Who are the ‘gatekeepers’?: in continuation of the debate on direct applicability and direct effect of EU international agreements

Ghazaryan, Narine

Abstract

The article revisits the debate on direct applicability and direct effect of EU international agreements by questioning the role of the so called gatekeepers. It considers the established role of the Court of Justice of the EU as the gatekeeper of the EU legal order through identifying the stages of gatekeeping and their implications. It further analyses the possibilities of sidelining the Court through various techniques, which include the agreement between the parties to the international agreement. A more controversial challenge to the Court’s position stems from a practice emerging from Council decisions concluding a number of international agreements. These decisions make a strong pronouncement on the exclusion of direct effect for the entire agreement. The status of such pronouncements is analysed with reference to CJEU’s jurisprudence as well as the relevant rules of international law.

Citation

Ghazaryan, N. (2018). Who are the ‘gatekeepers’?: in continuation of the debate on direct applicability and direct effect of EU international agreements. Yearbook of European Law, 37, 27–74. https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/yey003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 4, 2018
• Online Publication Date: May 30, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2020
• Journal: Yearbook of European Law
• Print ISSN: 0263-3264
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-0044
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 37
• Pages: 27–74
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/yey003
• Keywords: EU international agreements, direct effect, direct applicability
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/934603
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/yel/advance-article/doi/10.1093/yel/yey003/5025740
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Yearbook of European Law following peer review. The version of record Narine Ghazaryan; Who Are the ‘Gatekeepers’?: In Continuation of the Debate on the Direct Applicability and the Direct Effect of EU International Agreements, Yearbook of European Law, , yey003, https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/yey003 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/yel/advance-article/doi/10.1093/yel/yey003/5025740.
• Contract Date: May 18, 2018