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European Court of Justice

01 September 1993

In March the ECJ upheld the right of shipping companies in member states to employ foreign seamen at lower pay and in worse conditions than EC nationals. Sloman Neptun Schiffarts AG v Seetriebsrat Bodo Ziesemer, OJ Vol 36 C104 15.4.93.

In October 1992 the UK government was condemned for failing to implement the directive on information and consultation of workers' representatives on redundancies. CEE v UK OJ Vol 35 C316 3.12.92.

The European Parliament flexed its muscles over being by-passed by the Commission and Council in July, bringing a case over the Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding between the EEC and the USA. It argues that the agreement meant parliament would systematically be deprived of its right to participate in the procedure for the adoption of measures in an important sector of international rules, and would upset the balance of power between the institutions.

This is the second recent case on the issue of parliament's right to be involved in EC decisions, and of the extent of the ECJ's supervisory jurisdiction over the Council and the Commission. At the end of June, parliament sought the annulment of an act adopted by the Council to grant special aid to Bangladesh, and of acts adopted by the Commission to implement the Council decision. The ECJ declared the case inadmissible, saying that the acts were adopted by member state representatives acting as such, not acting as ministers of the Council. They were collectively exercising the competences of member states and were thus not subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the ECJ. The fact that the proposal came from the Commission, which then implemented the decision, was not conclusive, and member states are entitled to entrust to the Commission the task of ensuring the coordination of the collective action agreed on. The latter case is important for the ECJ's surrender of its jurisdiction over "inter-governmental" acts even where these are carried out through the Commission and Council of the EC.

EP v CEC (360/93) OFJ Vol 36 C232/5 28.8.93; EP v Council (21/93) OFJ Vol 36 C199 23.7.93.