The politics of the Court of Justice of the European Union: A review

Abstract

This essay reviews recent research on how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) influences the development and enforcement of European Union (EU) law. First, we focus on the supply of cases and how the procedural routes to the court affect the impact of its rulings. Second, we discuss how the collective and individual preferences of the judges shape how they dispose of those cases. To that end, we present a measurement strategy and original dataset of ideological preferences on the court. Third, we examine the productivity of the court and the prospects for reducing the current backlog of the court. Finally, we present novel empirical analyses that connect these three sections and identify questions for future research.