To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases involving the UK the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave rulings on in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017 to date; what were the broad subject-matters covered by those actions; and what proportion of the CJEU’s rulings in those cases went in the UK’s favour.
Answered on
9 January 2018
From 2015 to present, the UK has received judgments in 161 cases on which it made submissions. The annual figures are as follows:
● 54 judgments in 2015;
● 48 judgments in 2016; and
● 57 judgments in 2017.
The cases included in these figures covered a wide range of subjects. The subjects covered included VAT, competition law, international sanctions, citizens’ rights, consumer protection, the four freedoms, the common agricultural policy, transport, food standards, equalities, data protection, asylum and immigration, and international private law.
These figures include all cases in which the UK made written submissions, and are not limited to cases in which the UK was a party, or cases referred to the CJEU from UK courts. They involve abstract questions of EU law, and are not expressly for or against the UK. Nonetheless, we estimate that the Court mostly or completely followed the UK’s submissions in approximately 50% of the judgments in this period.