Centre d'Excellence Europe Capitole

Abstract: The French Council of State, Ordinary Court of the European Union

Like its European counterparts, the French Council of State was established to judge ordinary law in the European Union. Carrying out this duty has resulted in some conflict, as European Union law goes against certain notions that are entrenched in the national legal culture. The European Union's legal system, which has been a destabilising factor in the Council of State’s judicial duties, has gradually become an essential vector for the Council's modernisation and the transformation of its judicial function. Implementing this law has led the Council of State to move away from the legal dogmas that were at the centre of its self-limitation, to which it was profoundly attached. The implications of granting this judicial duty go far beyond rigidly implementing the requirements under its responsibility. At European level, a European space shared between the courts is starting to emerge, and is revealing itself to be the origin of a spontaneous movement of law. The Council of State's inclusion within this space is inexorably contributing to the process of enhancing its function, as it has resulted in the Council establishing itself as a player in the construction of ordinary law and in the alignment with European administrative justice.