Relationship between infringement proceedings applied by the European Commission and the WTO law
Relationship between infringement proceedings applied by the European Commission and the WTO law

Author(s): Gina Orga Dumitriu
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Law on Economics, EU-Legislation, Commercial Law, Comparative Law
Published by: Societatea de Stiinte Juridice si Administrative
Keywords: infringement proceedings; the WTO dispute settlement procedure; General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); freedom to provide services; freedom of establishment; education services;
Summary/Abstract: The analysis of the interaction between the legal order of the Union and the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) would be incomplete without a critical assessment of how European judges and panels and the WTO appellate body contribute to the articulation between the two legal systems. The Court has rejected the direct applicability of WTO law in settled case-law. This merely means, however, that Member States, in an action for annulment, or the parties in a reference for preliminary ruling on the validity of an EU act, may not rely on the incompatibility of an EU act with the WTO Agreement. The possibility of basing infringement proceedings on an infringement of WTO law does not run counter to the aims and particular character of dispute settlement in the WTO and can ensure the effective enforcement of any negative ruling by the WTO dispute settlement bodies. If the European Union was not able to bring infringement proceedings against Member States in such cases, the internal implementation of international trade law would even be seriously jeopardised.

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