Nordiska Institutet för Europarättsforskning (NIELS)

The General Court ⚖️🇪🇺 is now hearing references for a preliminary ruling (cases sent to the CJEU by national courts) in limited fields. One of these fields is harmonised VAT questions under the Directive 🧾 One of the first cases it will hear is a reference from The Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden ⚖️🇸🇪 Institutionalists will note this type of case will see a judge 'act' as an Advocate General in the case, and deliver an Opinion. This novelty of Opinions of judges of the General Court is being revised, after last being seen in 1992...! For more, see the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dunDWzWd

The Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB ⛏️⚒️🚧🚜 is unhappy with the way the European Commission 🇪🇺 has allocated emission allowances for the production of iron ore pellets under its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). LKAB lost its case in the General Court, and are now appealing to the Court of Justice within the Court of Justice of the European Union 🇪🇺⚖️ In her Opinion, Advocate General Kokott has advised the Court that they should dismiss the appeal. For more, see the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dMPJNEeM #EUlaw #CJEU #MiningLaw #ETS

State liability for judicial decisions ❌⚖️ This has been possible in the EU of the EEA since the Köbler judgment ('the Köbler doctrine') of the Court of Justice of the European Union 🇪🇺⚖️, but rarely seen in practice. Yet the existence of the doctrine has never been explicitly confirmed in the EFTA pillar of the EEA by the EFTA Court 🇪🇺⚖️ Now there is the opportunity for clarity. The Eidsivating Court of Appeal (Eidsivating lagmannsret) 🇳🇴⚖️ has asked for an advisory opinion of the EFTA Court on the question. More on the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dqCvndSg #EEAlaw #EFTACourt #StateLiability #Köbler

A Finnish pharmaceutical company, Orion Corporation 🇫🇮⚕️, has argued before the EU General Court that the European Commission's decision to grant marketing authorisation to a medicinal product by a rival company for human use should be annulled. It pleaded that the Commission, following the European Medicines Agency 🇪🇺, had failed to properly evaluate all relevant data and regulatory criteria in making the determination. The General Court agreed on the basis of one of its pleas, and annulled the authorisation 🇪🇺⚖️ For more, see the NIELS website. https://lnkd.in/dJ484AAy #EUlaw #CJEU #Pharmaceuticallaw #EUpharmalaw

There are numerous proceedings in different fora concerning the lawfulness of the EU windfall tax on companies in the energy sector (Regulation 2022/1854) 🇪🇺💶 There is now another before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ⚖️, part of The World Bank, with Denmark 🇩🇰 as the responding state. The owner of the Kalundborg oil refinery 🛢️, a private investor, wants their money back from the Danish tax authorities 🧾 https://lnkd.in/dtH4uuzQ

The Western High Court of Denmark (Vestre Landsret) 🇩🇰⚖️ wants to know more about Article 12 of the VAT Directive. So it sent a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union 🇪🇺⚖️ The question, in essence: does land with only foundations laid constitute a 'building' (meaning no VAT owed), 'parts of a building' (meaning no VAT owed), or 'building land' (meaning VAT is owed) 🏗️ The Seventh Chamber has provided judgment in the dispute between Skatteministeriet (on behalf of the tax authority) 🇩🇰, and some private investors 🇩🇰. See more on the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dK3x9Zyx #EUlaw #CJEU #VAT #EUtaxlaw

Self-employed people 👔👨🏭 must be able to retain their right to stay affiliated with the social security system of the state they live in, even if they derive income from economic activity in other European states 📈 This cross-pillar EEA case at the Court of Justice of the European Union 🇪🇺⚖️ saw the individual with economic activity in the EU 🇦🇹, in an EFTA-EEA state 🇱🇮, and a third state 🇨🇭. Such a benefit for the self-employed, however, involves an individual assessment under the applicable EU/EEA secondary law. For more, see the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/gu8-hsyX #EUlaw #EEAlaw #CJEU #EUSwitzerland #SocialSecurityCoordination

Svendborg District Court (Retten i Svendborg) 🇩🇰⚖️ has made its first ever reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union under Article 267 TFEU 🇪🇺⚖️ The case: two German social security institutions 🇩🇪 seeking recoupment from an insurance company in Denmark 🇩🇰 The question❔: whether social security institutions can rely on the national law (of Germany) when seeking recoupment in cross-border cases (and benefit from the Social Security Coordination Regulation), or whether they must adhere to the legal provisions of the Member State (Denmark) where a workplace injury occurred? More on the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dGfSCujA #EUlaw #CJEU #RetteniSvendborg #SocialSecurityCoordination

If a national competition authority (e.g., Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto (KKV) of Finland 🇫🇮) imposes conditions for a merger to proceed, it expects those conditions to be respected. But happens if they are not? 🛑 Well, they use will their powers to seek a judicial imposition of a penalty payment (fine) on the company 💶 The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority 🇫🇮 brought proceeding against Valio for breaching such conditions before the Market Court of Finland 🇫🇮⚖️, which this week imposed a €600,000 fine on the company. This is the first such case of its kind in Finland. For more, see the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dQ3K2NE2

EEA port security law ⚓🚢⛴️ Yes, it is a thing, and according to the EFTA Surveillance Authority 🇪🇺, Norway 🇳🇴 is consistently and systematically failing to give effect to the demands of the applicable directive, which also poses a risk to the protection of maritime infrastructure ⚓🛳️ A letter of formal notice has been issued as part of open infringement proceedings. More on the NIELS website: https://lnkd.in/dyHC2RtA #EEAlaw #Portsecurity #MaritimeInfrastructure