The European Court of Auditors (ECA) likes the idea of carrying out a cost-benefit study of a possible expansion of the language scheme used at the European Court of Justice (CJEU).
Kevin Cardiff, a member of ECA, said on Tuesday 26 September that the EU General Court has asked for a cost-benefit study to be carried out, thus suggesting that a change might be possible. The prospect of the United Kingdom leaving the EU will affect the type of cases brought before the Court, so the latter has decided to "suspend" the move until there is clarity about Brexit, Cardiff explained.
ECA feels that such a study could fuel the debate. In a report on the CJEU’s performance in processing cases published on the same day, the European auditors say: "We noted that between 2014 and 2016, a significant share of cases referred to the CJEU, and particularly to the General Court, had English (28%) or German (20%) as procedural language, as compared to those in French (13%)".
"Whilst we recognise the complexity, potential impacts and sensitivity of the issue of language practices, this suggests that consideration could be given to extending the languages of deliberation of the CJEU, in particular the General Court, to languages other than French", ECA says in its report, adding that one of the consequences of such a change would be that internal memos, preliminary reports, rulings and orders could be written in the two languages directly.
Any consideration of changes to the language system for the Court would have to take account of the advantages of using French as de facto working language, such as coherence in the legal concepts used and coherence with earlier case law.
In the report, ECA notes that the Court has amended its performance in the processing of cases, particularly the speed with which the Court interprets EU law. Cardiff said they had seen enormous progress in reducing the volume of current cases even before the arrival of new judges following reform of the Court.
The average processing time for a case is now 15 months for the Court of Justice and 19 months for the General Court. ECA recommends making use of indicative timelines for cases to ensure even faster processing. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)