e-News 2025/2

Editorial

Dear Colleagues,

On 27 May 2025, in a symbolic handover ceremony held during the General Assembly of our Association, the Hellenic Council of State assumed the Presidency of ACA-Europe for the next two years. In the two days preceding the Assembly, thanks to the warm hospitality and excellent organisation of our Finnish colleagues, we had the opportunity to combine – as we say in Greek since antiquity – “τὸ τερπνὸν μετὰ τοῦ ὠφελίμου” (the pleasant with the beneficial).

The topics discussed at the Helsinki colloquium on 26 May – Summary returns of immigrants and asylum seekers (“pushbacks”) and Climate change litigation – highlighted major challenges currently faced by the supreme administrative courts of ACA-Europe, as well as shared and divergent approaches of our courts to resolving relative issues.

In the evening, we enjoyed a dinner accompanied in part by classical music, performed by a colleague from the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, on the beautiful island of Suomenlinna, located at the entrance of Helsinki’s harbour.

On the final day, during the General Assembly, I had the opportunity to express my gratitude to the staff of the supreme administrative courts of Finland and Sweden – through the President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland Kari Kuusiniemi and the President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden Helena Jäderblom – for their successful co-presidency of our Association over the past two years, which was the result of hard and dedicated work.

We also welcomed, as an observer in our proceedings, the President of the Supreme Cassation Administrative Court of Ukraine, part of the Ukrainian Supreme Court, Mykhailo Smokovych, who spoke to us with dignity and composure about the suffering of his fellow citizens as a result of the war launched by Russia against Ukraine in 2022, which tragically continues to this day. During the same Assembly, we also bid a formal farewell to the much-appreciated colleague, President of the Studies, forecasting and cooperation section of the French Council of State and member of our Association’s Board Martine de Boisdeffre. Our words of thanks could not, of course, omit the constant collaborator of every ACA-Europe President – the Secretary General Geert Debersaques and his team, with Joris Casneuf at the forefront.

Since then, and in line with its commitment to promoting the rule of law within the EU and its obligations vis-à-vis the European Commission, our Association contributed – through the Transversal Analysis 2024 entitled “Mechanisms and roles of supreme administrative courts for ensuring the enforcement of judicial decisions” – to the preparation of the EU Justice Scoreboard 2025. It also participated, via the General Secretariat, in the consultation process with the European Commission in view of drafting the annual Rule of Law Report for 2025.

Dear colleagues,

As you are aware, the guiding theme of the Hellenic Presidency is summarised under the title: “The administrative judge faced with current challenges.” As I mentioned in my address in Helsinki, this title reflects a reality we all experience: Our societies are confronted with unprecedented and complex challenges: environmental (in particular, the climate crisis and the sharp rise in tourism in urban and non-urban areas), technological (including the integration of digital technology and artificial intelligence into the organisation and functioning of public administration and administrative justice), socioeconomic (especially immigration and the influx of refugees into Europe, coupled with the demographic decline in the continent), financial (including the distribution and collection of taxes, the effectiveness of fiscal controls, and the expansion of interstate cooperation on related matters), etc. These challenges unfold amid increasingly intricate geopolitical conditions in both Europe and the broader world. Administrative courts – and above all the supreme administrative jurisdictions, by virtue of their institutional weight – are inevitably at the forefront of these transformations. They are called upon to adjudicate legal disputes arising from acts or omissions of public authorities that are deeply interwoven with these very challenges, all while remaining faithful to the European values of humanism and the rule of law, in the face of attempts to relativise or revise them.

The first of these challenges – climate change and the resulting climate crisis – and its legal treatment by administrative judges, constitutes the core theme of the first seminar of the Hellenic Presidency of ACA-Europe, which, as you already know, will take place in Athens on 10–11 November 2025, just one day after the authentic Athens Marathon.

Our intention is to continue and deepen the dialogue that began in Helsinki on this topic, with particular emphasis on its international and European dimension, while also shedding light on new related aspects such as overtourism.

Naturally, as … descendants of Xenios Zeus and Plato, we could not omit “the pleasant” aspect of our encounter: A formal dinner – a modern “symposium” – will take place on the evening of Monday, 10 November, with a view of the Acropolis, following a guided tour of its emblematic Museum. In parallel, a visit for accompanying persons is scheduled for the morning of the same day to Cape Sounion, while a cultural visit, open to all participants and partners, is planned for Tuesday, 11 November, after the close of the seminar’s proceedings.

