103
Deuxième séance de travail — Les retombées
Second working session — The impact
PANEL DE discussion ◊
DISCUSSANTS
The impact of
Van Gend
en Loos
beyond the scope
of EU law
Monica Claes
PROFESSOR, MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY
For anyone familiar with EU law, it will be clear that the importance
of
Van Gend en Loos
can hardly be overestimated (
1
). The very celebration of
its anniversary stands as proof of its importance.
Van Gend en Loos
has been
hailed as Europe’s
Marbury v Madison
, as the ‘cornerstone for its constitu-
tional evolution’ (
2
), as one of the twin pillars of EU law, together with
Costa
v
ENEL
, whose anniversary will be celebrated in 2014 (
3
). The story of
Van
Gend en Loos
and
Costa
v
ENEL
has been told many times, and has become a
mantra for EU lawyers: that the EU is different from any other international
organisation, placing the individual at centrer stage and involving her and the
national courts in the enforcement of EU law. While the company Van Gend
en Loos may no longer exist, it will live on as having forever changed the name
of the game of European integration.
Most importantly, together with
Costa
v
ENEL
, it has removed the enforce-
ment of EU law from the realm of diplomacy and international relations and
hence, from the domain of the executive. Whether or not treaty obligations
are complied with is no longer a choice for the executive, but a legal obligation
(
1
) Case 26/62
Van Gend en Loos
[1963] ECR 1 (English Special Edition).
(
2
) E. Stein, ‘Lawyers, Judges and the Making of a Transnational Constitution for Europe’, 38
American Journal of International Law
1981, 1.
(
3
) Case 6-64
Costa
v
ENEL
[1964] ECR 585.
