[ARTICLE 230]

EFFECTIVENESS OF EU DECISION-MAKING:

EUROPEAN COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CARRIES ENHANCED POWERS<= /span>

TO JUDGE INDIVIDUAL CASES OF CONCERN AGAINST REGULATORY ACTS

[ARTICLE 230]

AMENDMENT TO: Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and t= he Treaty establishing the European Community (Lisbon, 13 December 2007)<= /span>

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Policy Area: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Part Six – Institutional and Budgetary Provisions, Ti= tle I – Institutional provisions, Chapter I the Institutions, Section 4 <= span class=3DGramE>The Court of Justice of the European Union, Article 23= 0

Amendment:

Clause 2,&n= bsp; page 1, line 12, after ‘excluding’, insert—

‘(i) Article 2, paragraphs 204 to 222, repeal of Article 220 TEC (TFEU), amendments to Arti= cles 221, 223 to 225, 225a, 228, 229a, 230 to 237 TEC (TFEU), and inserted Artic= les 224a and 235a TEC (TFEU) relating to the Court of Justice; and

(ii)’.

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<= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Lisb= on Treaty Article:

“214) Article 230 shall be amended as follows:

(a) in the first paragraph, t= he words "acts adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council," shall be replaced by "legislative acts," the words "and of the European

Council" shall be inserted after "European Parliament" and the following sentence shall be added at the end: &quo= t;It shall also review the legality of acts of bodies, offices or agencies of the Union intended to produce legal effects vis-à-vis third parties.";

(b) in the third paragraph, the words "by the Court= of Auditors and by the ECB for the purpose of protecting their prerogatives&qu= ot; shall be replaced by "by the Court of Auditors, by the European Central Bank and by the Committee of the Regions for the purpose of protecting their prerogatives";

"Any natural or legal person may, under the conditi= ons laid down in the first and second paragraphs, institute proceedings against= an act addressed to that person or which is of direct and individual concern to them, and against a regulatory act which is of direct concern to them and d= oes not entail implementing measures.";

(d) the following new fifth paragraph shall be inserted, and the present fifth paragraph shall become t= he sixth paragraph:

"Acts setting up bodies, offices and agencies of the Union may lay down specific conditions and arrangements concerning actions brought by natural or legal persons against acts of these bodies, offices or agencies intended to produce legal effects in relation to them.".̶= 1;

Consolidated Treaty Article(s):

“Article 230

The Court of Justice shall review the legality of= acts adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council, of acts of the Council, of the Commission and of the ECB, other than recommendations and opinions, and of acts of the European Parliament intended to produce legal effects vis-àvis third parties.

It shall for this purpose have jurisdiction in actions brought by a Memb= er State, the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission on grounds of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of this Treaty or of any rule of law relating to its application, or misuse of powe= rs.

The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction under the same conditions in actions brought by the Court of Auditors and by the = ECB for the purpose of protecting their prerogatives.

Any natural or legal person may, under the same conditions, institute proceedings against a decision addressed to that pers= on or against a decision which, although in the form of a regulation or a deci= sion addressed to another person, is of direct and individual concern to the for= mer.

The proceedings provided for in this Article shal= l be instituted within two months of the publication of the measure, or of its notification to the plaintiff, or, in the absence thereof, of the day on wh= ich it came to the knowledge of the latter, as the case may be.”

Explanation:

This Article covers rules on judicial review and = it was substantially amended by the Lisbon Treaty. It replaces the words “ac= ts adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council” with R= 20;legislative acts.” It also changes the words "Court of Justice" with &q= uot;Court of Justice of the European Union” and “Court of Justice” = with “Court.” Under this Article, as amended by the Lisbon Treaty, t= he ECJ will acquire competences to review the legality of the European Council act= s as well as the "legality of acts of bodies, offices or agencies of the Union intended to produce legal effects vis-à= ;-vis third parties." Moreover, the Committee of Regions acqui= res the right to bring an action to the Court for the purpose of protecting= its prerogatives.

Under present Article 230(4) any natural or legal person have locus standi “against a decis= ion addressed to that person or against a decision which, although in the form = of a regulation or a decision addressed to another person, is of direct and indi= vidual concern to the former.” Therefore, any person or business can challen= ge the legality of certain EC acts before the Court of First Instance, if he/s= he can prove that the act is of “direct and individual concern.” <= o:p>

The criteria of the “individual concern&quo= t; has been strictly interpreted by the Court. This provision creates difficulties= for the individual to enforce their rights and entitlement to an effective reme= dy. The Lisbon Treaty amended this provision which reads "Any na= tural or legal person may, under the conditions laid down in the first and second paragraphs, institute proceedings against an act addressed to that person or which is of direct and individual concern to him or her, and against a regulatory act which is of direct concern to him or her and does not entail implementing measures."

Hence, an individua= l may challenge any act addressed to him, not just decisions. If it is not addres= sed to the plaintiff, he/she will have to prove that the act is of direct and individual concern. Any natural or legal person may also challenge a regula= tory act if no further implementation is required and if he can prove direct concern, there is no need to prove individual concern. This provision liberalises locus standing on regulatory acts. Thus, = it will liberalise the= rules on standing for actions for annulment of regulatory acts. The Lisbon Treaty provides for a paragraph which provides for “= Acts setting up bodies, offices and agencies of the Union may lay down specific conditions and arrangements concerning actions brought by natural or legal persons against acts of these bodies, offices or agencies intended to produ= ce legal effects in relation to them.".