Riflessioni a margine della sentenza della Corte di giustizia nel caso AMP Antarctica: un approccio più morbido a favore degli Stati membri?

In November 2018, the Court of Justice ruled on the so-called Antarctica case (judgment of 20 November 2018, joined cases C‑626/15 e C‑659/16, Commission v. Council) on two actions of annulment brought by the Commission against Council decisions approving the submission to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (“the CCAMLR”) of a reflection paper and a common position on four proposals concerning the creation and study of marine protected areas. The point concerned was the question of on behalf of whom the paper and the positions at issue could be submitted: the Union alone or the Union together with its Member States? Although it had no echo on the doctrinal level, the orientation assumed from the Court does introduce important elements, in particular in relation to the EU institutional framework as well as to the balance between Member States and the Union in terms of external action.