e-News 2025/1

Editorial

Dear Colleagues,

Spring is a time of hope and new life, which is very tangible here in the North where the nature awakens with each passing day. There is a buzz of activity also within our association, which proves its relevance as a forum for co-operation.

In March, the Councils of State of the Netherlands and Belgium treated us to a successful seminar at Kneuterdijk Palace in the heart of The Hague. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to vice-president Thom de Graaf and first president Wilfried van Vaerenbergh for excellent content and arrangements. The seminar covered several aspects of contributing to the quality of legislation, including the independent general legislative advisory function and consultations with supreme administrative courts, constitutional review ex ante by advisory bodies and administrative courts, and judicial dialogue with the legislator. We also discussed best practices in contributing to the quality of legislation. Once again, we were able to learn a great deal from each other.

In the evening, we were guided through the fine galleries of the Kunstmuseum. We saw Piet Mondrian’s life and progress towards abstract art unfold before our eyes. A rich and memorable day was rounded off with a nice walking dinner. During the evening, we exchanged thoughts on the state of the rule of law in Europe, a source of recurrent concern requiring attention of the judicial networks of the European Union.

At the time of writing, the finishing touches are being put to the 2024 cross-sectional analysis on “Mechanisms and roles of Supreme Administrative Courts in ensuring the enforcement of judicial decisions, with a focus on decisions relating to EU law, human rights, and fundamental rights.” To all of you who give of your time – be it by filling out questionnaires or by joining working groups – I want to say that the work you do for the benefit of our common good is not going unnoticed. It is thanks to all our efforts that the association is flourishing.

The theme of the 2023 cross-sectional analysis was the climate, and more precisely the efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial review by supreme administrative courts, and how the courts address alleged failures in governmental action towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. The topic aligned closely with the symposium on “Climate, Environment and Land Use”, which took place during the Inari seminar in May 2024, as part of the ACA-Europe Dissemination Strategy.

Climate change litigation and summary returns of migrants and asylum-seekers will be the centre of attention during the colloquium in Helsinki on 25–27 May 2025. The perspective will be the dialogue with the European Court of Human Rights and the impact of both the Court’s judgments and its advisory opinions. The overarching theme of the colloquium – dialogue with one of the two European courts – will form a natural continuation of the topics discussed in Stockholm, Zagreb, and Inari. As was the case during the Versailles seminar last November, the judicial networks of the European Union will be represented, too.

The General Assembly will decide on a resolution to welcome the Supreme Court of Ukraine to the association as an observer. This is, indeed, a very important step. The participation of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in the activities of the association will be valuable and beneficial for all parties. Towards the end of the assembly, President Michail Pikramenos will present the programme of the upcoming Greek Presidency. Then it will be time for me to hand over the presidency to the Hellenic Council of State. After the farewell lunch, a small delegation of colleagues will join me for a seminar at the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki. The event will form part of the ACA-Europe Dissemination Strategy and conclude the Finnish Presidency.

The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland and the General Secretariat of ACA-Europe look forward to welcoming you in Helsinki!

Kari Kuusiniemi
President of ACA-Europe
President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland

Seminars, Colloquia, Board meeting and General Assembly

Reflecting on the recent seminar in The Hague on 17 and 18 March 2025, we focused on enhancing legislative quality. Organized by the Councils of State of the Netherlands and Belgium, the event served as a valuable platform for dialogue and the sharing of best practices.

Building on the 15 May 2017 seminar, which explored tools and mechanisms to improve legislative quality, this seminar further examined legislative advice and judicial feedback - key areas for ACA-Europe members.

The discussions centred on the role of advisory bodies, such as the Councils of State ex ante, as well as the role of Supreme Administrative Courts both ex ante and ex post, in providing feedback to improve practical effectiveness, proportionality, and fairness of legislation.

The general report of the Hague seminar, based on a semi-structured questionnaire with 54 questions, analysed 33 national reports, highlighting trends and practices regarding legislative advisors and administrative courts providing feedback to enhance legislation. Both the general report and the 33 national reports are available here. A web summary will soon be available here.

