Direct Effect EU Law: The Case Of Van Gend En Loos V Nederlandse Administratie Der Belastingen

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The case of Van Gend En Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen (1963) – (VGL); where the Van Gend Loos (German company) were faced with importing charges by the Dutch tax collector; with regards to EU law the Treaty of Rome had created a customs union and Article 12 EEG prohibited these duties, the question then arose whether a company (legal person) directly invoke Article 12 EEG even though it clearly states that agreements are between states, not people. The courts thus decided on a criterion which needed to be fulfilled to invoke a treaty without member state implementation.” Below I will distinguish what this criterion is and the impact VGL’s judgment has had on shaping the allocation of individual rights and the emphasis it has on EU Law today.

The fulfillment of this criterion is known as direct effect (Defrenna V Sabena 1976); the criteria is as follows: The provision… needs to be sufficiently clear and precise, must be unconditional, leave no room for the exercise of discretion in its implementation by and institution or national authority. When satisfied the legislation has direct effect. However this criterion can be criticized as while implementing direct effect EU law in 1963 overshadowed the fact that VGL ignored, concerns for subjective rights, which have changed significantly, and there is more to say today on the obligations imposed on the Treaty on individuals because of the evolvement of societal, political and ethical norms. Thus this can be used to criticize the significance of VGL as one can argue that the “transformation of Europe” has been so rapid and profound that VGL may not be any help to face modern-day trials concerning EU enforcement trials as national courts have complexified.

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The court of justice of the European Union (CJEU) described the VGL judgment as to the “Source of and a framework for the principles which have shaped the constitutional structure of the European Union”, This is evident as

Post VGL, EU law has taken a new direction in which the judgment has led to the development of granting directly enforceable EU rights to individuals and authorizing national courts to protect those rights, in conjunction with the “access to justice” concept within the meaning of the Lisbon treaty – considering their importance for the realization of the EU individuals substance. The development of the Lisbon treaty further strengthens the vitality of VGL judgment as the access to justice is interpreted to be a development of VGL to fit into modern-day trials.

In conclusion, I believe VGL over the years has become slightly insufficient and has lost meaning today as it now stands for something which well understood by the “lawyers and officials who maneuvered to generate a narrative at that time”. However despite possessing flaws, The European court’s effort to protect individual rights should be recognized and praised as it provided a rich symbolism and idealism for EU law, and still remains a case today in which University students have to know therefore proving importance.

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