Arbitration's perspectives in the light of European Union regulations Part I

• Author: Cornelia Lefter
• Position: Bucharest University of Economic Studies
• Pages: 8-12

STUDIES AND COMMENTS

Arbitration’s perspectives in the light of European Union regulations

Part I1

Professor Cornelia LEFTER2

Abstract

The present study tries to identify the relationship between arbitration

(commercial arbitration) and the primary and secondary rules of EU law. Through a

systemic analyze of community doctrine and jurisprudence there will be identified the

points where the arbitration procedure interferes with regulations of EU law and which are

the perspectives to change these rules.

Keywords: arbitration, EU law, primary and secondary law, arbitrator, merits of

the case.

JEL Classification: K33, K41

1. Introduction

From the moment of their creation the European Communities were

provided with their own autonomous legal order, having a special and original

origin. Neither the founding Treaties3 nor the subsequent community Treaties have

any express mentions regarding the community new legal order and, consequently,

of the new sui generis legal system.

The community law has only general references to the principle that the

rule of law is observed within European Communities. Despite this gap, the Court

of Justice4 have always interpreted the community Treaties in the light of what it

considered to be an utile effect of their provisions (meaning, that the application of

the Treaties provisions shall insure the effective functioning of the European

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1 Part II will be published in the next issue.

2 Cornelia Lefter – Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Department of Law,

cornelialefter54@yahoo.com.

3 Founding Treaties are: the Treaty establishing the European Community of Steel and Coal (ECSC),

signed on 1st of April 1952 and entered into force on July 23, 1952; the Treaty establishing the

European Economic Community (EEC), and the Treaty establishing the European Community for

Atomic Energy (ECAE- or EURATOM), both signed on March 25 1954 and entered into force on

January 1st, 1958.

4 Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC) was the initial denomination of the judicial

instance of all three Communities. The denomination remained the same even after the Maastricht

Treaties, although in 1989 to this judicial instance was added another one, the so-called Tribunal of

First Instance. The CJEC denomination was changed only through the Lisbon Treaties. Now, under

the denomination of Court of Justice of the European Union, there are included the Court of Justice,

the General Court and the Tribunal of civil servants. All these judicial instances, together, form

now, the judicial system of the EU.