Luxembourg, 20/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - The German government has appointed Thomas von Danwitz as the German judge at the European Court of Justice. At the age of 44, Mr von Danwitz, who is professor of law at the university of Cologne, will replace Ninon Colneric whose term of office expires on 6 October this year, with that of some of the Court's judges. The appointment is seen by the German press as a victory by Chancellor Angela Merkel against her SPD partner n the major coalition currently in power. The SPD had nominated Ninon Colneric, a specialist in labour law, in 2000. Wrangling over the judge's appointment has lasted several months. Thomas von Danwitz also studied at the Ecole Nationale d'administration (ENA) in France where he is professor of law at the university, Paris I. He had also trained under the French Judge, Fernand Grevisse, who was at the Court from 1988 to 1994, at a time when the new French judge, Jean-Claude Bonichot - former ENA student and professor at the university as well as State Councillor - was legal secretary. The new German judge's knowledge of French means that he does not come in for some of the criticism generally voiced regarding the CDU/SPD rotating system that Germany practices when European judges are appointed.
In a recent article, Der Spiegel had attributed Germany's loss of influence within the Court to this systematic rotation every six years. Austria, on the other hand, for example, has appointed Peter Jann, who has been a judge since 1995, for the third time. The German magazine explained on the basis of interviews with former German judges that a judge cannot really put his/her stamp on the Court until the second term of office, especially when judges do not initially have a good knowledge of French, which is the Court's working language.
Some observers see Jean-Claude Bonichot and Thomas von Danwitz's appointment as opening up the possibility for a Franco-German pole to emerge, that could strengthen the influence of three men already in a strong position - Vassilios Skouris, Peter Jann and Christiaan Timmermans - or, on the other hand, act as a counterweight as some within the Court would like.
On 23 June this year, at University Paris II, Thomas von Danwitz will take part in a seminar organised by the Annuaire de Droit européen and the Commission pour l'étude des Communautés européennes (CEDECE) on the theme: Member States of the European Union, instrumentalisation of the Member States and their resurgence.