ABSTRACT

In this third part of the book the dynamics of the actual institutional conflicts before the Court are considered starting with the field of criminal law. In spite of highly pitched protests from the Council and the Member States, in September 2005 the European Court of Justice ruled in favour of the Commission in the environmental crimes court case. Criminal sanctions were effectively included as an implementation tool of Community legislation with this decision. This chapter analyzes the institutional conflict leading up to the ruling of the Court in favour of the Commission, which formally moved the issue of criminal sanctions into the supranational framework of the Community. It does so by investigating the way in which the frames of the parties involved derived their force from the dynamics of the process that preceded the outbreak of conflict. The chapter also highlights that in relation to the formal rules in place and the jurisprudence of the Court in the field of JHA and criminal law, it becomes difficult to understand why the Court would rule in favour of the Commission. Given the sensitivity of the issue at stake, and the intensity of the conflict and commonly held expectations regarding the need for the Court to safeguard its image as an impartial actor, the final decision of the Court remains perplexing.