Judicial Annulment of National Preparatory Acts and the Effects on Final Union Administrative Decisions: Comments on the Judgment of 29 January 2020, Case C-785/18 Jeanningros, EU:C:2020:46

Abstract

The European Court of Justice's classic Borelli doctrine concerned administrative procedures where national authorities adopt preparatory acts which are binding upon the Union administration. In such cases, preparatory acts cannot be reviewed by Union courts as part of the review of the final Union decision and must instead be reviewed by national courts. Jeanningros provided the Court of Justice with an opportunity to clarify one of Borelli's remaining loose ends – the question of whether national courts should review the national preparatory acts even if the Union administration has already adopted the final decision. The Court answered in the affirmative, but nevertheless left new open questions for legal practice and scholarship to confront.