Annotation on the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 22 January 2014 in Case C-270/12, United Kingdom v Council and European Parliament

In the era of ‘agencification’ the EU (regulatory) agencies have become an essential part of the implementation of EU law by delegation of regulatory powers, even if the agency as such has not been institutionalised in the Treaties yet. In its long-awaited judgment C- 270/12 the CJEU clarified the requirements of the delegation of market intervention powers to EU agencies by reinterpretation of the Meroni doctrine in the context of Lisbon primary law. The Court also declared that the internal market harmonisation clause of Article 114 TFEU can be proper primary legal basis for delegation of powers to take direct EUlevel measures directed at individual market participants in case of extraordinary market circumstances. The sector-neutral reasoning of the judgment could be applied in the case of network industries as well. In light of the further ‘mushrooming’ of EU agencies as well as the Europeanisation of former national administrative powers, however, the institutionalisation of (regulatory) agencies in the Treaties seems to be necessary just as before the judgment.