Facts
- Italy is a member of the EU, or the European Economic Community (EEC) as was
- An Italian citizen claimed that he need not pay a higher price for electricity as a result of the nationalisation of the Italian electricity sector, in violation of EEC law
Issues
- Did the nationalisation violate EU law?
- Could ENEL (the nationalised electricity company) be prevented from suing Costa for his non-payment in the European Court of Justice?
Decision
- Only the Italian Constitutional Court could decide whether the nationalisation violated EEC law
- In turn, they would also be required to decide whether ENEL could sue Costa
Reasoning
- In principle, as the Treaty of Rome has no direct buy xanax fast delivery effect on individual citizens, a claim could not be bought against a government by anyone except the Commission, so the claim failed
- The Court of Justice did provide the following guidance, however:
- [EU] law is an independent source of law
- It may not be overridden by domestic legal provisions
- A contrary view would undermine the Union’s character and affect its ability to achieve its objectives
- Where the case in question is the result of questions asked under a preliminary reference procedure, the Court of Justice of the European Union may extrapolate from the questions asked
