European Court of Justice influenced by politics

On the 4th of October we welcomed Daniel Naurin to our research seminar. Daniel Naurin is associate professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg and at the seminar he presented new research on the political influences on the European Court of Justice – one of the most important institutions in Europe.

Naurin initially presented three different perspectives on how the European Court of Justice works. According to the legalistic-normative argument, the Court is only a neutral technical interpreter of applicable law; according to the neo-functionalist argument the Court is totally independent and promotes increased Europeanization; and according to the intergovernmental perspective, the Court is clearly influenced by political views and power relations in member countries.

The analyzes that Naurin presented at the seminar strongly support the third perspective. He has found obvious signs that the Court's ruling is affected by the political views expressed by member states in different areas. However, the results also showed that the European Court of Justice is much more pro-European than any of the member states.

Learn more about Daniel Naurin and his research.

Stefan Svallfors, one of the hosts of the research seminars