State liability and the preliminary reference procedure are two essential cornerstones of EU law. State liability ensures that individuals can claim compensation when a Member State fails to comply with EU law, while the preliminary reference procedure allows national courts to refer questions on the interpretation or validity of EU law to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to ensure consistent application across the EU.
While both principles are rooted in EU law, they require effective implementation at the national level. Member States are required to implement state liability into their national legal systems. Similarly, the preliminary reference procedure depends on the national courts’ discretion on whether to refer a case to the CJEU.
Spark will be providing a country report for each of the 27 Member States, reporting first, on the application of the rules on State liability for violations of Union law and, secondly, on the practice of making preliminary references to the CJEU under Art. 267 TFEU.
The country reports will provide the European Commission (DG JUST) with a set of qualitative assessments for each Member State, on current legal practice, the statutory framework, leading court cases and major relevant developments in handling two distinct concepts emanating from the case-law of the CJEU.
