''Flaminio Costa v ENEL'' (1964) Case 6/64 was a

landmark decision Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly ...

of the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European U ...

which established the primacy of

European Union law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

(then Community law) over the laws of its

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign s ...

.Hilf, Meinhard (2012). Costa v. ENEL case, in Wolfrum, Rudiger (ed.): ''The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 824.

Facts

Mr. Costa was an Italian citizen who had owned shares in an electricity company, Edisonvolta, and opposed the nationalisation of the electricity sector in Italy. He asked two lower courts in Milan (two different ''Giudici conciliatori'') to ascertain that the real creditor of his electricity bill (a relatively small amount of money, 1,925 lire) was the nationalised company, Edisonvolta, and not the newly established state company,

Enel Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established as a public body at the ...

. He argued that the nationalisation of the electricity industry violated the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

and the Italian Constitution. The first ''Giudice conciliatore'' of Milan referred the case to the

Italian Constitutional Court The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic ( it, Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sess ...

and the second ''Giudice conciliatore'' referred it to the

. The Italian Constitution Court gave judgement in March 1964, ruling that while the Italian Constitution allowed for the limitation of sovereignty under an international organisation like the European Economic Community, it did not upset that normal rule of statutory interpretation that, where two statutes conflict, the subsequent one prevails ('' lex posterior derogat legi anteriori/priori''). As a result, the Treaty of Rome which was incorporated into Italian law in 1958 could not prevail over the electricity nationalisation law which was enacted in 1962. In light of the decision of the constitutional court, the Italian government submitted to the ECJ that the Italian court's request for a preliminary ruling from the ECJ was inadmissible on the grounds that, as the Italian court was not empowered to set aside the national law in question, a preliminary ruling would not serve any valid purpose.

Judgment

The ECJ held that the Treaty of Rome rule on an undistorted market was one on which the Commission alone could challenge the Italian government. As an individual, Costa had no standing to challenge the decision, because that Treaty provision had no direct effect. However, Costa could raise a point of EC law against a national government, in legal proceeding before the courts in that member state, since EC law would not be effective, if Costa could not challenge national law on the basis of its alleged incompatibility with EC law.

Significance

This groundbreaking case established the principle of supremacy in EU law, which is an independent source of law that cannot be overridden by domestic laws. Article I-6 of the proposed European Constitution stated: ''"The Constitution and law adopted by the institutions of the Union in exercising competences conferred on it shall have primacy over the law of the Member States"''. The constitution was never ratified, after being rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005. Its replacement, the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

, did not include the article on primacy but instead included a declaration recalling the case-law. French Judge Robert Lecourt, who was on the Court from 1962 to 1976, would later argue these decisions "added nothing" other than to "give effect" to the treaties, an effect he felt was "commanded" by their being.R. Lecourt, L’Europe des Juges (1976), at 237.

Notes

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Judgment of the Court of 15 July 1964. Flaminio Costa v E.N.E.L. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Giudice conciliatore di Milano – Italy. Case 6–64Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 12 December 2002. French Republic v Commission of the European Communities. Action for annulment – State aid – Common organisation of the markets – Wine – Measures for adapting vineyards in Charentes. Case C-456/00
1964 in Italy European Union constitutional law Court of Justice of the European Union case law 1964 in case law Energy in Italy Italian case law

Facts

Judgment

Significance

See also

Notes

External links