ABSTRACT – In the KLM II ruling, the EU General Court addresses the issue of corporate groups that, by virtue of their ‘pan-European’ dimension, received aid from several Member States during the COVID-19 emergency (7 February 2024, Case T-146/22). After setting the relevant factual scenario, this paper comments on the Court’s reasoning on the locus standi of the competitor, the application of the ‘single economic unit’ criterion and the distinction between indirect advantage and secondary economic effects of the aid. Drawing comparisons with the extensive case-law on COVID-related aid (the so-called Ryanair cases), some possible repercussions on State aid law enforcement are discussed, especially in light of the principle of sincere cooperation on which the Court established an obligation for Member States to coordinate measures addressed to the same group of companies.

ABSTRACT – The contribution analyses the potential relevance of EU law for settling territorial disputes between Member States, with particular regard to the one between Italy and France concerning territorial sovereignty over the summit of Mont Blanc. The analysis shows that the recent ruling of the Court of Justice in Slovenia v Croatia does not preclude the possibility of EU law providing key instruments for the resolution of disputes such as the one concerning the Mont Blanc summit. On the one hand, the authors aim to show that this dispute meets the requirements for the applicability of Article 273 TFEU, which allows Italy and France to refer the dispute to the Court of Justice. On the other hand, other EU law instruments – such as the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation and the potential attribution of the European Heritage Label – could strengthen the cooperation between the Member States involved in the management of the territory at stake, as well as enhance its European identity. These solutions would have the merit of avoiding new unilateral initiatives on the part of France and Italy and, above all, of overcoming the territorial dispute through the recognition of the Mont Blanc summit as a transnational European site.

ABSTRACT – The aim of this article is twofold: first, to present the conclusions of the AG and the legal reasoning underlying the judgment BU v Comune di Copertino. The second aim is to offer some reflections on the context of the judgment and the ‘conflict’ between the Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court that it has generated. It is suggested that the divergence of the Courts’ orientations is at the root of a broader issue that needs to be re-examined and that the Court of Justice should take due account of the balance between the effective recognition of social rights and respect for budgetary constraints.

ABSTRACT – In the WS judgment, delivered on 16 January 2024, the Court of justice of the European Union referred to the Istanbul Convention for the first time, clarifying the conditions for granting refugee status to women victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence. Recognizing the Istanbul Convention as a “Relevant Treaty” within the meaning of Article 78, para. 1 TFEU, the Court has provided an interpretation of Directive 2011/95 in accordance with this convention, notwithstanding Bulgaria – the Member State of the referral’s jurisdiction – has not ratified it. This contribution aims to elucidate how the Istanbul Convention produces certain legal effects in the EU legal order as well as in the legal system of the Member States, even in the absence of ratification by the latter .