2004/407/EC,Euratom: Council Decision of 26 April 2004 amending Articles 51 and 54 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice
Date: 2004-04-26
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Court of Justice of the European Union, General Court (EU), jurisdiction

29.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 132/5

COUNCIL DECISION

of 26 April 2004

amending Articles 51 and 54 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice

(2004/407/EC, Euratom)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular the second paragraph of Article
245 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community, and in particular the second paragraph of
Article 160 thereof,

(5)

Having regard to the request of the Court of Justice of 12
February 2003,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament of 10
February 2004,

Having regard to the opinion of
November 2003,

the Commission of 10

(6)

Whereas:

Justice in order

redraft Article 51 of the Protocol on the Statute of the
Court of
to define the respective
jurisdictions of the Court of Justice and the Court of
First Instance, since the transfer of jurisdiction at first
to be
instance to the Court of First
significant and the criteria for allocation of jurisdiction
sufficiently clear to be understood unequivocally by the
institutions and the Member States.

Instance has

Actions brought by the Member States against acts of
the Council by which it exercises implementing powers
in accordance with the rules referred to in the third
indent of Article 202 of the EC Treaty should fall within
the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance. These are
cases where the Council has either reserved the right to
exercise implementing powers or has regained the right
to exercise such powers in the course of a ‘committee
procedure'.

Justice

concerning

the Court of

The provisions of Article 54 of the Protocol on the
Statute of
the
circumstances in which the Court of First Instance may
Justice
decline jurisdiction in favour of the Court of
should be amended so as to accord with the new
powers of the Court of First Instance. It is necessary to
allow for jurisdiction to be declined where related cases
are brought before the Court of Justice and the Court of
First Instance in which the outcome of one of them may
depend on that of the other,

and determine

Point (31) of Article 2 of the Treaty of Nice replaces
Article 225 of the EC Treaty by a new provision of
which the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 provides:
‘The Court of First Instance shall have jurisdiction to
hear
actions or
proceedings referred to in Articles 230, 232, 235, 236
and 238, with the exception of
those assigned to a
judicial panel and those reserved in the Statute for the
Court of Justice. The Statute may provide for the Court
of First Instance to have jurisdiction for other classes of
action or proceeding.'.

instance

first

at

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Article 3(13) of
amendment to the EAEC Treaty.

the Treaty of Nice made a similar

1. Article 51 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of

Justice shall be replaced by the following:

that

taken of

amendment

Account was
in the
provisional draft of Article 51 of the Protocol on the
Statute of the Court of Justice under which: ‘By way of
exception to the rule laid down in Article 225(1) of the
EC Treaty and Article 140a(1) of the EAEC Treaty, the
Court of
Justice shall have jurisdiction in actions
brought by the Member States, the institutions of the
Communities and the European Central Bank.'.

In accordance with the letter and general scheme of the
the new
new Article 225 of
is necessary to
Article 140a of

the EC Treaty and of

the EAEC Treaty,

it

‘Article 51

By way of derogation from the rule laid down in Article
225(1) of the EC Treaty and Article 140a(1) of the EAEC
Treaty, jurisdiction shall be reserved to the Court of Justice
in the actions referred to in Articles 230 and 232 of the
EC Treaty and Articles 146 and 148 of the EAEC Treaty
when they are brought by a Member State against:

(a) an act of or failure to act by the European Parliament
or the Council, or by both those institutions acting
jointly, except for:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

L 132/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.4.2004

— decisions taken by the Council under the third
subparagraph of Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty;

3.

the following new paragraph shall be added to Article 54
of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice:

— acts of the Council adopted pursuant to a Council
trade
the EC

regulation concerning measures to protect
within the meaning of Article 133 of
Treaty;

— acts of the Council by which the Council exercises
implementing powers in accordance with the third
indent of Article 202 of the EC Treaty;

(b) against an act of or failure to act by the Commission

under Article 11a of the EC Treaty.

Jurisdiction shall also be reserved to the Court of Justice in the
actions referred to in the same Articles when they are brought
by an institution of
the Communities or by the European
Central Bank against an act of or failure to act by the European
Parliament, the Council, both those institutions acting jointly,
the
the Commission, or brought by an institution of
or
Communities against an act of or
failure to act by the
European Central Bank.'.

a Member State

‘Where
the
Communities are challenging the same act, the Court of
First Instance shall decline jurisdiction so that the Court of
Justice may rule on those applications.'.

and an institution of

Article 2

the Court of First
Cases coming within the jurisdiction of
Instance by virtue of
this Decision and which have been
brought before the Court of Justice by the date on which this
Decision enters into force;

but

(a)

or

(b)

in which the proceedings have at that date been stayed in
accordance with the last sentence of the third paragraph of
Article 54 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of
Justice;

in which the proceedings have not at that date reached the
close of the written procedure as defined in Article 44 of
the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice

2.

the third paragraph of Article 54 of the Protocol on the
Statute of the Court of Justice shall be replaced by the
following:

shall be referred to the Court of First Instance.

Article 3

‘Where the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance
are seised of cases in which the same relief is sought, the
same issue of interpretation is raised or the validity of the
same act is called in question, the Court of First Instance
may, after hearing the parties, stay the proceedings before
it until such time as the Court of Justice has delivered
judgment. In the same circumstances, the Court of Justice
may also decide to stay the proceedings before it; in that
event, the proceedings before the Court of First Instance
shall continue.'.

This Decision shall take effect on the first day of the second
month following that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Union.

Done at Luxembourg, 26 April 2004.

For the Council

The President

B. COWEN