Boards of Appeal of EU Agencies and Article 47 of the Charter: Uneasy Bedfellows?

Abstract

This chapter starts from the premise that the Boards of Appeal as a remedy mechanism has become a standard institutional device for all EU agencies endowed with decision-making powers and explores the question how they should be assessed from the perspective of the right to an effective remedy under Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The chapter argues that Boards of Appeal are administrative bodies which offer an administrative remedy. For that reason, they do not come under Article 47 of the Charter and they cannot be used to replace the judicial remedy offered by the EU judicature. Overall however, they may still compensate for the weaknesses in relation to the right to an effective remedy of the judicial review and, thereby, strengthen the judicial protection afforded by EU Courts.