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.
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* Il presente scritto costituisce il frutto di ulteriori e condivise riflessioni degli autori rispetto a quelle espresse, in M. Vellano, L. Grossio, Il contributo dell’Unione europea alla soluzione delle controversie territoriali tra Stati membri: il caso del Monte Bianco, in R. Louvin, M. Vellano (a cura di), Monte Bianco – La montagna senza confini, Milano, 2024, p. 57 ss. Michele Vellano ha redatto i parr. 4 e 5, mentre i parr. 1 e 2 vanno attribuiti a Lorenzo Grossio. Il par. 3 è stato redatto congiuntamente dagli autori.