The Principle of Effectiveness: Rethinking Its Role in Community Law

This article reconsiders the importance of the principle of effectiveness for Community law. Providing a background for further discussion, the article first outlines the general notion of effectiveness and situates it within the Community law context. It then retraces the principle's development in the Community jurisprudence to reassess and conceptualise its role as a guarantee for the functioning and coherence of the Community legal order. The authors conclude that effectiveness is a governing principle which is informed by and mediates between the Community and national legal orders and is crucial for the legal authority of Community law. The article also identifies secondary notions of effectiveness, deriving from the governing principle, and explores how these are balanced against conflicting national interests. Finally, it illustrates how the principle of effectiveness governs the relationship between Community requirements and national procedural autonomy.