Subsidiarity in the Jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Abstract

This paper will analyze and evaluate the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) on the interpretation and determination of the principle of subsidiarity, designed to regulate the proper balance between the EU institutions and Member States. The Court was left a very broad space in this direction also due to the lack of clarity in the legal provisions relating to the determination of “competence” before the Lisbon Treaty. The Court has been reluctant in the formulation of the principle of subsidiarity in terms of the distribution of powers between the Community (actually EU) and the Member States. In its jurisprudence the Court has recognized that subsidiarity is pertinent to how the Community has exercised the competences and not which are the competences of the Community. The Treaty of Lisbone clearly defines the areas where the EU has exclusive competence. Thus, The Court's approach to subsidiarity may change. Also, by determining the areas where powers of the EU are shared with the Member Staters will facilitate the judicial review in determining whether the action taken at EU level is fulfilled adequately and with good objectives.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n13p311