). A selectionof this kind is necessarilytimited. It includesonly 53 of the 397 judgmentsand orderspronounced by the Court during the period in question and refersonly to their essentialpoints. The full texts of thosedecisions, of all the other judgmentsand orders and of the Opinions of the Advocates Generalare available,in all the official Communitylanguages, on the Court's internetsite (www.curia.eu.int).In order to avoidany confusionand to assist the reader,this report refers,unless otherwise indicated, to the numberingof EC Treaty articlesestablished by the Treaty of Amsterdam. 2. As regardsstatistics, the Courtbrought 398 cases to a close.Of those cases,244 were dealt with by judgments,one case concernedan opinion deliveredunder Article 300(6)EC and153 cases gave rise to orders.Although thesefigures show a certaindecrease compared with the previousyear (463 casesbrought to a close), they are slightly abovethe averagefor the years 1111 1997-99(approximately 375 casesbrought to a close).On the other hand,the number ofnumber ofnew casesnew arriving cases arrivingat theat Courtthe hasCourt stayedhas at stayed theat samethe level same (504(504level in 2001, 503 in 2000). Consequently,the number of casespending has increasedto 839 (net figure, takingaccount of joinder), comparedwith 803 in 2000. The durationofproceedings remained constant so far as concernsreferences for forpreliminary rulingspreliminary rulingsand directand actionsdirect (approximatelyactions 22 (approximately 22and 23and 23monthsmonths respectively). However,respectively). However,the theaverage timeaverage timetaken totaken todeal dealwith withappeals waswasappeals reducedfrom 19 monthsin 2000 to L6 monthsin 2001. As regardsthe distributionof casesbetween the Court in plenarysession and Chambersof Judges,the former disposedof one case in five (in 2000 it disposedof onecase in four), while the remainingjudgments and orderswere pronouncedby Chambersof five Judges(60Vo of cases)or of three Judges (almostone casein four). For further informationwith regardto the statisticsfor the 2001judicial year, referenceshould