Op-Ed: “The UK Supreme Court ‘seriously compromised the EU legal order’: the European Court of Justice judgment in Commission v UK (Case C-516/22)” by Panos Koutrakos

Introduction

More than four years after the United Kingdom had left the European Union, in Commission v UK (Case C-516/22) the Court of Justice held that the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ‘seriously compromised the EU legal order’ (para. 87): by handing down the Micula judgment, the UKSC  misinterpreted and misapplied Article 351 TFEU, violated the duty of cooperation under Article 4(3) TEU, failed to refer to the Court of Justice under Article 267 TFEU, and infringed the duty laid down in Article 108(3) TFEU. This Op-ed will examine the first three grounds.

The significance of the judgment is threefold. First, it illustrates the long arm of EU law which may extend beyond Brexit. Second, it adds yet another piece in the developin