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This article analyses the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the James Elliot Construction case delivered on 27 October 2016. In its decision, the Court has for the first time affirmed its jurisdiction to interpret harmonised technical standards on a preliminary reference. In this contribution, we argue that the decision marks an important breakthrough in the evolution of EU law by recognizing harmonised technical standards as part of Union law.
This opening offers new possibilities for litigating technical standards and assuring the centrality of the rule of law in the achievement of the internal market. The article concludes by analysing the implications of the decision in relation to the Meroni doctrine, the potential conflicts between the principle of free access to the acts of the Union and the protection of intellectual property, and the impact that greater litigation over harmonised technical standards may have on the caseload of the Court.
