The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Tuesday ruled in favor of Spain in its litigation against the European Commission for allowing Kosovo to participate in the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and annulled the decision on the grounds that Brussels was not competent to establish the rules for the participation of third countries.
In a judgment of last instance, the CJEU upholds Spain’s appeal against the previous decision of the General Court and considers that it erred in law when dealing with the competence to establish the working rules applicable to the participation of regulatory agencies from third countries in BEREC, which corresponds to the body itself and not to the European Executive.
«The General Court’s interpretation is not reconcilable with the independence of BEREC and does not comply with the division of competences between, on the one hand, the Commission and, on the other hand, BEREC and the BEREC Office,» states the judgment, which insists that the European Commission only has a «supervisory role» in this case.
Thus, the CJEU ruled in favor of Spain and annulled the decision of Brussels, since it was not competent to adopt the participation of Kosovo in this institution, although it maintains the effects of the Commission’s decision until the entry into force of any new working rules agreed between BEREC, the BEREC Office and the regulatory agency of Kosovo, which must come into force within six months.
This ruling follows the opinion of the Advocate General of the General Court of the European Union, which last June upheld Spain’s appeal to annul the European Commission’s decision, on the grounds that it was not empowered to adopt such a decision. Spain filed an appeal in cassation before the European Court of Justice, after the EU General Court dismissed a first Spanish appeal for annulment.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