Looking ahead, ACA-Europe has several key events planned this spring, including a board meeting on 25 May 2025 in Helsinki, followed by a seminar on 26 May 2025 titled “Dialogue with the European Court of Human Rights: Advisory Opinions under Protocol No. 16 to the Convention and the Impact of the Court’s Judgments at the National Level”, and the General Assembly on 27 May 2025. A formal invitation, program, and registration details were sent on 17 February 2025, with the registration deadline of 7 March 2025. The Helsinki colloquium, held at the Supreme Administrative Court in central Helsinki, will mark the conclusion of the Finnish presidency, in close cooperation with Sweden, as the General Assembly will transition the presidency to the Greek Council of State. Both the general and national reports will soon be available here.

In the fall, we are excited to present the seminar “Change-Climate Crisis / Overtourism” on 9-10 November 2025 in Athens, Greece. Aligned with the Greek Presidency's Guiding Principle, this seminar will explore the critical role of administrative judges in addressing the climate crisis and overtourism. Presentations will examine regulatory frameworks across countries and assess the effectiveness of judicial methods in resolving these challenges. A questionnaire was distributed on 20 March 2025, and we kindly ask members to submit their reports by 30 April 2025.

Further details on the Athens seminar, including the invitation, agenda, and registration information, will be sent in due course.

We look forward to seeing many of our members at these upcoming events!

Jurifast

The following decisions have been selected for you:

	Czech Republic Ruling of January 15, 2025 This case highlights the importance of respecting the principles of good governance and transparency in the management of EU funds, by imposing strict requirements for the prevention of conflicts of interest, even when political circumstances change. The dispute concerns the rejection of a grant application submitted for a project entitled ‘Fattening of broiler chickens - Mikulovice’, due to a conflict of interest. The dispute concerns the fact that the historical founder of the AGROFERT Group, Mr Andrej Babiš - who was Prime Minister of the Czech Republic at the time of the audit - could have exerted undue influence on the allocation of subsidies, even though he had left office before the final rejection decision. The Supreme Administrative Court ruled that, in accordance with the rules applicable to grants, compliance with the relevant legislation - including the absence of a conflict of interest within the meaning of the national law on conflicts of interest (law no. 37/2021) - must be guaranteed throughout the processing of the grant application, and not just when it is submitted. It also pointed out that awarding a grant in the event of a conflict of interest would be contrary to Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013, which requires Member States to take all measures to prevent any conflict of interest in the management of European funds. http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en?ID=4530
	The Netherlands Ruling of February 12, 2025 The case raises the question of the relationship between a sectoral confidentiality regime, which is essential for aviation safety, and the fundamental right of access to information, particularly for the media when a major public interest is at stake. The dispute concerns access to information relating to the destruction of flight MH17 over Ukraine in July 2014. The RTL companies had requested, on the basis of Dutch legislation on administrative transparency, the disclosure of documents, including reports recorded in the European ECCAIRS database. The Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management refused this request, citing a specific confidentiality regime introduced by Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation. According to this regime, this sensitive information could only be communicated to certain persons, for purposes exclusively related to aviation safety. RTL challenged this restrictive interpretation, arguing that neither the EU Regulation nor national law provides for an absolute ban on disclosure, and that such a refusal could contravene freedom of expression and information, guaranteed both by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 11) and by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Dutch Council of State asked the Court of Justice about the exact scope of Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014. The CJEU ruled in its C-451/22 judgment of 18 January 2024 that information held by national authorities on aviation safety occurrences - such as incidents, accidents or threats to safety - is subject to a strict confidentiality regime, even when the request for access comes from a media company. The Court points out that that regime is aimed exclusively at improving air safety and excludes any use or disclosure for other purposes. Although this prohibition limits the right to information guaranteed by Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the CJEU considers that this limitation is justified, necessary and proportionate in the light of the general interest objective of air safety. The Court points out, however, that there are margins for openness, at the discretion of the national authorities, particularly in the form of anonymised information or in the context of judicial investigations. Ultimately, neither the public nor the media can claim a right of access to data covered by the regulation, even in the event of an event of major interest such as the destruction of flight MH17. Following this decision, the Dutch Council of State upheld the legality of the Infrastructure Minister's refusal of RTL's request for access to the reports, finding that despite the major societal interest attached to transparency in this case, the confidentiality imposed by Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 remains compatible with the right to freedom of information. http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en?ID=4230
	Germany Ruling of September 4, 2023 In this case, the Court provides an important clarification for so-called ‘frontier’ products, strengthening legal certainty and consumer protection. Following a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Federal Administrative Court in joined cases C-495/21 and C-496/21, the CJEU ruled on the legal classification of nasal products initially marketed as medical devices, but reclassified as medicinal products by the German authorities. The dispute concerned the boundary between the two legal regimes, in particular where it has not been scientifically established whether the product's main action is pharmacological. In its ruling of 19 January 2023, the Court held that, even in the absence of proof of a therapeutic effect, a product may be a medicinal product by presentation, within the meaning of Directive 2001/83/EC, if it is perceived as such by the consumer. It also confirmed that the ‘medicinal products’ directive takes precedence over the medical devices directive (93/42/EEC) when the product meets both definitions. Following this ruling, the German Federal Administrative Court concluded that : 1. A product presented as a medical device may legally be a medicinal product; 2. A pharmacological effect can exist without receptor mediation; 3. It is up to the manufacturer to demonstrate that the medical device conditions have been met. http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en?ID=4143

