‘Keep Calm and Carry on’: EU Legal Developments in 2016

摘要

For reasons not requiring much exposition, 2016 was an annus horribilis for the EU. A\udreview of the EU judiciary’s 2016 activity reveals that the constituent courts of the Court\udof Justice of the EU (CJEU), the Court of Justice and the General Court, do not have the\udluxury of existing above the tumult in splendid isolation. In a year in which old and new\udproblems for the EU dominated the headlines, these challenges found shape in justiciable\udcontroversies. In total, the Court of Justice and the General Court delivered 844\udjudgments in 2016, with the Grand Chamber, the Court of Justice’s upper tier, responsible\udfor 42 judgments, representing a reduction in the number of judgments compared to\udprevious years.1 The growth in the CJEU’s personnel continued, with an 11th\udAdvocate-General, Evgeni Tanchev (a Bulgarian), taking his place on the Court of\udJustice, and 22 General Court Judges appointed throughout the year, bringing the total\udnumber at the General Court to 44.2 2016 also saw the abolition of the Civil Service\udTribunal, a specialized court that had adjudicated disputes between the EU and its civil\udservants: its competences have been returned to the General Court.3\udThis contribution seeks to analyze the year’s most significant judgments in terms of\udtheir impact on European integration, with a particular focus on the approaches adopted\udby the EU judiciary in response to challenges facing the EU. In accordance with\udconvention, this contribution concentrates on the work of the Grand Chamber. In order\udto ensure continuity with previous years, this contribution confines itself to three subject\udareas. Section I provides a brief overview of the Grand Chamber’s activity in the area of\udeurozone crisis management, before providing a more in-depth analysis of its judgment in\udLedra Advertising.4 Section II examines developments in EU data protection law,\udparticularly the ruling in Tele2 Sverige.5 Section III discusses the Court’s development\udof EU citizenship rights in 2016.