Spirit, Are You There? Reinforced Judicial Dialogue and the Preliminary Ruling Procedure

Abstract

In the Nineties, the existence of a "spirit of cooperation" between the Court of Justice and the national courts was thoroughly discussed by the doctrine in the light of the preliminary ruling procedure and the requirements of admissibility. But what is the situation nowadays? Is the spirit still there? Is it still the same? And if yes, is it stronger? This article examines the extent of this cooperation having in mind the Lisbon Treaty, the resolution of the European Parliament on the role of the national courts in the European judicial system (July 2008) and the recent Court of Justice case law. Also, it has the ambition to put the issue into the theoretical and more general context of discursive legal pluralism.

Keywords: European law, judicial dialogue, European Court of Justice, national courts, uniformity, preliminary ruling procedure, Article 234 EC, Article 35 TEU, new urgent procedure and green light procedure