ACA-Europe reminds its members that it is very important that follow-up decisions (national decisions following a judgment of the Court of Justice in a preliminary ruling) are systematically introduced in JuriFast when the national decision asking the question is included in the database.

At the same time, the ECJ asks ACA-Europe to inform its members so that they systematically send all follow-up decisions directly to the Court at the address of the functional mailbox Follow-up-DDP@curia.europa.eu.

Remember, the Jurifast RSS feed can be obtained at the following address: http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en (possibility to subscribe to an RSS feed).

Forum

The forum of ACA-Europe currently has 240 members from 34 institutions.

Since the last e-news, 2 new collective questions have been asked and 7 countries have actively participated with 11 answers: Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland.

The following topics were discussed:

• Threat to public policy in SIS II/III Regulation (5 answers)
• Tax guarantee and compensation for tax authority misconduct (6 answers)

Access to the forum is reserved for the members of ACA-Europe, who can register for it at the following address: http://www.aca-europe.eu/forum/

Recent updates of CJEU ‘Flash News’ bulletins

From June 2022 onwards, all members of ACA-Europe are informed by ‘info flash’ of any recent updates of the CJEU ‘Flash news Bulletins’ published on the ACA-website.

For ease of access, please click the provided links to view the most recent editions.

ECHR: Flash 7/24 | Flash 8/24 | Flash 1/25

Follow-up of preliminary ruling: Flash 5/24 | Flash 1/25

National decisions of interest: Flash 4/24

Monthly case-law digest CJEU: November 2024 | December 2024 | January 2025 | February 2025 | March 2025

Judge Exchange

The Secretariat has concluded the 2024 judge exchange program. The 2025 exchange program is currently underway. The selection for the 2026 will be approved by the Board during its meeting of 25 May and presented the General Assembly on 27 May.

It is worth noting that the number of applications remains stable: slightly more than thirty candidates each year since the end of the Covid-19 lockdowns. An equitable distribution of the 18 grand-funded positions is ensured in accordance with the criteria established at the General Assemblies in Paris and Berlin, and the principles of gender equality.

e-Library of European administrative law

The e-Library of European administrative law, available here, contains high-level judicial and scientific references that cannot be found anywhere else or that only have restricted distribution overview.

The most recent contributions include:

• A. Pahladsingh, “Obligation for national Courts to review ex officio whether the Non-Refoulement Principle is violated in Situations where the Member State has issued a Return Decision against a third-country National (C-156/23, Ararat)”, EU Law Live, 19 November 2024.
• [ACA–Europe] Transversal analysis 2022: Fundamental rights in the perspective of the new generation of social rights
• Questionnaire
• Statistics
• Responses
• M. Johansson and O. Larsson, ‘The Commission v the Member States: who wins in court, and why?’, October 2022, Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS)
• A. Hofmann, M. Johansson and O. Larsson, ‘Enforcement and interpretation in EU infringement cases’. Paper presented at the 28th International Conference of Europeanists, Council for European Studies, University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal 29 June  - 1 July 2022
• O. Larsson and D. Naurin, ‘Judicial Independence and Political Uncertainty. How the Risk of Override Impacts on the Court of Justice of the EU’. 2016, International Organization 70.2
• O. Larsson and D. Naurin, ‘Agents, Activists, Allies or Trustees? Judicial Appointments and Behaviour in the Court of Justice of the EU’. Paper Presented at the ECPR General Conference, Oslo, 2017.
• K. Kuusiniemi, Right to a healthy environment: linking ecocentrism with anthropocentrism in H. Schoukens and F. Bouquelle, The Right to a Healthy Environment in and Beyond the Anthropocene: Liber Amicorum Luc Lavrysen,  Edward Elgar, 2024, pp. 166 et seq.
• [ACA–Europe] Transversal analysis 2023: Can the Supreme Administrative Courts save the climate (environment)?
• Definitions
• Questionnaire
• Statistics
• Responses

Have a look at our updated e-library here.

