THE PRELIMINARY RULLING PROCEDURE OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the preliminary ruling procedure before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the area of ​​the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) through its case-law, in particular through recent court decisions, such as the Rosneft judgment from 28^th of March 2017.

The case relates to imposing restrictive measures or sanctions on individuals and legal entities in the field of the CFSP, hence the question of whether the CJEU can have jurisdiction and provide the national courts with an interpretation of EU law in cases which are referred to it by national courts under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) for preliminary references, when the subject matter in question is addressed to the CFSP?

In March 2017, the CJEU deciding in the Grand Chamber, affirmatively responded to this issue of jurisdiction. The paper does not go into the analysis of the case itself and the facts, but in the analysis of the judgment, the answer to the question of establishing the jurisdiction, the opinion of the General Advocate, as well as the significance of the judgment in CFSP and the implications arising from "specific rules and procedures" which apply to the law in CFSP.

In the conclusion, the paper refers to some considerations regarding future autonomous choices when individuals and entities are subject of EU’s general regime on restrictive measures under CFSP auspices.