Afterwards, our German colleagues will take over, organising the next seminar of the Hellenic Presidency on 2 February 2026, in Leipzig, under the title: “Redefining the terms and limits of judicial review, particularly in relation to disputes of a highly technical nature.”

The Hellenic Council of State and the General Secretariat of ACA-Europe look forward to welcoming you in Athens!

Michail Pikramenos,
President of ACA-Europe
President of the Hellenic Council of State

Seminars, Colloquia, Board meeting and General Assembly

Past spring was an eventful period for ACA-Europe, marked by several key events in Helsinki. On 25 May 2025, the ACA-Europe Board met, followed by a colloquium on 26 May 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.” The General Assembly took place on 27 May 2025.

The colloquium featured a variety of thought-provoking topics and inspired fruitful discussions, guided by insights from the general report, available here.

Discussions focused on how national supreme administrative courts view and apply the advisory opinion mechanism introduced by Protocol no. 16. Contributions came from courts in countries that have already used this relatively new instrument, as well as from those in states that have yet to ratify the protocol.

The impact of judgments by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was also explored, with particular attention to two timely and pressing areas: climate change litigation and the practice of “push-backs” in immigration law. Although distinct in nature, both themes challenge administrative judges to interpret core human rights provisions in ways that reflect today’s evolving legal, social, and scientific contexts. A web summary is available here.

The Helsinki events also marked the end of the Finnish Presidency of ACA-Europe. During the General Assembly, Mr Kari Kuusiniemi, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, and Ms Helena Jäderblom, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, officially passed the Presidency to Mr Michail Pikramenos, President of the Council of State of Greece. The guiding principles of the Hellenic Presidency for 2025–2027 are available here.

The first major seminar under the Hellenic Presidency will take place in Athens on 10 and 11 November 2025. Titled “Climate Change – Climate Crisis / Overtourism”, the seminar will focus on the role of administrative judges in addressing the legal challenges posed by the climate crisis and overtourism. The event will consist of three sessions: two on Monday 10 November and one on the morning of Tuesday 11 November. President Michail Pikramenos’s invitation letter and the registration form were sent to members on 23 May 2025. The deadline for registration was 20 June 2025.

Looking ahead, the Federal Administrative Court of Germany, in cooperation with ACA-Europe, will host a seminar in Leipzig on 2 February 2026 entitled “Redefining the terms and limits of judicial review, particularly in relation to disputes of a highly technical nature”. The focus will be on how courts can ensure access to justice and avoid denial of justice in technically complex cases, such as those involving environmental, telecommunications, planning or public procurement law. Topics will include the handling of scientific and technical information in court, the involvement of experts, and the evaluation of technical norms and standards. The seminar is designed to serve as a point of comparison and a point of best practice in order to facilitate the administrative judge with more knowledge and skills in this part of his and her work. Therefore, the seminar addresses questions of gathering technical and scientific knowhow, involving experts in the procedure, evaluating technical standards and measuring the binding authority of technical documents and publications - be it legal norms or scientific standards. The seminar will also have to address questions regarding margins of appreciation of authorities in technical evaluations.

A preparatory questionnaire was sent to members on 29 May 2025, with a response deadline of 4 July 2025. President Andreas Korbmacher’s invitation letter and the registration form will be sent to members on 12 November 2025.

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

Jurifast

The following decisions have been selected for you:

