ABSTRACT

From a pragmatic point of view there is a need to accept this confusion, and seek to derive the meaning of the phrase from its context. Some legal academics advise forgetting the issue, which is like running away, and does create further confusion. The courts use the phrase synonymously. The EC Treaty, however, remains silent about individual rights in national courts and only uses the term ‘direct applicability’ to refer to the process by which EC law is immediately and automatically part of the legal system of Member States as soon as it is created in the EC.