ABSTRACT – The Volkswagen Group Italia and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft judgment of 14 September 2023, handed down by the Court of Justice, concerns the application of the ne bis in idem principle in a case where fines against the Volkswagen group had been issued in both Italy and Germany in relation to the so-called Dieselgate scandal. In the case note, the issue of the duplication of proceedings and penalties and its consistency with the above-mentioned principle is tackled in the light of the Court’s judgment and the case law of the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.

ABSTRACT – Starting from the analysis of the judgment rendered by the General Court in the case WS and others v. Frontex, the paper aims to consider the existence or absence of effective judicial instruments to assert the responsibility of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex) for human rights violations committed during its operations. The analysis focuses on the reasoning of the decision, attempting to propose alternative interpretative solutions capable of ensuring a form of judicial protection directly against the Agency.

SUMMARY: 1. Introduction. – 2. The facts in the main proceedings. – 3. The decision of the CJEU and its implications. – 4. The context of this decision: systematic pushbacks at the French-Italian border. – 5. Ways forward: compliance with this decision.

ABSTRACT – This contribution aims to examine the new Renewable Energy Directive, known as RED IIII, which goal is to establish a common system to promote energy from renewable sources. The scope of the new directive has been extended and adapted to respond to the various emergencies that have emerged over time, with the aim of simplifying administrative procedures for the approval of renewable energy projects.

ABSTRACT – The Opinion delivered by AG Kokott on the 8th of June 2023 in Amazon case (Case C-457/21 P, Commission v Amazon.com and Others) offers an interesting opportunity to discuss the role of the arm’s length principle in European Union law. This blogpost provides a brief reconstruction of the most relevant features of the case by identifying the measure concerned and analysing the decision of the Commission qualifying it as unlawful State aid, the judgment delivered by the General Court and, finally, the AG’s Opinion. It shows that the arguments put forward by the AG are in line with the Fiat case and, if upheld by the Court, they could be the ground for following cases. It is argued that this solution respects national tax autonomy and it is consistent with established case law on the assessment of selective advantage in State aid cases. The important challenge of ensuring that also multinational groups pay their fair share of taxes should be addressed by using other instruments that allow achieving the level of tax harmonisation necessary for this purpose.

ABSTRACT – The Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí cases (T-115/20 and T-272/21) entail another episode in the so-called “Catalan saga”, after the Junqueras judgment and the more recent Puig Gordi case. In order to decide on the Catalan MEPs’ actions both against the President of the European Parliament’s refusal to defend their immunity allegedly infringed by the Spanish judiciary and the Parliament’s decisions to waive said immunity, the General Court seemingly tries to balance the critical aspects of Protocol No. 7 with the EU’s system of judicial protection. Indeed, in the light of the institutional and jurisdictional triangle, ideally composed by the European Parliament, the national judicial authorities and the EU Court of Justice, we are able to see the criticalities of Protocol No. 7 and the potential of the EU jurisdictional system in addressing the issues related to (un)cooperative national authorities. Notably, the Court’s recall to the preliminary ruling procedure (Art. 267 TFEU) and infringement proceedings (Art. 258 TFEU) is important to reaffirm the rationale behind MEPs’ immunity, that is, to protect the supranational nature of the European Parliament and its autonomous functioning.