The Reform of the EU Courts: The Need of a Management Approach. Egmont Paper No. 53, December 2011

Dehousse, Franklin (2011) The Reform of the EU Courts: The Need of a Management Approach. Egmont Paper No. 53, December 2011. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

In 2010, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, including some substantial changes concerning the EU courts. Meanwhile, their workload is progressively increasing. Specifically, the General Court’s backlog has become quite substantial. In 2011, the Court of Justice has presented an important proposal regarding this problem. It aims at adding 12 new judges (and consequently cabinets) to the General Court. The Commission has given its support and proposed some complex modalities concerning the appointment of judges. Such a reform of the General Court will have systemic consequences for the EU courts’ system. If the present proposals of the Court of Justice and the Commission are implemented in 2012, the General Court will have gone from 15 to 39 judges in only eight years. They thus require an analysis of the long term implications. Before that, they require an analysis of the productivity aspects. These have been barely debated until now. However, in the midst of a financial crisis, the legislative authorities may have legitimate questions about the budget impact. This paper aims at bringing some modest comments (this is a new and complex topic) regarding the managerial and financial aspects of the available options.

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