Luxembourg, 13/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Accelerated procedure that enables the Court of Justice to reach a decision in a few months as opposed to an average of two years, is seldom used. Introduced into procedural regulation in November 2000, it has so far been agreed to in two cases, whereas around twenty plaintiffs and courts have expressed a wish to see their cases speeded up faster than others.
Madame Jippes, her four sheep and two goats which she wanted to vaccinate against foot and mouth disease, despite the refusal of the Dutch authorities, is at the origin of the first case and a decision reached in July 2001. Some quarters, including the Danish government, suspect that the Court agreed to accelerated procedure not because of the merits of the case (urgency) but because of its "broad public appeal" (EUROPE 19 July 2001). The second case treated as urgent was the Artogan affair. This affair finvolved the authorisation of putting medicines onto the market and was introduced in February 2003, with the ruling being made on 24 July of the same year.
Accelerated procedure can be requested in damages cases by the national court responsible for sending the case to the European Court (for example the Jippes case). A case involving the "Commission against the Council" can be classified under the "direct appeals" category: this therefore means that one of the two parties can request this rapid procedure if it considers that it is a matter of "particular urgency". If such a request involving the 25 September Ecofin is made to the Court, its president, Vassilios Skouris, would appoint a judge rapporteur, who will or will not propose to accelerate the case at the request of the Commission for accelerated procedure. Vassilios Skouris will then hear the Advocate General appointed in the case by the first Advocate General, Antonio Tizzano, and make his decision. The regulation explains that this decision must remain an exception. If accelerated procedure is begun, it is subject to simplified procedural rules in order for the Court to reach a rapid decision.
Accelerated procedure is also included in the regulation of the EU Court of First Instance, which used it for the first time in 2002 in a State Aid case in Gibraltar, which was opposing the decision of the European Commission (EUROPE 1 May 2002).