	Italy Ruling of January 7, 2025 In this judgment, the Italian Council of State rules on the competence of the Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) to sanction a commercial practice involving the use of users' personal data for commercial purposes by Google Ireland Ltd. The case concerns two commercial practices considered unfair: insufficient information on the use of personal data when creating a Google account (‘misleading’ practice) and the default pre-selection of consent to the processing of data for advertising purposes (‘aggressive’ practice). Google challenged the AGCM's jurisdiction on the grounds that only the personal data protection authority (the Garante Privacy) could intervene in this area. The Conseil d'État rejected this argument, pointing out that data protection rules pursue an objective distinct from that of protecting consumers against unfair commercial practices. The court upheld the AGCM's jurisdiction insofar as the processing of personal data constitutes, in the context of a consumer relationship, an implicit economic consideration for the service provided. It specified that data protection regulations do not deprive the competition authority of its power to sanction unfair practices affecting consumers' freedom of choice. As a result, the higher administrative court confirms the penalties imposed on Google totaling €10 million. http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en?ID=4504
	France Ruling of May 5, 2025 In this judgment, the French Conseil d'Etat asks the Court of Justice of the European Union about the requirements applicable to consent in the context of electronic commercial canvassing. The dispute pits Groupe Canal+ against the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL), which fined the company €600,000 for conducting canvassing campaigns without obtaining valid consent from the individuals concerned. The data used had been collected by internet service providers, who mentioned possible use by their ‘partners’, without the latter being identified. The Conseil d'Etat questions the CJEU on two essential points: 1. Can a consent given to an initial collector (in this case, ISPs), targeting a general category of recipients (such as ‘partners’), be considered free, specific, informed and unambiguous within the meaning of the GDPR, allowing a third-party company to carry out canvassing without any further collection of consent? 2. If such consent is possible, is the level of precision required in the designation of this ‘category’ legally decisive, or can it be limited to a vague term such as ‘partner’? Pending a response from the CJEU, the Conseil d'État has suspended its ruling on Canal+'s appeal. http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en?ID=4539
	Netherlands Ruling of April 23, 2025 This case concerns the termination of the temporary protection granted to third-country nationals who had obtained a temporary residence permit in Ukraine and the legality of the return decisions adopted in their regard. The Council of State of the Netherlands asked the Court of Justice of the European Union whether third-country nationals who were temporarily resident in Ukraine before the conflict, and who benefit in the Netherlands from temporary protection granted by the Member State on the basis of a mere option on the part of the latter (in accordance with Article 7, §1 of Directive 2001/55/EC), must be protected for a period equivalent to that provided for Ukrainians, stateless persons and third-country nationals permanently resident in Ukraine - who are covered by the compulsory temporary protection which the Member States must grant pursuant to Article 5 of that Directive. The question raised is therefore whether the protection granted on an optional basis may end before the expiry of the period of compulsory protection and its extension decided by the Council (Article 4(2) of the Directive), or whether this protection must be maintained until the end of that period. The Court replied under the accelerated procedure in December 2024 that a Member State may terminate the temporary protection of third-country nationals who have made a temporary stay in Ukraine earlier than for Ukrainians, stateless persons and third-country nationals with permanent residence who have been offered compulsory temporary protection. The Court justified its decision on the grounds of the optional nature of this protection, which Member States may offer to this type of person. Following the CJEU ruling, the Dutch Council of State issued a ruling on 23 April, holding that the temporary protection offered to third-country national applicants who had a temporary stay in Ukraine could end earlier than that offered to Ukrainians, stateless persons and third-country nationals with permanent residence status. The applicants' appeal was therefore dismissed. http://www.aca-europe.eu/index.php/en/jurifast-en?ID=4408

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 237 members from 34 institutions.

Since the last e-news, 8 new collective questions have been asked and 11 countries have actively participated with 30 answers: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, France, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.

The following topics were discussed:

• Correction of ESPD-related mistakes after the application deadline
• Legal regime applicable to collective agreements made in the civil service (3 answers)
• Service of official documents by deposit (4 answers)
• Food supplement or medicinal product? (5 answers)
• Protection of human dignity in broadcasting (4 answers)
• Taxation of Income from Prostitution (4 answers)
• State fees and security deposits (7 answers)
• Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Family Relationships (3 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 2/25 | Flash 3/25 | Flash 4/25 | Flash 5/25

Follow-up of preliminary ruling: Flash 2/25 | Flash 3/25

National decisions of interest: Flash 1/25 | Flash 2/25

Monthly case-law digest CJEU: April 2025 | May 2025 | June 2025

Judge Exchange

The 2025 Judges exchange programme is currently in full swing. The 2026 edition, like the previous ones, has generated great enthusiasm. As announced at the General Assembly in Helsinki, the General Secretariat is in the process of informing each applicant of the outcome of their application. The Secretariat wishes all successful candidates a fruitful traineeship and thanks them in advance for their internship reports, which contribute to the dissemination of ACA-Europe’s activities.

The General Secretariat also encourages those who were not selected not to hesitate to apply again in the future. Finally, the Secretariat warmly thanks the host courts for their generous availability.

