The Community Courts Post-Nice

In December 2000 the European heads of government, gathered at Nice, took several important steps in the constitutional development of the European Union. Chief among them are the various provisions in the Treaty of Nice1 disposing of the so-called ‘Amsterdam leftovers’, ie, those issues of institutional reform left unresolved by the Treaty of Amsterdam. The central focus of IGC 2000, and of the publicity surrounding its negotiations, was reform of the political institutions, notably the Commission and the Council, in preparation for enlargement. Reform of the Community courts was a less conspicuous but, ultimately, no less important item on the agenda. In the case of the judicial branch, the new provisions are inspired in large part by the well-publicised need to remedy overburdened dockets and the attendant inefficiencies in the administration of justice in Luxembourg.2

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