Trace the Evolution of the Principle of Direct Effect of Eu Law, and Critically Assess Its Influence on Individual Rights Protection

The doctrine of Direct Effect (DE) was first articulated by (what is now) the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Van Gend En Loss in 1963. This principle places obligations on the Member States but more significantly it permits individuals to invoke a provision of European Union (EU) Law before a national or European Court, regardless if such a law exists at the national level; it ensures the application and effectiveness of European law in the Member States and this has led to the protection of individual rights under EU law. There are two types of DE, ‘vertical’, which affects This essay will demonstrate how this principle of DE has developed and how it has influenced individual rights protection, I will argue that while this principle has enabled the rights of individuals to be protected, it has not gone far enough and this principle should be used further to protect the rights of individuals.

Vertical Direct Effect of EU Treaties

The CJEU in Van Gend stated that “The Community constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the states have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields, and the subjects of which compromise not only member states but also their nationals. Community law therefore not only imposes obligations on individuals but is also intended to confer upon them rights that become part of their legal heritage…the vigilance of individuals concerned to protect their rights amounts to an effective supervision in addition to the supervision entrusted to the diligence of the Commission and of the member states”

This judgement changed the nature of EU law by enabling individuals to become enforcers of EU law, now individuals had the power to challenge the ‘state’ on matters of EU law. However, this didn’t go very far in influencing individual rights protection as Van Gend only provided for vertical direct effect of EU Treaties to be applied by individuals and it was subject to...