EU Justice Scoreboard

On 1 July 2025, the European Commission adopted the 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

The EU Justice Scoreboard presents an annual overview of indicators on the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems. Its purpose is to assist the Member States improve the effectiveness of their national justice systems by providing objective, reliable and comparable data.

Figure 49 of the scoreboard was compiled on the basis of data provided by ACA-Europe to the European Commission as part of the 2024 cross-sectional analysis.

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:

• Raad van State Nederland / Council of State Netherlands, Yearly Report of the Council of State 2024 : “Beschouwing: Krachtig en kwetsbaar. De waarde van democratie” / “Reflection: Powerful and Vulnerable: the Value of Democracy”, 2024

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.

Rule of Law Report 2025

On 8 July 2025, the European Commission adopted the latest annual Rule of Law Report.

This edition highlights continued progress in the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems across the EU, while placing greater emphasis on their role in supporting the Single Market, as set out in President von der Leyen's Political Guidelines.

Many Member States advanced justice reforms, including efforts to strengthen judicial independence, enhance the autonomy of prosecutors, and improve digitalisation. However, in several countries reforms remain slow, and resource constraints continue to affect the quality and efficiency of justice.

In the fight against corruption, a number of Member States adopted new strategies and reinforced institutional capacity. Nonetheless, further action is needed to prevent conflicts of interest, ensure transparency in lobbying, and effectively investigate and prosecute corruption cases.

Media freedom and pluralism also remain central. Member States are aligning with the new European Media Freedom Act, taking steps to ensure fair public advertising, strengthen media regulators, and improve journalist protection. Despite progress, concerns persist regarding media independence and ownership transparency.

On institutional checks and balances, reforms in a number of Member States are under way to improve legislative processes and civil society engagement. Still, challenges such as unstable legislation and constraints on civil society related to funding or registration requirements remain in several Member States.

Across all four pillars, the report emphasises the importance of rule of law for the business environment and the Single Market. The Commission encourages dialogue at national and EU levels and calls on Member States to address the challenges identified. It remains committed to supporting reforms and enhancing democratic resilience across the Union.

The press release is available here and the full report along with related materials are available on this website.

EUfLP Annual conference 2025

On 14 November 2025, the European Forum of the Legal Professions (EUfLP) is hosting its Annual Conference, on the following topic: “The Need for Constant Vigilance - The Role of the Legal Professions in Maintaining Democratic Values”.

Please find the detailed programme brochure here. The conference will be organised in hybrid form, with possibility for ACA members to join the conference in person in Brussels.

Online participants can take the floor or address written questions to the panel through a live chat in Zoom. The link will be provided after registration.

There is only a limited number of places available for face-to-face participants. After registering you will be notified in due course if you have been selected.

Registration is available here.

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

2025 EU Justice Scoreboard

e-Library

Rule of Law Report 2025

EUfLP Annual conference 2025

Members' News

Agenda

Cross-sectional analysis

2024

Following the successful completion of the data analysis phase, the initial draft of the cross-sectional analysis 2024, 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”, was sent to members for feedback on Saturday 24 May 2025.

Members were invited to review the document and contribute comments and corrections by Monday 30 June 2025. All input was subsequently taken into account in the preparation of the final version.

The final report was concluded and sent to members on 24 September 2025 and was published on the ACA-Europe website shortly thereafter. It is available here.

2025

As for the 2025 cross-sectional analysis, the Board of ACA-Europe has selected the following topic:

“Economic Dimension of Administrative Court procedures – Mapping of competences and procedural mechanisms at the level of Supreme Administrative Courts for business-related procedures.”

The working group will contribute to the EU Justice Scoreboard 2026, focusing in particular on areas such as permits, concessions, public procurement, tax, intellectual property, administrative delays affecting businesses, and more. It will also explore levels of specialisation, efficiency mechanisms (including for mass litigation), preliminary reference procedures, and cost-related aspects such as legal aid and fee caps.

The kick-off meeting for this year’s cross-sectional analysis took take place on Monday 15 September 2025, in Rome, Italy, hosted by the Council of State of Italy.

The outcome of this meeting will serve to align the working group on key aspects such as the scope of the analysis, the methodology of the questionnaire, the distribution of tasks, and the overall timeline.