THE BOTTOM LINE
- New Procedural Gate for Final Appeals: A recent CJEU ruling (Kubera) mandates that national supreme courts must consider referring EU law questions to the CJEU even when deciding whether to admit an appeal. This could add a new layer of complexity and time to high-stakes litigation.
- EU Law Strategy is Now Crucial: Businesses and their legal counsel must now integrate potential EU law arguments into their national appeal strategies from the very beginning, as this could become a gateway to having a case heard by a supreme court.
- Deepening Judicial Integration: This high-level meeting underscores a trend of closer alignment between national and EU courts, meaning businesses operating in Spain must be increasingly aware of how EU-level jurisprudence directly impacts domestic commercial disputes.
THE DETAILS
A recent working meeting between Spain’s Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) brought top judges, including their respective presidents Isabel Perelló and Koen Lenaerts, to the table to discuss critical shifts in European law. While such meetings signal ongoing judicial dialogue, this session focused on topics with immediate practical consequences for legal strategy across the Union, most notably a landmark ruling that reshapes the procedure for final appeals.
The central point of discussion was the CJEU’s judgment in Kubera (October 15, 2024). This ruling establishes a significant new obligation for national courts of last resort, like Spain’s Supreme Court. Previously, these courts could often dismiss an appeal at the admissibility stage based on purely national procedural grounds without delving into the substance. The Kubera decision changes this. Now, a supreme court cannot refuse to hear a case that involves a question of EU law without first analyzing whether it is obligated to seek a preliminary ruling from the CJEU. This effectively forces national high courts to engage with EU law arguments at the earliest gatekeeping phase of an appeal.
Beyond this crucial procedural shift, the courts also discussed the multi-level protection of fundamental rights and the ongoing challenges to the rule of law and judicial independence in Europe. For business leaders and general counsel, these discussions are more than academic. They represent a clear move towards a more deeply integrated European legal order. The reinforced dialogue ensures that legal principles are applied more uniformly, which can increase legal certainty. However, it also means that ignoring the EU law dimension of any significant national dispute is no longer a viable strategy.
SOURCE
General Council of the Judiciary (Spain)
