Preliminary References to the European Court of Justice by Arbitration Tribunals

Abstract

When a court or tribunal of an EU Member State is faced with a dispute which gives rise to questions concerning the interpretation or validity of an EU legal measure that must be answered in order for the national court to render its decision, Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union lays down that, prior to delivering its judgment, this court or tribunal may seek a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice. With the increased importance of EU law within those legal fields where arbitration is often used and with the growing number of arbitration proceedings, the preliminary ruling procedure may also be valuable to arbitration tribunals. However, the European Court of Justice has shown a pronounced reluctance when it comes to allowing arbitration tribunals access to use the preliminary reference procedure. This article provides an up-to-date examination of the Court of Justice’s approach to preliminary references from arbitration tribunals, and it considers the pros and cons of opening more up for such tribunals using the preliminary reference procedure. European Court of Justice, EU law, Preliminary references, Arbitration tribunals, Article 267 TFEU