Transparency and legal certainty of the references to international standards in EU law: smoke signals from Luxembourg?

17 March 2022

With its judgment in case Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd and Others (C-160/20) of 22 February 2022, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) has set a fundamental milestone on the legal status and consequences of incorporating global standards in EU legislation. The decision may represent a welcome development for those who advocated for an application of the general principles of EU law and of fundamental guarantees of legitimacy and democracy in the context of the controversial world of technical standardisation. Yet, the reasoning of the Court appears purposefully elusive on the core issues of the case and on the concrete application of the ruling, ultimately raising more questions than answers.

Annalisa Volpato

Annalisa Volpato is Assistant professor in European administrative law at Maastricht University. She obtained a double PhD in EU law at Maastricht University and University of Padova and she worked as a lecturer in EU law at Maastricht University. Previously, she studied law at the Université de Louvain (erasmus) and at the University of Padova, where she graduated cum laude. In 2014, she obtained an LLM in EU law at the College of Europe.
Annalisa also worked at the Legal Service of the European Commission and she was trainee in law firms, qualifying as lawyer in 2015. In 2020, she has been visiting researcher at York University and EUI (Florence). Her research interests concern the institutional and administrative aspects of EU law, in particular the delegation of powers to EU institutions, EU agencies and standardisation bodies.