Call for contributions

We are actively seeking contributions to further enhance our collection. ACA-Europe welcomes submissions on a range of topics, including the hierarchy of norms, fundamental rights, the rule of law, access to justice, efficiency of administrative justice, European administrative law, and comparative procedural law. We strongly encourage submissions from both academic and policy/practice-based perspectives.

Are you acquainted with any noteworthy publications? Have you authored a piece related to European administrative law? Inform us, and we would be delighted to include it in our online collection. Reach out to us at anke.meskens@aca-europe.eu.

13th Annual European Judicial Training Report 2024

The Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers published the 13th Annual European Judicial Training Report, providing a comprehensive overview of judicial training efforts across Europe in 2023. The report evaluates progress towards the objectives set by the European Judicial Training Strategy for 2021–2024 and highlights key developments in EU law training for justice professionals.

The Annual Report measures the participation of justice professionals in judicial training in respect of EU law. In collaboration with all institutions involved in training justice professionals, annual reports have been published since 2011. The European Commission annually launches questionnaires to collect data to monitor the implementation of the objectives of the European Judicial Training strategy. This year’s results for 2023 motivate us all to boost EU law related national judicial training.

Please find the 2024 report with the 2023 data here.

Save the date: 2025 European Forum of the Legal Professions (EUFLP)

The European Forum of the Legal Professions (EUFLP) has officially announced the title of its 4th annual conference, to be held on 14 November 2025 in Brussels and online: The Need for Constant Vigilance: The Role of the Legal Professions in Maintaining Democratic Values. Uniting leading legal and judicial EU-level stakeholders, this event will once again offer a unique platform for interprofessional dialogue.

This current topic highlights increasing concerns about the erosion of democratic principles and the mounting pressures faced by legal and judicial professions in Europe.

What sets the EUFLP apart is its ability to unite a wide range of legal and judicial stakeholders at EU level. Representatives of ACA-Europe, the Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ), the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), the European Association of Judges (EAJ), the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), the European Union of Judicial Officers (UEHJ), the European Union of Rechtspfleger (E.U.R.), and the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the Member States recently convened in Brussels, hosted by the UIHJ, to agree on the forum’s central theme.

With high-level speakers, an interactive hybrid format, and a strong focus on the common challenges legal professions face, the EUFLP continues to serve as a vital meeting point for Europe’s legal professions. More details, including the full agenda and registration information, will be published shortly on www.euflp.eu.

Members' News

If you have news to share with your ACA Europe colleagues, whether it's the appointment of a new chairman, a significant change in your institution's operations, or the organization of an (international) seminar, feel free to reach out to us at anke.meskens@aca-europe.eu. We welcome your updates and contributions.

In this issue

Editorial

Seminars, Colloquia, Board meeting and General Assembly

Jurifast

Forum

Recent updates of CJEU ‘Flash News’ bulletins

Judge Exchange

Cross-sectional analysis

e-Library

Members' News

13th annual European judicial training report 2024

Save the date: 2025 European Forum of the Legal Professions (EUFLP)

Agenda

Cross-sectional analysis 2024

The 2024 cross-sectional analysis takes an in-depth look at how Supreme Administrative Courts ensure the effective enforcement of their rulings, focusing on the topic “Mechanisms and roles of Supreme Administrative Courts in ensuring the enforcement of judicial decisions, with a focus on decisions relating to EU law, human rights, and fundamental rights.”

The questionnaire was distributed among members, and active participation was strongly encouraged. The deadline for submission was Friday 31 January 2025. No fewer than 29 institutions completed the questionnaire, demonstrating strong engagement with this topic.

Having successfully completed the first two phases of the study - drafting the questionnaire and collecting responses - the working group has now progressed to the third and final phase of the analysis. This phase, carried out by the 2024 cross-sectional analysis working group, involves analyzing the collected data and drafting the final report.

Once the initial draft is completed, members of the working group and member institutions will have the opportunity to provide feedback. A final call for review will take place during the General Assembly, allowing any remaining members to contribute before the report is finalized.

The final report is scheduled for publication on the website by the end of June 2025.