Constitutionalising the European Court of Justice? The role of Structural and Procedural Reforms

In the last five years, the Court of Justice of the European Union has undergone major developments, both in procedural and structural terms. This article seeks to demonstrate that the reforms undertaken by the CJEU will safeguard the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court on the interpretation of EU law and allow it to concentrate on the most relevant references for a preliminary ruling. In doing so, they will enable the Court to better fulfil its mandate as the final arbiter of EU law while continuing to ensure an effective judicial protection. It is argued that, together, the procedural and structural reforms, seen in the light of the recent case-law, represent long- overdue but positive steps in the direction of the implementation of the Nice reform, which can contribute to the emergence of the Court of Justice as the EU Constitutional Court.