Il controllo di legittimità sulle raccomandazioni dell'Unione europea

di Grazia Vitale

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa. - 2. L'impugnazione delle raccomandazioni. Profili introduttivi. - 3. Il criterio ERTA. - 4. Raccomandazioni e loro “particolari” effetti giuridici. - 5. Caratteristiche della raccomandazione produttiva di effetti giuridici lato sensu vincolanti. - 6. Il sindacato di validità sulle raccomandazioni ex articolo 267 TFUE. - 7. Conclusioni.

The article analyses recommendations of European Union Law in order to determine whether and when they produce binding legal effects and, therefore, whether an action for annulment under Article 263 TFEU can be brought against them.
So, while clearly described as not binding, recommendations can generate considerable legal effects, in the sense of inducing certain behavior and modifying normative reality. They are likely to have an impact on the rights and obligations of their addresses and third parties. These effects can be produced on two distinct but interconnected levels: the European Union Law and the Member States Law.
However, it is necessary to examine the substance of the act and to assess those effects on the basis of objective criteria, such as the content of that act, taking into account, as appropriate, the context in which it was adopted and the powers of the institution which adopted the act.
So, only measures adopted by the institutions, whatever their form, which are intended to have binding legal effects, are regarded as actionable measures within the meaning of Article 263 TFEU. Any act not producing binding legal effects, but only legal effects, such as mere recommendations, falls outside the scope of the judicial review provided for in Article 263 TFEU.