Can Arbitral Tribunals Seek the Support of National Courts to Obtain a Preliminary Ruling by the CJEU in Matters Involving EU Competition Law? - Czech and Central European Yearbook of Arbitration - Interaction of Arbitration and Courts - 2015

Author(s): 

Corinna Potocnik

Harald Sippel

Johannes Willheim

Page Count: 

16 pages

Media Description: 

1 PDF Download

Published: 

March, 2015

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Originally from Czech and Central European Yearbook of Arbitration - Interaction of Arbitration and Courts - 2015

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Abstract | Arbitral tribunals are not allowed to refer to

the CJEU for a preliminary ruling, but need the support

of state courts in doing so. In most jurisdictions of the

EU Member States, arbitral tribunals are rather limited

in seeking such support. This may lead to difficulties as

arbitral tribunals are nonetheless bound to (correctly)

apply EU law and EU competition law in particular, a

field of law which often arises in international

arbitration. This is problematic as EU competition law,

an essential feature of the internal market, requires that

the EU Commission and state courts cooperate so that

the uniform application of EU competition law is

guaranteed. However, within the EU, only six Member

States provide for an implicit possibility of asking state

courts for assistance in referring to the CJEU, while none

of the other Member States except Denmark provide for

general court assistance to arbitral tribunals; Denmark

expressly permits arbitral tribunals to request the

competent state court to refer to the CJEU for a

preliminary ruling. In light of the ever-growing

importance of arbitration as means of dispute

resolution, it must be asked why only a single EU

Member State ensures the uniform application of EU
competition law during arbitral proceedings.