Law of the European Union

In the interpretation and application of EU law, the Supreme Court assesses whether Union law can be applied in a case right away, or whether a question for a preliminary ruling about that law must first be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg pursuant to Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In 2022, there were two cases in which the Supreme Court referred questions to the ECJ:

In 2022, three ECJ decisions (of the 22 decisions in cases from the Netherlands) concerned cases in which the Supreme Court had referred questions for a preliminary ruling in previous years:

  • ECJ 28 April 2022, C-237/20, ECLI:EU:C:2022:321 (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging/Heiploeg Seafood International BV and Heitrans International BV);
    the case is still pending before the Supreme Court;
  • ECJ 2 June 2022, C-112/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:428 (X BV/Classic Coach Company vofand others); the case is still pending before the Supreme Court;
  • ECJ 7 July 2002, C-194/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:535 (Staatssecretaris van Financiën/X);
    final decision: Supreme Court 16 September 2022, ECLI:NL:HR:2022:1116.